Rachels Tips

IN THE GARDEN

During dry spells check newly – planted deciduous trees and hedges, water them if necessary.  It is important that they do not dry out particularly for the first year or two.
Now is the time to prune rose hedges.  Remove any dead or weak wood and shorten remaining growth by about a third.  Afterwards spray with a fungicide
as a precaution against mildew and blackspot.  Remember your roses should be pruned before St. Patrick's Day so if you have not done it your late, do it right away.
Hedges that may not be doing so well can be stimulated with a mulch of well - rotted manure, chicken manure or a general fertiliser.

Vegetables
Sow onions and parsnips first followed by lettuce, broad beans, peas, radishes and scallions at 10-12 day intervals. 1.25cm (1/2 inch) drills suit most small seeds, sowing the peas on the flat a little deeper than the rest.  French beans could be sown in cold frames in prepared soil.

Fruit
Fruit trees recently planted should be kept free of grass and weeds at their base.
A mulch of farmyard manure is invaluable.  Raspberry canes recently planted should be reduced to about 45cm (18 inch).  In established raspberries cut out last year's canes that produced fruit to ground level and tie in the new canes produced since, they are the canes that will carry this year's crop.
If you have not any strawberries think about planting some runners now. In theory you should not pick fruit this year but you might be tempted to leave
one or two flowers to test the flavour.
Rhubarb stools should be planted now, it's such an easy crop to grow and you will get a wonderful return from just one rhubarb stool.  No garden is too small for rhubarb.
Horseradish (which I think looks like a big Dock leaf) can be planted now.  This like mint must be controlled or it will take over the garden.  Plant it in a large bottomless pot or bucket.