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Wellington Fields Allotments - Hixon.

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Wellington Field Allotments Hixon

Gardening Tips
By Mrs FM
Hartley.

Unusual & Old
Fashioned Fruit
Trees.

Unusual
Vegetables,
Herbs & Other
Edible Plants.

Environmental Issues And Going Green.

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Alan J Hartley

Dry Weather Continues.

The talk now is saying that it has been a longer, hotter and dryer Summer than the infamous Summer of 76. Indeed, we apparently broke the all-time high temperature record for the UK on several occasions. By the end of July, it was declared that we were in official Drought conditions for much of the UK, apart from most of Scotland and the North West. However, here in the Midlands, as of this moment, there is still no Hosepipe ban for us, although many parts of England do. We haven’t, as yet, got as far as having Standpipes in the Streets like we did in some parts in 76, but that maybe in part due to better water management and a previously wet Winter. Here again though, there seems to have been a lot of times when small areas in the South have needed to establish Bottled Water stations due to problems maintaining supplies. Having said that, I think we are getting off lightly compared to most of Europe who seem to be having almost unbroken Heatwaves one after the other with little respite. Many of the main Rivers of Europe such as the Rhine and Danube are so badly depleted that it is affecting all sorts of things including Power Generation. We are still having hot spells going into August and are now starting to have problems from Wildfires on grass and Heathland in various places, but here again, Europe is faring far worse with fires ravaging huge areas of tinder dry vegetation. The South of France has been hit very badly, but so has Greece, Spain and Italy. Indeed, many Holiday homes have burnt, and a lot of Holidaymakers have been caught up in the problems with last minute evacuations.

Everyone is saying that it is going to be many years before the vegetation gets back to normal and I think that this will be true especially in coastal areas where they have been using Seawater to douse the flames. The Salt in the Seawater will poison the soil for some years preventing plant re-growth until future Rains haver washed it from the Soil. Indeed, Salt is the main component of the new replacement Weedkiller for a brand-leader that is currently being reformulated and re-marketed.

Hopefully, our Gardens and Allotments won’t suffer from Wildfires, but they are definitely showing signs of stress from water shortage. Some things like Lawns will recover surprisingly quickly however brown they look. Many things like Trees, Shrubs and Perennial Plants will also cope surprisingly well, but where you need to water you can quite safely use dirty Washing Water out of your Kitchen. It may not be advisable to water a few things such as Vegetables like this and if the Water has Detergent in that contains Salt this should not be used. Obviously, if it has a lot of Food-waste and is thick with Gravy then this should not be used either as it will encourage Pests.
Using more Mulches such as Grass Cuttings and even using Weeds, or Tree and Hedge Prunings, as Mulches are a good idea to help retain what water there is in the ground, but they are better put on after the Plants have been given a good watering. They are especially good around Fruit Trees, Currant Bushes and indeed any fruit bushes. You need to be more careful spreading them around ordinary garden Flowering Plants though as covering them with a Mulch may well kill them, even if they have been cut down for the Season. This is true even for Rhubarb which is starting to die down as of writing this.

Another tip for Gardening in Dry Weather is to Hoe where possible rather than digging out Weeds. Digging will not only be hard with some Soil types baking seemingly into Concrete, but digging in dry weather rapidly dries out what little moisture there is in the Soil and turns it into Dust by destroying the “Crumb Structure,” that is then almost impossible to re-establish afterwards without a lot of effort.

After last year’s bumper harvest of all types of Fruit everybody was firmly under the impression that this year’s Fruit harvest would be much reduced. It was said that the Trees and Bushes would have a rest after producing so much, but that doesn’t appear to be true. It may be due to the Mild Spring that we had, but whatever the reason the trees seem to be loaded again. My Apricot certainly did very well and the Grape vines seem to be loaded like never before. It looks like there will be Apples and Pears galore and I might even get some Kiwi Fruits this time! I have only ever had a small handful before, but I said that about the Apricot until last year! This year there were plenty of Black and Red Currants, so much so, that I didn’t bother picking them too thoroughly and left a lot for the Birds. Blackbirds are known for having a liking for Fruit and they were certainly kept busy on our site this year clearing up the leftover Berries. I guess with the dry weather there was less of their more usual diet of insects about, so they gorged on the Fruit. Even the Pigeons got in on the act and could be seen at the Fruit Bushes. Like the Kiwi Vines, that I am waiting to get a real harvest from, I am also still waiting for my Sausage Vine, or Akebia, to produce some Fruit and my Schisandra Vine has never given me anything either. To be honest I did see a lot of Berries ripening one year on my Schisandra Vine, but they all disappeared before I could get to pick them! My Asian Pear seems to have more fruit on than ever before although I normally get a small bowl full of fruit off it. I guess it’s only reasonable to suppose that the Exotics like the heat, although, I think some of them come from more wet and steamy, Jungle type conditions, rather than arid Desert! Actually, there is still moisture deep down in the soil on our site and the Trees seem able to find it with the Fig Trees putting on a lot of growth like never before and at the moment the Apples are also coping, but Trees generally do appear to be dropping a lot of Fruit.

A couple of years ago I lost a little Olive Tree that had been struggling for several years since I had planted it with great hopes and expectations. Recently, I decided to change some of the Plants that I had in big Tubs on my Yard at home so, I replaced the Olive that had died, with one that had been in a big Tub at home. Olives like a sunny spot with well-drained soil but it always looked a bit sad on my Yard, so I am hoping it will do better in the ground. A lot of people don’t realise that there are many different varieties of Olives as with any other Fruit Tree. A little one that you might buy from a Garden Centre as an Indoor Plant, may well not be tough enough to do well outside though, but you can get European varieties such as Europaea, that are perhaps a bit hardier than a Mediterranean strain. There are hundreds of varieties and they all produce edible fruit, but the Fruits are very bitter and need soaking in Brine to make them palatable. Olive Trees are slow growing and can potentially live for thousands of years, so plan well where you are going to plant one as it may be there a long time!

Hedges are not supposed to be cut until September because of nesting Birds, but you are allowed to trim them and tidy them up if you are careful. So, after examining my 2 short, Bay Hedges for Nests, I decided to give them a bit of a “Haircut”. I didn’t take much off, but they did look better and one of our Ladies was grateful for the Trimmings that she fed to a pair of very eager Donkys! The Bays have liked the Hot weather as have other Mediterranean Herbs like Rosemary and Lavender which have both put on a great show of Flowers. The question everybody is asking is should we be planting more exotic Plants like these? It looks like gardeners are going to have to cope with dryer and hotter Summers in future and most Mediterranean Plants would certainly be better suited, but with some thought we can probably still grow many of our favourites. Some traditional, English, Perennial Vegetables like, Asparagus, Globe Artichokes and Rhubarb are deeper rooted along with the culinary version of Chicory, Chard, Beetroot, Parsnips and Turnips. Some of these can go to seed if they get too dry but should cope better than most things. Other lesser known, old-fashioned vegetables like Sorrel, if eaten in moderation due to its oxalic acid content like Oca - Oxallis Tuberosa, are also deep rooted. Most Fruit Bushes and Trees will stand dry spells better than you might think, but they need to be well established and freshly planted Trees will be at high risk in drought. Plants may look sad, (from which they can recover,) for quite a while before they actually die, although, often their fruit will shrivel, or drop and bushes may even lose their leaves as they go into a “Shutdown mode,” for self-preservation. Many Perennial Flowering Plants can cope well, although, again, some do better than others. Achillea, Monarda, Stachys, Garden Geraniums, Sedums, Thyme and many other Alpines will cope well with dry conditions. The trouble is many deep-rooted Weeds also cope well and continue growing whatever the weather! Dandelions are a case in point, although if you plant the cultivated, pink flowered variety you might not feel so badly about them and if you keep Rabbits they make a nice treat for them. Indeed, we have eaten it in the past to make a coffee alternative and all parts of the Dandelion can be used in salads.
Thistles are another deep rooted problem weed that will cope with drought, but their cousins, Eryngium, or Sea Holly are very pretty and Teasels can be considered for flower arranging. I don’t know of any benefits of growing the deep-rooted Docks, other than to treat stings from Nettles! But the perennial Comfrey is used to make liquid plant feed and to encourage insects and the closely related, deep rooted and pretty Borage, which although only an Annual, is another Herbal type plant that contains Oils which are commercially harvested. It can also be used as a Mulch to feed the soil and in days gone by used to be used a medicinal Herb, but has been found to be quite poisonous if taken internally and can only be used on unbroken skin to ease joints and for bruises etc!
You don’t normally think of Chrysanthemums and Dahlias as being drought resistant, but if have planted and established them early on in the season they will be able to cope with pretty much anything. After all, we think of them as being traditional English plants, but they are not and they are not really hardy as they come from milder, drier climates! Other tender things that we might consider growing more of are maybe Bananas and Cannas, however, although they both like the heat they do like lots of water as well. Other Exotics that I am growing and that are generally doing well are Yacon, Crosne, Cape Gooseberries, several vines including Kiwi Vines, Sausage Vine or Akebia and the Schisandra Vine. My Cinamon Vine keeps coming back each year although I have not tried harvesting the supposedly large, deep underground Tubers that they produce. They are semi ornamental though with their deciduous vine and showy, highly scented flowers. The Mashua Vines that I planted from last year’s Tubers are proving successful again and they too are semi ornamental and although I re-planted, some tubers seem to have survived our Winter in the ground! They do seem to like a bit of shade though. The 3 little Cucamelon Vines that I grew from seed also seem to prefer a bit of shade and need better support from something more like “Pea Sticks,” rather than a Tripod of Canes.
Some people may be of the opinion that we should stick to traditional English Crops rather than planting Exotics that are not Native but are imports. My answer to that would be that we already grow Sweet Corn, Squashes, Courgettes and they are all tender imports as are more regular things like Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Melons! Indeed, Fig trees have been grown on English Estates for hundreds of years as well, along with Peach Trees and Grape Vines. (With that in mind, I picked my first Figs this year just before the end of July. A whole 2 Weeks earlier than last year and it was only a few years back that I used to have to wait until September!) Admittedly, back in the day, Peaches had to be grown in heated Greenhouses along with Melons, Cucumbers and Grapes. Now they can be grown outside with Vineyards being planted at a rate of knots in the South of England. So, things are changing because of the Climate whether we like it, or not and Gardeners have always been happy to grow newly discovered, or imported, Plants in the past. Perhaps we should just enthusiastically embrace new crops and ways of doing things as being a natural part of our ever-changing Horticultural experience.