This time of the year is full of life and with that life comes an array of challenges for your plants and therefor you also.
Insect pests are ready to spring into action, birds lurk ready to swoop on fresh green sprouts and hang around ready to savour the fruits just before you want to pick them. Even cats see opportunities in a fresh new toilet – we lost one of our eggplants due to a happy rolling scratching cat! And who can forget the insatiable slugs and snails chewing through the night just leaving a few stalks for you to curse over! And it does not finish there, what about the weather, hot then cold, wet then dry, still then blowing a gale, not only impacting the plants but also their food source the soil.
Phew! And that is only a small list of challenges, no wonder so many that are new to gardening give up in exasperation.
However as with all things, being planned is being armed and if you prepare correctly many of these challenges can be mitigated.
Firstly, clear all areas being planted of weeds as these compete with your plants and can attract many pests. Sow Thistles are a good example, they look ok and have a nice colour, but aphids love to breed in them – so out they go – or heavily mulch them out of existence – a good method to use on any weeds. We put a layer of carboard over the weeds and then cover with mulch, which works very well, and it all eventually breaks down to feed the soil.
Birds, which I love to have around, can also be a curse, eating not only the crop but good insects also. Part of the beauty and ugliness of spring. An old trick is to run a taut fishing line along the rows of young plants as that seems to make the birds nervous. I used to bend chicken wire and put that over the plants, but who likes working with that and how ugly it is? So, I now use the frames and netting instead, they are far easier and less damaging to the hands, body and eyes! And being able to open and close them again each night makes protecting the plants simple.
Again, the old-fashioned way to protect trees at this time of the year is to just throw netting over them, but that is hard to work with making it difficult to get into the tree to maintain during the season and harvest. It also compacts everything creating a tangled, humid environment loved by many pests and not a great breathing place for the tree.
Cats, well they are not easy. Giving the soil a good watering can work as they do not like digging in wet soil. But again, I find the easiest thing is just to recover the frames at night – it is so easy to do.
Slugs and snails, try sprinkling saw dust around the plants, you can imagine what the sap will do to those slimy bodies. Who knows, but a layer over the soil and around young plants seems to work.
So, nothing too hard or onerous, made a lot easier with the frames and the right netting.
Enjoy!
Peter