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Field Allotments Hixon
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Hartley.
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Flowers,
Cuttings & Seeds.
It is unlikely that anyone would ever plant a Banana Plant on an
Allotment, but the connection for me is still there as this year I
decided to divide the big plant that I have in a pot on my yard and add
the Offsets to the Autumn Allotment Plant Sale. My Banana is a tough
variety and is said to be hardy in milder areas of the UK like the
centre of a big city. Musa Basjoo is its Latin name and although it is a
plain green type it is still a spectacular foliage plant with its huge
leaves and statuesque growth. It has never really shown me its full
potential as Bananas are greedy feeders and like plenty of water – two
things that I haven’t really given it. However, in recent years it has
thrown up lots of little shoots around the central growth. So, I tipped
the whole lot out of the Tub and rather ruthlessly removed the “Pups.” 6
of the Offsets had the first signs of roots on them and so were
promising, but one piece came off without any roots. It did have some of
the tougher basal part so I am hopeful that it will root. I potted them
in some rich homemade compost and then stood them in a plastic Gravel
Tray to keep them moist. By the time our Sale comes round in mid
September I hope to be able to add them to the Sale for something
different as they are normally quite expensive plants to buy, although
it will be the wrong time to buy them as they will have to be given
frost shelter when the winter comes.
Bamboo is another plant that is not really for Allotments, although I
have planted 2 on my Plot with the hope of being able to harvest Canes
from them in the future. We have a large clump at Work and we are able
to do just that. Recently I divided the 2 big Pots of Bamboo that are on
my Yard at home in the hopes that they could be re-potted and added to
the up upcoming sale. A couple of years ago I did this and made small potsful out of them, but this time I used bigger pots. Previously, I
lost a few of the young plants in the winter because I think they didn’t
like being divided into such small pieces. We sold the survivors at £1 a
pot, but hopefully, in bigger pots, we will get a lot more for them.
When I divided them, I tried the old method of two forks back-to-back
and it was totally useless, so I resorted to using some Loppers and a
Spade to cut through the root mass. However, this was hard work and
someone suggested using an old Saw which soon had the job done!
Most bamboos are relatively shallow rooted, however most spread badly
and are now likely to be reclassified as a nuisance plant. However, some
are Clump forming and much more civilised. Indeed Bamboos featured on
one of the morning TV programmes where they issued quite a warning of
their invasive nature and the damage that they can do to drives, patios,
walls, etc. They are very spectacular plants though and really make a
statement if grown in large Tubs either side of your Front Door. They do
need to be well watered and divided every few years, but other than that
they grow well in Tubs making quite a feature with their evergreen
foliage.
I never used to like Grasses, but I am slowly coming round to them.
Bamboo is a sort of big Grass as is the “Pampas Grass,” or Cortaderia
that as its name suggests comes from the “Pampas Region,” of South
America. They are now grown worldwide though due to their spectacular
nature. I planted a tiny one in my Front Garden a few years ago not
recognising the Name and thinking that it was just another Grass. Now it
stands as high as my bungalow and produces a number of spectacular Seeds
Heads each year. They can seed down and need dividing every so often
unless you have lots of space, so I plan to dig mine out next Spring.
The tough, sharp and flammable foliage can be cut down hard in late
winter so after I have done that I will be able to get at it more easily
and more safely. The “Crown,” appears to be dividing so I should be able
to get several plants out of it and dividing it to reduce its bulk will
do it good anyway. I think it will be a lot tougher job than dividing
the Bamboos though!
Anyway, back to my Allotment and like a lot of people this year, I have
struggled to get some things going, partly down to the weather and
partly due to Slugs eating everything. I have struggled with beetroot
Seed as has my Brother in his Garden and I couldn’t even get any
Parsnips to come up at all. Everybody has struggled with Beans as well,
but my Dwarf French Beans are now doing quite well as I have already had
several good pickings. I managed to get some young Runner Bean Plants
from work that are also coming on now and starting to flower even though
it is a bit late and you would normally expect to be picking by now. I
have to admit that one, or two plot-holders that got them in early and
mollycoddled them have got some good plants going. My Turnips are
harvesting well and the Swede look good. Elsewhere I cut the Flower
Heads off my Bunching Onions and they are bulking up nicely after
dividing and re-planting them. I normally harvest those in the Spring
though, when the Onions are young after their winter dormancy and they
are at their best. The Walking Onions are developing plenty of
“Plantlets,” on the stems some of which I have Potted up with the
intention of adding them to the Sale.
I finally got round to planting out my Leek seedlings. They had been in
kept in Modular Trays far too long, but I was told a long time ago, by a
“Leek Aficionado,” that you can be as cruel as you like with Leeks. You
can cut off most of their “Top Growth,” and most of their roots before
planting and they will still come good! Even so, they were very late
going in, but they have put on quite a spurt since planting, so I am
hopeful. Leeks like it a bit cooler, so I am hoping that they will grow
enough through the Winter to make them worthwhile. If the coming winter
is like last year’s mild winter and not too cold, or they don’t stay too
frozen, they should do alright. I know we had a couple of cold spells,
but the cold that affected plant growth the most was our unseasonal
Spring with some quite cold nights late on when the nights should have
been getting milder.
Elsewhere I harvested some of my Pink Fir Apple Potatoes. Normally, as
my Potatoes are just about ready towards the end of June going into
July, they start to get infected with Potato Blight on their foliage.
This isn’t usually a problem for me as I just cut off the tops and the
Potatoes remain alright underground. However, for those that crop their
Potatoes later on in the season, Blight can be more of a problem unless
they have grown a Blight resistant type. After the eternally wet Autumn,
Winter and Spring we have had a dryer spell that seems to have prevented
the resurgence of Blight that likes it wet and this year I haven’t heard
of any Plot Holders complaining about it.
As I dug up some of my Potatoes, I extended my new flower bed that
already has some Golden Rod, a few Scabious, a patch of Fox & Cubs, a
lovely Cultivated Purple Loosestrife and some yellow Iris. These were
joined by a small clump of lovely Red Crocosmia that a fellow Plot
Holder let me dig up out of his Garden at his home. There were so many
that I was able to pot some for our Plant Sale as well. My Scabious had
been spoilt a little by the wet Winter, but they are coming on now
though. I have been cutting loads of Flowers from the Flower Bed and
also from various patches of flowers that I have dotted around my Plot.
The Alstroemerias and Achillea, as well as some bunches of Chrysanth’s
that I have grown from last year’s Stools are all doing well. It was
always my Mother that looked after the Herbaceous perennials on the
family Garden Centre all those years ago, but I am slowly getting a
better idea of what Flowers are easy to grow and those that cut well.
As I have been giving a lot more attention to my flowering Plants I have
started taking Cuttings from things like a Pink and Blue Phlox that I
have in my Garden and a White one that my Brother has. It is difficult
when they are flowering as you need non-flowering shoots, but as
everything is growing so well at the moment it is still a good time to
root cuttings. I have also potted up some self-rooted, trailing, yellow,
Lysimachia and some trailing Pink & white as well as dark purple ground
cover plants called Ajuga along with some Fox & Cubs. I have even rooted
some little pieces of Willow and Twisted Willow ready for next year’s
Plant Sale! Thinking about next year’s sale I put in some Seeds of
Catalpa (Indian Bean Tree) and Eucalyptus that have come up nicely along
with some of my own Broom and Lupin Seeds.
With all this potting, I brought some bags of Leaf Mould from Work and
have been mixing it with Soil from our Allotment Compost Heap along with
some spent Compost leftover from clearing up after the Spring sale. This
compost mixture and source has provided me with the large amount of
cheap Compost that I have needed for all the Potting that I have done.
When the Compost in our Storage Area ran out, I dug some bags of soil
out of the base of my own Compost Bins when I turned them. It won’t
matter because as the fresh Compost rots down it will naturally fill the
holes and there will be no trace of what I did!
As of writing this we are waiting for the big Communal Compost Heap to
be Turned out, but there are plans to Re-Construct it and we are hoping
the two things will coincide. On the Construction side of things, we
have finally finished the Composting Toilet and Shed. The Stone Chipping
Paths are now down and look very smart, at the moment, but no Planters
have been constructed. I did put some large Plants in tubs around the
two buildings as a bit of greenery and then promptly sold some of them!
It is only a few weeks now until our Autumn Tree and Garden Plant Sale
so I am hoping I can keep everything growing and looking nice until
then. With any luck when the big day comes, we will be having another
good spell of weather and not more of the eternal wet weather of last
year.
 
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