Grow Your Own

Grow your own

PlantforLife and the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) have teamed up with celebrity plantsman, Chris Collins to champion the next phase of ‘grow your own’ gardening by educating people with simple tips on how easy it is to plant and grow fruit trees and berries in containers or a small space in the garden.

Your local Garden Centre should now be featuring heavily on grow your own tools, skills and passing on offers that will entice you into Growing your own vegetables. Grow your own is not a new craze, it is simply that growing your own has become far cheaper in recent years and is now cheaper than buying in any high street supermarket.
Make sure that you have the best tools to grow your own and make gardening easier by talking to your local garden centre and asking for their advice. Poplar Tree Garden Centre offer advice via email, telephone or in person in their store and you can buy many Grow your own items online which will give you everything you need to get gowing and thrive.

What Are Seeds?

Just like people, seeds and bulbs have needs that must be met in order for them to thrive and grow. Show kids a variety of seeds and bulbs, explaining that this is where most plants come from. To help kids understand more about planting seeds and bulbs, allow them to grow some of their own in paper cups filled with soil. Be sure to poke holes in the bottoms of the cups for drainage. Give kids the responsibility for watering and observing the growth of their plants. You could even have them draw pictures of the plants as they grow.

There’s nothing better than watching a child’s curiosity grow right alongside their favorite plants.

What is a seed?
Most plants come from seeds. Seeds come in all shapes, sizes, and types. They can be small, like radishes, medium, like marigolds, or large, like sunflowers. Seeds from flowering plants have seed coats to protect them. Seeds remain dormant (asleep) until they are given soil, water, and light. Although warmth is usually required for a seed to germinate and grow, this varies depending on the type of seed. Not all seeds are dependent on sunlight for germination. However, the amount of light does greatly affect it. Explain how different plants require different light and why.

They begin to awaken as water is absorbed. As this water is taken in, the seed’s protective coat expands, eventually splitting open to allow oxygen inside. The plant’s root is the first to emerge from the seed and anchors the plant within the soil. The root also enables it to absorb much needed water and nutrients. Next, the young shoot begins to grow, and soon afterward, it will develop its first real leaves. Once the seedling has sprouted its new leaves, the plant is able to begin making its own food. This is done through a process called photosynthesis.

Greenhouse Preparation

february garden

General Jobs in the Garden

If you have finished all the major tasks, such as digging over, creating leafmould heaps etc you will not have a lot to do in February but if like most of us you are scrambling to keep up, this is your last chance before spring.

Double check the greenhouse, ensure the glass is firmly secured and replace any cracked panes etc. If you’ve not managed to give it a thorough clean, now is the time before it is pressed into service.

Check last year’s potato bed for any volunteers (left over small potatoes) and remove them to avoid passing on disease problems and blight.

You’re going to be using your pots and seed trays next, so this is a good opportunity to wash out and sterilise them so you seedlings will get off to the best possible start. If you havent got any then dont worry. They are very cheap. An unheated propogator will certainly help and for an extra £2 is worth every penny

This years potato bed will benefit from a good application of compost or rotted manure that can be forked in or rotovated in to get them away.

You can cover soil with dark plastic sheeting, fleece or cloches to warm it up for a couple of weeks before you start to sow and plant.

Gardening in February

unheated propogator

It may be getting cold in the air, but the soil is still retaining some warmth. So it’s a good time to plant that hedge you have always wanted or shrubs and trees. Get rid of your old roses and replace with new. The warmth in the soil means good strong root growth , so get them in now before heavy snow comes along and the soil freezes.
You can plant out now, camellias, azaleas, conifers, shrubs, roses, rhododendrons, trees, plants and trees on display outside at garden centres are usually ones you can plant now, but its always best to check a member of staff.

By now you should also be dying to get sowing seeds, and getting stuck into the greenhouse and the garden. Well, patience is a virtue! It won’t be long before you are starting off your sweet peas, and broad beans, but for now, preparation, rather than seed planting in February is the key!!! Get your seed trays ready in the greenhouse, get your seed bags ordered and get ready for planting those seeds later this month. If you have compost from last year, use it for potting on, or mulching. For seed sowing, get fresh compost. Whether you like to use special seed compost, or good old multi-purpose, get it fresh. Old compost will have had time to harbour all sorts of bugs and fungus! One thing very handy is to have an old plastic swing top kitchen bin in a corner of the greenhouse for compost. Not out in the rain and cold, and as it is dry, easier to sieve out lumps for seed sowing. Great for propogating and growing seeds are the electric propogators. They are quite expensive though and a cheap, but effective alternative is this, an unheated propogator which will take much of the risk element out of your seed growing. In my opinion it is worth every penny in February.