Some kind of wonderful

Luckily for me I picked a pretty dreadful week here to go away and sun myself in Spain, there is nothing like a bit of good weather to recharge the batteries and bring a brighter and fresher outlook to us all.
Officially we’ve had one of the wettest Augusts in history, as if we didn’t know! On the bright side the kids are back in school soon and the sun always comes out the first day they go back, which may be hard on our little darlings but if like me and you depend on the good weather to get a good days work done you’ll only be delighted.
I should mention that all systems are go for the big Celebration of Gardening day at the National Garden Exhibition Centre (NGEC) in Kilqaude, Co. Wicklow on Saturday 6th September, I have put in a special request for a glorious day and as a positive thinking daydreaming enthusiast I am positive that my request will be granted with a few extra degrees and not a cloud in the sky. The purpose behind this great event is to make gardening professionals available to the public in a fantastic garden setting, offering free but extremely valuable advice. Kilquade is a fabulous facility with over 20 individually designed gardens and a number of suppliers all under the one roof.
On the day there will be an abundance of gardening professionals available to all our visitors, we will also have hourly seminars on various topics and plenty of information and displays on view. I have no doubt it will be a cracking day and hope that you will join me on the day, it is of course for the Garden of Hope Project which is part of the Niall Mellon Township Trust and the funds raised on the day will all go towards this great charity.
I will be there to meet and greet our guests and will be giving a talk on ‘extreme gardening projects’ at one of the seminars. Over the next few weeks I am commencing the building of a show garden designed for the NGEC, the beauty about the gardens at the centre is that they are build to last and can be viewed at various times of the year. I’ll keep you all posted on the building process and provide a photographic diary of the build, this is as usual a very ambitious build, most of the techniques I have not yet tried and many of the features in the garden will have to built on site including what I hope will be a stunning tubular office space, perfect for the enthusiast garden designer to do his designs in!. The thing about stretching your imagination and skills is that you create a feverish enthusiasm for the project you are about to commence, there is of course a fear factor in there also, this is however probably the biggest driver you’ll need, as they say if you don’t try you can’t succeed, what’s your next challenge? Try something new and wonderfully different this weekend and hopefully you’ll surprise yourself!

Splish Plash

After dancing around in puddles for the last month I think it’s a good time to discuss drainage. Water can be a real enemy in the garden if it is allowed to gather, particularly on the lawn. So to keep our gardens looking and feeling healthy it is important to have good drainage.
Many of you may have heard or read over the last few weeks through the media about the debate on patio’s in our gardens. The recent floods have given rise to a lot of questions in relation to drainage and the point has been made several times that hard surfaces such as patio’s may increase the potential for flooding as they are covering an area that could otherwise drain excess water away.
This is of course a very valid point and one that we should consider when we are planning or upgrading our gardens. The emergence of the low maintenance gardens has certainly increased the hard surfaces we now have and this does have an impact on the environment. It affects not only drainage, but also soil live and wildlife. Were do our worms go? Where do the birds that ate the worms go? There is a knock on effect for taking away natural surfaces and plant life, and that can be a lot more than many people realise.
For those of you with a concrete garden, take up a few slabs and plant some low maintenance plants, this will introduce much needed plant life to your garden it will certainly enhance it not only to your eye but also the environment and thirdly it will help with drainage.
A simple way to improve drainage in your garden is to make a few drainage pits. You could or may have to put in French drains which is another days work but for immediate results drainage pits are easy to do and will be successful.
Firstly mark the areas in your garden that collected the most water. Then dig out an area about 60cm by 60cm and then down 60cm. At the base of the hole fill half of it with large stones and gravel, then lay about 10cm of sharp sand on top of that. The rest of the hole can be filled with soil. The grass you took of the top can then be placed back where was and it should grow back easily, just give it a little drop of water. You can repeat this around the garden.
A similar system can be used on a patio, if there is a particular area that floods remove the slab at the deepest part of the flood area and dig down about 60cm, fill the base as above except use gravel instead of soil. Instead of grouting around the slab removed leave it clear. It is recommended that you use the slab area to plant as opposed to replacing the slab.
All you need for the job is a couple of bags of gravel and sand, a good spade and lots of energy, the job is easily completed in a weekend and the difference is great.

Roll up roll up Free Plants

Everyone loves a bargain but when you can get sometime for free it is all the better. In the garden there is an abundance of ways to get free plants. Over the next few weeks I’ll be focusing on ways of getting you free plants without too much effort. There are so many ways to propagate plants in your own garden for those of you that have enough time you could almost create enough stock to fully plant a new garden or fill a stand at a local market.
It is also far more environmentally friendly to develop our own garden stock, the production of plant pots and transportation of plants all leave a carbon footprint, domestically and commercially we should be at the forefront of environmental friendliness so by using a few of the methods I’m suggesting over the next few weeks you will help the environment, decrease your spending and with a bit of luck and effort get lots of fabulous free plants!
This week I’m going to start with a method called layering. We use this method for plants that are perhaps more difficult to take and grow cuttings from and I have to say this is one of my favourite methods of propagation.
What we want to do is bend and fix a branch or shoot into the ground, by wounding the stem and covering with soil it should root and produce a new plant, as easy as 123!!
To achieve this take a lower non flowering shoot, it must be healthy, bend the stem until a part of it can reach the ground easily. Take the closest leaf joint and make a slanting cut, go around half way into the stem. You can apply some hormone rooting powder to the joint; shake a small piece of rooting powder onto a piece of paper and dip the joint in the powder. Make a hole in soil about 10cm deep, fill half the hole with 50% grit 50% potting compost, then push the joint down into the hole and fix with a piece of wire. Cover over the stem with potting compost and firm down. The level of the compost should be higher than ground level this will help retain moisture and prevent rotting. The take a cane and tie the loose end of the stem to it. Water in and keep moist during any dry spells.
Plants which propagate this way are Camellia, Amelanchier, Magnolia, Daphne and Skimmias.

Air layering
Another great way to propagate plants is to use the basic method above but instead of being buried in the ground you simply cover the cut portion with damp compost and wrap with polythene. The plant is effectively tricked into producing new roots which gives you new plants. This method works particularly well with Rhododendrons, Magnolias and lilac. Indoor plants can also be propagated this way and bonsai plants also.