If it is a regular problem it is probably because there is not a suitable pollinating partner in the vacinaty. With the exception of “Conference” which can pollinate itself, all pears need another tree from the same pollination group nearby. This means it will be in flower at the same time and the bees can transfer pollen from one to the other with just a short flight in between. This will cause the fruit to set once it has give the fruit trees roots a generous liquid feed of a high potash fertilser, like tomato feed with added seaweed.continue reading Tend to Pears

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A sheltered sunny and warm spot will encourage growth and fruiting.

Melons originate from tropical regions, but it is possible to grow them in the UK. The key to success with melons is to start them off indoors, before planting them out in late May or early June. Sow the seeds on their sides they are less likely to rot
away, (1/2″) deep in (3″) pots filled with sieved potting compost.

Put a clear plastic bag over each pot securing with string or rubber band, then place them in a sunny position. Remove the bags once the seedlings have emerged, and keep the potting compost moist but not wet.

Preparing outside melon plot

Choosing a good site for the melons is essential, a sheltered sunny warm spot will make a huge difference to growth and fruiting. The soil should be free draining, as the tender plants hate to sit in cold wet ground. You will need to dig in well rotted homemade compost and add fertilizer to the area.

Once temperatures have increased and the risk of frost has passed you can plant the melon seedlings outside, taking care not to damage the roots. Given the right conditions the plants should start growing straight away, if temperatures are low at night cover with horticultural fleece. Once the melon plants start to flower give them a weekly liquid feed of high potash fertilizer like tomato feed with added seaweed.

Take a look at a selection of melon seeds from our vegetable seeds department

• Cardboard and newspaper Both flattened cardboard and whole opened out newspapers weighted down to keep them in place, will last for one growing season as they rot down quite quickly.

• Compost A (3-5″) layer makes a good mulch, however if the compost is too fine, it may be washed away in the rain.

• Grass clippings A good mulching material but make sure it is well matured, grass clippings can generate alot of heat as they rot down. Which can scorch young plants that are planted near by.

• Hay Well matured hay makes a great mulch, the only disadvantage is that it tends to contain weed seeds.

• Leaf Mould A (4″) layer of rotted down leaves provides a good organic barrier against weeds. When they are added to the ground in the autumn, add lots of organic matter to build up a good soil structure.

• Mulch membranes Geotextiles (water and air can get through) are man made  membranes that can easily be fastened to the ground with wire pegs. Lasting up to15 years when covered with an additional loose mulch. You can not plant through them though and they arethe most expensive option.

• Pine needles A (4-6″) layer this acidic substance provides a good mulch around other acid loving plants.

• Straw Great when well matured for use around vegetables and strawberries as it contains few weed seeds. Use a (6-8″) layer to prevent light reaching the soil.

The easiest way to turn a kitchen garden into a colourful paradise is to grow flowers along with vegetables. Many vegetables have flowers you can eat EG: beans, peas, members of the allium family ( onions, chives and leeks), brassicas, squashes, chicories, salsify, scorzonera, corn salad and many more. Herbs to such as thyme, fennel, lavender and rosemary are a rich source of flavoured blooms. Along with these add a list of edible flowering plants from the common place nasturtium to the exotic yucca and the choice is huge.

Anise hyssop

This erect branching plant boasts lovely,dense spikes of lavender flowers ( occasionally pink or white in colour) in summer up to 15cm (6″) long. Bees love it and the gentle aniseed flavour that comes from the leaves and blooms, hence it is used in cooking, salads and for flavouring drinks.

A hardy self seeding perennial dying down in autumn, it will not survive much below -5C (23F), unless it is protected. In mild climates, sow in situ in autumn, but in cooler areas start the tiny seed off indoors in spring, planting in a sunny place in early summer 45cm (18″) apart. It will flower in its first season. Cut the flower spikes as they fade to encourage a second flush. (more…)

If you are heating your greenhouse during the colder months, its a good idea to insulate it to cut down on wasted energy. Affix a layer of transparent plastic to the framework , leaving a gap of around (1 inch) 2.5cm between the material and the glass. The space creates an air pocket which reduces heat loss.

Taping a layer of bubble wrap to the frame work is another good form of insulation, but it will reduce the amount of light which enters the greenhouse, so could lead to weak and leggy plants. Consider just insulating the side which faces prevailing winds, that way you can still protect crops from the chilling weather, but adequate light should still reach them.

Before you put up insulation check that there are not any cracks or broken panes of glass, which would contribute to heat loss. Clean the panels to make sure that the maximum amount of light will enter the greenhouse, then make sure that your heater is working properly. (more…)

The most obvious benefit of having your own greenhouse is the growing season is extended beyond the first frosts, of winter and the last frosts of spring. This is particularly useful if, like thousands of gardeners every year, you are tempted  by the delights on display at the garden center early in the year, which are too vulnerable to be put out in the garden until the risk of frost has passed.

It is simply not practical to protect each individual betting plant with fleece, yet if you wait until latter in the season the best plants have sold out. Greenhouses and frames offer the perfect solution, providing an environment for hardening off, gradually acclimatising plants to the elements prior to planting out. Favorite tender plants may also be safely over wintered.

For most gardeners propagation remains the impetus for buying a greenhouse. Although it will take time to repay the initial investment, great savings can be made by creating new stock in large numbers. The satisfaction in producing your own plants is immense and the techniques are essentially very simple. (more…)

An important job on any plot is to determine the soil type.Once you have done that you can work out what it needs to stay in good condition and the crops you can grow successfully. Most soils are a mixture of sand, silt and clay, but to determine exactly what type you have, you can find out yourself by picking up a handful of earth.

If it feels loose light and runs easily through your fingers, it is a sandy soil, if it is heavy damp and can be rolled in a ball, it has a high clay content.If it feels like something between those two types, its mostly silt and if it molds into your hand, but crumbles when it is squeezed then it is loam.

Clay soil can initially be hard to deal with, it is heavy sticky and difficult to dig.During the winter months it can become waterlogged, while in the summer it can get hard and dense, excluding air from the soil, which makes it difficult to get water to the roots.

The advantage of this kind of earth is that it is naturally high in nutrients, so once you have made it more workable by digging it over, you should get good results from any crops you grow in it.

Sandy soil is easy to dig over and is made from large particles, so while it is unlikely to become waterlogged.Nutrients will be easily washed away with the rain and in the summer it may dry out.

Silty earth is also free draining and easy to work but it is low in nutrients.As it is made up of fine grains it is easily compacted, both after heavy rain or if you walk on it.If your soil is chalky it is easy to spot due to its white clumps of chalk and flint.It is naturally free draining which means it tends to dry out in summer.

The ideal type to work with is a loamy soil it is well balanced, rich in organic matter and nutrients, crumbly and easy to dig.It retains moisture and will not dry out too much in the hot weather, but it is also well drained so it will not become waterlogged either.It is posible to create this type of soi, by adding organic matter to your plot over a long piriod of time.

Most of your soil is made up of mineral ( rock ) while the remainder is comprised of air, water and organic matter ( humus ).The latter is the most important part the more organic matter the ground contains the better quality it is.

Usually the mineral content determines your soils acidity or alkalinity, which is measured on a PH scale of one to fourteen.Up to six indicates an acidic ground, seven is neutral, while anything above is alkaline.Kits are available from nurseries or garden centers that will give you a basic reading of the PH in your soil.

You can then grow crops which will tollerate that particular level, or work on altering it by digging in organic matter like compost.Most crops do well with a PH reading of around 6.5, while some plants like rhubarb and carrots prefer an acidic soil.So you may need to alter the PH to suit them by adding lime to the soil.

The general rule is that if your plants are growing, flowering, and fruiting well, the levels in your soil are fine.Too high or too low a PH can result in yellow stunted plants which are more prone to pest and disease attack.

Look at a wide range of gardening Products from MyGardenCenterOnline

Blueberries are delicious to eat, make an attractive garden plant and are classed as a “superfood”.They contain antioxidants which keep your eyes healthy, have anti ageing benifits and can help protect against cancer.

Whats more apart from the loss of berries to birds the blueburry plant is relatively pest and disease free.

When growing blueberries it is important to remember that they need an acidic soil with a PH between 4.5-5.5 to thrive.If you discover that your soil is naturally alkaline dig a hole where you want the blueberry plant to be situated, and add a mixture of “sulphate of iron” with home made or multi purpose compost.

If you are planting blueberries in the ground dig in some composted bark first, then trim off the tips of the branches and remove flower buds so that the plant establishes strong roots in its first year.Space the blueberry bushes 1.5 metres (5 ft) apart, once you have planted the blueberries sprinkle a handful of “sulphate of iron” around the plants, water in well and add a mulch of leaf mould.

Alternatively you can grow blueberries in containers filled with ericaceous compost. Position the container in a shelterd position in full sun or partial shade to encourage pollinating insects to the vicinity.

Although some varieties are self fertile introducting another type as a pollinating partner will help to increase the yield.So it is worth including as least two blueberry bushes in your garden.Blueberries need to be kept moist throughout the growing season, so water them little and often with rainwater if possible ( its naturally acidic).

Varietities to try “Bluecrop” clusters of white flowers are followed by juicy fruit from late July onwards has a good resistance to drought. “Earliblue” the earliest ripening blueberry produces light blue sweet fruit which hang in medium size clusters from mid July onward.”Sunshine Blue” a dwarfing self fertile variety which is ideal for growing in containers and small gardens.

Here is another great post on planting blueberries called Blueberry season! by Amy Stewart on her blog called Dirt

You may decide you would like a fruit tree in your garden Look at a wide range of Garden Fruit Trees  and Garden Containers Planters and Pots  from MyGardenCenterOnline

Choosing your Tree

selecting varieties with a higher level of disease resistance is the fist step to starting an organic orchard.Growing organically means you have fewer options to fall back on if things go wrong.

Bear in mind the weather conditions of the area where you live when choosing which variety of fruit tree you purchase.Areas with average rain fall of more than 1 metre (3 ft) a year, are prone to plant diseases due to wet conditions.

In very windy areas consider making a windbreak to stop airbourne spores and pests from reaching your fruit crop, alder or holy make excellent hedges and harbour few diseases.

Most fruit trees must cross pollinate to bear fruit, plant them in pairs two different varieties which bloom at the same time.

Positioning

Most organic grown trees will tolerate a wide range of soils provided they are well drained and ideally have a PH range of 6.5 -6.7 although this is not essential.Always choose the sunniest position possible as warmth is required to promote the ripening of the wood, which is vital for bud development.Avoid hollows or slopes which may form fost pockets which will effect your fruit trees crop.

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A perennial needs at least a year before it flowers properly and that is when some gardeners get impatient. In year two, although you get some show of flowers, you will still not be impressed and might start to wonder why you chose perennials. That feeling totally changes, however, with the explosion of color in year three. That is when you will start to regret the extra plants you put in because the first ones did not seem to be doing anything.

Once your perennials are established it will seem very easy just to sit back and admire your work, but you will have no time for that. Perennials do not last for ever, and the definition of the term is one that lasts for more than two years. As some die away you will have to remove and replace them with fresh plants. You can even move them about the garden since perennials are ideal for replanting. In fact many gardeners have a space set aside for starting off new garden perennials in a variety of colors that they can use later for filling in gaps as plants die. This avoids them having to wait until the plants mature. Garden Perennials Provide a Riot of Color

Look at a wide range of Perennials from MyGardenCenterOnline including Ajuga, Aster, Astilbe, Black Eyed Susan, Canna, Clematis, Columbine, Coneflower, Coral Bells, Coreopsis, Daylily, Dianthus, Diascia, Geranium, Hibiscus, Hosta, Lobelia, Lungwort, Mullein, Ornamental Grass, Penstemon, Peony, Phlox, Salvia, Scabiosa, Sedum, Thyme, Tiarella, Verbena, Veronica and Yarrow.