In the Garden with Old Diggit

Blog written by Old Diggit and Posted by Admin

Diggit get it! Well I have been asked to write a blog on Gardening and Wellbeing for all you hard working Medics out there so here goes!

Gardening and gardens can make you feel better - Fact - and anyone anywhere can enjoy and its stress busting power.

Got a Garden? Great

No Garden? No Problem

Garden Centres and DIY Stores closed? So what!

Here a just a few simple Lockdown gardening tips that will help you relax and enjoy your downtime.

Spring has sprung, the birds are singing and nesting, everything is bursting into life so there lots we can do out there.

This week I have been mowing lawns, weeding, mulching flower beds and borders and even washing the flower pots!

If you have a garden you can order seeds on line. Pumpkins and Courgettes are easy to grow and great fun for children (they might even want to eat them!) They are frost tender so start them off in a cold frame or windowsill, germination is 10-14 days and plant them out when danger of frost has gone, and mid-May should be about right. This year I am growing a variety of Courgette called BLACK FOREST, it’s a climber so it can be trained up canes or grown in a 12inch pot on the balcony or patio. Just keep it watered and feed weekly with a

liquid tomato fertiliser

Another easy and rewarding plant to grow is Sweetcorn, again one seed per pot indoors or direct in the ground now. Just plant them in a block rather than a row so they self-pollinate one another. You will have sweet and juicy cobs to boil or barbecue later in the summer (lockdown permitting!) and they have much more flavour and sweetness than any from the shop. Best seeds to buy are F1 hybrids; much more reliable.

And what about home grown runner beans, again easy to grow and they make a striking display grown up bamboo canes in the veg patch or even as a wigwam in a flower border. They are greedy feeders and drinkers (sound familiar?) so for bigger crops add lots of organic matter when planting and keep watering and constantly pick when the pods are young, much tastier than if you let them get big and stringy.

Now for summer flowers, the garden centres are closed but you can still get bedding plants for borders, tubs and planters. You will find many mail order companies online offering Plug Plants, these are mini versions of all the Flowering Plants you would usually buy in May and June from garden centres. They are easy to grow on indoors and are great value compared to full size ones from nurseries. Money saving and rewarding!

I have ordered Bizzie Lizzie, Fuchsia, Geraniums, Cosmos, Petunia and Lobelia. Thompson and Morgan are my suppliers but there are many other reliable outlets for plugs.

Well that’s about all from Old Digget for this Blog, next time perhaps we will look at thoughts on wellbeing and the garden and more ideas on how to entertain those kiddies in the great outdoors.

Until then work hard, stay safe and keep your distance!

Old Diggit