Better Weather
This week has brought better weather to the Moosbach Garden and a touch of spring, we’ve had a few really sunny days which has warmed the soil and this gardener’s heart.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were sunny and warm and I spent 6 hours each day working in the garden. I noticed that the plants are waking up and many perennials are producing their first tentative shoots of the year. Bramble feels it too and has been running around the garden, ears back and leaping on my back when he thinks that I’m not paying attention and then running away.
Jobs to do now
There are a myriad of jobs that need doing in the garden now that Spring is knocking on the door and it really does pay dividends to get those jobs done now before everything starts growing in earnest.
Here is my list of jobs to do now :-
- Cut back all of the old stems from the perennials, it’s much easier to do now without damaging the new shoots. Lift and split any large perennials that you haven’t split already – this is the last chance to do so.
- Prune back any roses that need it, removing any crossing stems will prevent later damage and disease from rubbing stems.
- Give all of the roses a good feed with David Austin Rose Feed and then only in-between flowering.
- Weed all of the flower beds before weeds get a foot hold, not only does it reduce work later on but the beds will look much tidier and then apply a good layer of mulch to inhibit weed growth and to retain moisture. You can buy proprietory mulch’s from garden centres or you can use well-rotted compost or horse manure. Any manure that you use in the garden should be at least 2 years old and have a crumbly texture.
- Prune and feed Hydrangea, this depends on the weather where you are. Reducing the stems by a third will reduce the risk of branches being pulled to the ground by the weight of the blooms. Use Rhododendron fertiliser on all hydrangeas and Magnolia’s.
- Plant bare root or potted roses now to give them a good chance of getting established. Always use David Austin Mykorrhiza fungi when planting roses as this expands the root system and gives the roses the best possible start and then top dress with David Austin Rose Feed.
- Sow seeds indoors, if you haven’t already done so. Already we have Delphinium, lavender, Cosmos and Sweet Pea seedlings. Don’t forget to harden off your seedlings once they are big enough to go out and when all chances of frost have passed.
Above you can see that these Day Lily shoots are actively growing, they are almost impossible to kill and naturalize well in the garden without much care. These are an old variety typical in this part of Germany and I will be potting some up for selling today.
This week we potted up 14 pots of Sweet Peas and these will be available for sale from May onwards. Sweet Peas make the perfect plants for cut flowers and will flower prolifically all summer long but ensure you keep cutting the flowers as failure to do so will result in the plant going to seed. Another good plant for cut flowers is Cosmos Sensation, we have about 60 plants available from May, I think that they also look fantastic planted in a group, especially along the edge of a path.
We also have Lupin plants in White, Yellow and Red for sale, these were grown last year and are now robust, established plants which will produce stunning displays this year.
And Finally ……
A few choice pictures of the young Copper Black Maran hens that we hatched in November last year to replenish our flock of older hens.
We have 9 different varieties of David Austin roses available to buy on our website www.moosbach-schwarzwald.com as well as David Austin Rose feed, mycorrhizal fungi and the fantastic David Austin rose book “Meine Rosen” (Only in German).
Please remember we are only too happy to answer any gardening questions that you might have, please feel free to drop us an email.
We wish you all a very joyous Spring and many hours of happy gardening!