This should start about two weeks before you plan to plant out. Make sure the greenhouse does not over heat by providing adequate ventilation and shading. Damping down may be necessary in hot, sunny weather. Tie in new growth on tomatoes and cucumbers and pinch out side shoots. Plants that are in containers will need watering several times a day in warm weather in the greenhouse. Make your life easier by installing an automatic watering system. Feed all actively growing plants with a suitable liquid feed.
Stay vigilant for the first signs of pests such as aphids, spider mites and whitefly and diseases such as botrytis and take appropriate action promptly. On a warm day in late spring or early summer plant up your pond or add new plants to an existing feature. This is an ideal time to refurbish overgrown or neglected ponds. Clear excessive growth of blanket weed using a rake or bamboo cane and leave it on the side for a day or two to allow any trapped pond creatures to escape back into the water.
Use a small net to remove duck weed. Divide and replant any overgrown plants. During hot and windy spells keep the water levels topped up in ponds and in the reservoirs of all water features. Make success ional sowings of salad crops to maintain a continuous supply. Thin or transplant previous sowings. By early summer it is safe to plant our last of the tender vegetables, such as French green and runner beans. Be prepared to protect them with a double layer of horticultural fleece in colder areas if a late frost is forecast.
Place a mulch layer of straw under strawberry rows to prevent the fruit touching the soil and rotting. This will also prevent mud splash in heavy rain. Cover the plants with bird proof netting before the fruits start to ripen. Continue to earth up around emerging shoots and cover with a double layer of fleece on cold nights to protect them from frosts. By midsummer early potatoes will be ready for harvesting. Peg down runners from healthy plants to form new plants. Grow directly into the bed or into pots filled with moist compost suck rim deep into the soil. The cottage garden, shown in early summer, is full of freshness and vitality as the borders begin to fill out with lush vegetation and flowers.
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