Episode 17 – Friday 11th July 2014

Growing in Containers

This programme is all about growing in containers

Monty tells us that mint is ideally suited to be grown in a container to protect spreading and choking other plants. Chilli plants are good in containers too. You can feed fruit in containers with comfrey and nettle feed. Nettle is good when the plant is young whilst comfrey is high in potassium and encourages the maximum amount of fruit and flowers. If you don’t make your own you can use tomato feed or liquid seaweed.

A good suggestion is to grow salad in bowls and sow every 2 weeks a new bowl so that you have a continuous supply.

Carol is over at Dan and Dominiques garden in Gloucestershire where the veg patch is flourishing. But its now time to move to the patio and install some containers and post.

Planting Hawthorn in Containers

Back at Longmeadow, Monty is planting common hawthorn in containers on a patio. They are cheap to buy and great for your garden. Over time grow them into a mushroom shape in their pots.

Containers are Ideal for Gardeners with Disabilities

At a house in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire we view a beautiful flower garden which is dominated by pots and raised beds. The owner is disabled and this arrangement  is essential to provide easy access. Her husband has provided lots of support to enable her to tend the garden unaided.

Aquatic Pots

Aquatic pots/ baskets are designed not to be seen, to let water in and roots out. Use aquatic compost which is low in nutrients, because you don’t want to add nutrients to the pond. The compost is solely there to anchor the roots down. Firstly saturate plants in at rug before planting. Then put in a layer of grit on top which prevents the soil floating away.

Jobs to get on with this week for allotmenteers and gardeners

• Cut sweet peas for continued flowering eg every 10 days to prevent them going to seed
• Support plants through summer
• Clear autumn sown broad bean crops and ideally plant brassicas as they like the nitrogen left over in the soil