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The Garden in May

For anyone who forgot to plant bulbs in the autumn, make a mental note now: plant some this autumn! After a harsh winter, complete with brown grass, scorched leaves and frozen soil, nothing is more cheery than the colourful blooms of tulips, anemones and daffodils. A surprise for us is just how great tulips look in what is essentially a wild or informal garden. We planted them into a bank which we created as a way of getting rid of soil and rubble, and now they flower amongst shaggy grass, clover and nettles to glorious effect. This is a real lesson: tulips might have been considered the preserve of the 'formal' garden, but they are enchanting and arresting in the long grass where their somewhat messy foliage is well hidden. What's more, we planted a variety called 'Princess Irene' without thinking too much about it and are quite delighted with them. The blooms started off small and yellow and have darkened day by day to reach a large, orange-yellow flower - mildly fragrant to boot. Other wonderful surprises include the sublimely ruffled blooms of 'Delnashaugh' daffodil - surely one of the most decadent around.

Make a visit to the Landscapers' Yard

April has been DYG's busiest month ever, and some of our most popular items come from the Landscapers' Yard part of our website. This section is relatively new for us and has filled a void in the market. Products which are normally the preserve of professional landscapers and gardeners are now available to the general public. After many months when it was too cold, wet or downright uninspiring to venture outside, the time has finally arived to build raised beds, level your lawn and put down some bark mulch. For newly-planted beds, consider putting down some of our fine-grade bark mulch, which looks, feels and even smells great. This mulch is nicer than any other bark mulch we have seen, is so fine that it knits together on the ground and will not blow around. It is also excellent value. Buying in bulk is much cheaper than buying many bags from the garden centre. The more you buy the better value it becomes as the delivery charge is the same regardless of the size of the load. Spring is also a good time to lay a lawn, and the turf that we sell is cut on the day it is delivered, is weed-free and long-established. Another item that is proving very popular is our' raised bed mix' -  a mixture of screened topsoil and manure, meaning it has the best attributes of each: fertility, drainage and structure.

Get Planting!

For months I feel as though I have been telling people there is nothing much to do in the garden - or at least there has been no sense of urgency about it. Now that the days are longer, warmer and drier, there is an inexpressable urgency to everything: we have this short window to make the most of our gardens and this great urge to do something about it...... made all the more pressing by the helpless feeling we have about society. If we have no say or control over anything we can at least find a small degree of it when it comes to our own microcosms. This 'control' can be a deliberate relinquishing of control (in other words, letting your garden 'do its thing') or or it can require active engagement - which is, in reality, the only possible option, as nature is so disrupted in the vast majority of situations that it's a major feat in itself to restore any sort of natural equilibrium. In any case, this is a great time of year to plant: perennials, grasses, shrubs, container-grown trees. They are all emerging from their pots, ready to establish their roots, but without the large amounts of foliage which makes them transpire and therefore need masses of water. By planting now, and during the next few weeks, you will greatly reduce the amount of watering required compared to plantings done later in the summer. For the best results follow these easy steps:

Ensure that your plants are well watered - no need to soak the rootball unless the plants are completely dessicated.

  • Make sure that you are planting in a good environment: soil should be at least 30 cms deep, be fertile, well-drained, have some organic matter and be relatively free of noxious weeds and their roots. If you have tap-rooted perennial weeds such as dock, thistle or dandelion, be aware that they will re-emerge from the root.
  • Always break up or loosen the root ball. The best approach is to 'gently tear it in four across the bottom. This encourages better root development and plant establishment.
  • Make sure that the plant is planted at the right depth: generally, the existing level should be maintained, so that the soil comes up to the same level as the top of the compost / root mass. The plant should be firmly planted and the soil firmed in with your hands. Do not use your feet unless planting a tree or large shrub.
  • Level all soil and break up all clods as you plant. When you finish planting, the ground should be smooth, even and level. When I trained in Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, we could be expected to plant several hundred perennials or grasses in one day, and these had to be meticulously done. We were told to 'lose the soil' as we planted and remember to remove all footprints too.
  • Planting of smaller plants should be done of your hands and knees. It cannot be properly done from a standing position.
  • You cannot wear clunky leather gloves for this type of work. You should either do it bare-handed or in 'second-skin' gloves, which allow complete flexibility, such as the Showa 370 'Floreo' (once worn they are hard to relinquish!)

 

Relax - it's only summer......

For anyone who has memories of deck chairs in the back garden, re-live them! Deck chairs were once a staple piece of garden equipment: inexpensive, simple, cheerful. We have searched for, and found, a manufacturer of deck chairs who does it all properly. These deck chairs are made in Bournemouth in the UK. They are hand crafted from locally-sourced beech and fitted with cotton canvas in a range of gorgeous colours and stripes. They are beautifully made and lovely to handle. As our first customer kindly emailed us, "they are excellent quality and a fine heavy gauge." The same company also manufacture a small folding table which we also sell.

Your local sawmill - worth visiting

If there is a sawmill nearby, try to drop in and see what they do. Thet can provide many useful things for your garden, all made from wood which is grown in the locality. If you are a DIY gardener, you can commission everything from boards for raised beds, edging timber, wood for pergolas and arches, 'sleepers' for steps or retaining banks..... the list is endless. In Wicklow we are lucky to have plenty of trees and the industries they support, including a number of small sawmills. A personal favourite is Pat Staunton's in Glenealy - full of interesting pieces of wood in all shapes and stages: trunks, boards, logs....... if you want boards for a raised bed, your local sawmill can cut them to whatever dimensions you want. It is always best to use untreated wood (or wood that has a natural preservative such as citrus oils and borax). Boards should be around 2 inches wide for the bed to be sturdy and long-lasting, and a bed should be at least 9 inches high (if over soil) or more if over a paved or hard surface. Last time I visited, to order some oak boards for a raised bed, I also comissioned some blocks of wood for my own garden. I wanted something heavy, massive, like giant dice - something which could act as seats, tables, jumping-blocks, podiums....... they look fabulous and have become centres of activity already, the natural place to congregate or sit. They are incredibly heavy. Some are from oak, others poplar and spruce, between 40 and 50 cms cubed.