In addition, snow and frost have been widespread across the country, blackening young shoots and laying low herbaceous perennials. Even more depressing for some gardeners, has been the sight of long cherished trees and shrubs being badly damaged by the weight of snow, branches having been split or completely severed. Luckily, in this part of north-west England, the damage has been slight. In my own garden, plants have recovered well from this untimely shock. It was a strange feeling having to rush around in the middle of the night in mid-April to hastily cover tender plants and armed with a stick, vigorously tapping the branches of shrubs to loosen the snow. Hopefully, all this is now behind us and I have been very busy planting, feeding, pruning and generally getting into the swing of another new season.
New warmer and more seasonal weather has at last arrived. With it of course come a variety of jobs needing to be done, each one crying out for urgent attention. Not least of these is plant feeding. In March and April (the best time) I bring out the Blood, Fish and Bone, this is an organic fertiliser that slowly over the growing season supplies most of the food plants require, ensuring good steady growth and an abundance of bloom. Where necessary, I supplement this with a rose fertiliser (high in potash) for flower production to more demanding plants, for example, clematis, repeat-flowering roses and delphiniums, where lots of growth is expected in a short time. This feeding is repeated some time around June, when the first flush of bloom has passed and where more is anticipated from certain plants. Any feeding after June though is counter-productive, as this causes a surge of lots of sappy growth which can easily be damaged by early frosts. Feeding having been completed, the next task for me is splitting and dividing those herbaceous perennials, which have been loosing their vigour. Ideal candidates here are any herbaceous plants that have been progressively declining, usually having developed a tired useless woody centre. A good strong garden fork comes in handy here, after gently lifting those on my hit list, it is a simple matter to tease apart those young vigorous bits around the outside of each clump, replant with a little bonemeal and water in.
