In the Garden with Nell Carr

OCTOBER 2017 | Nell Carr

IT SEEMS strange that while farmers on the East Coast of our small island were suffering from a severe lack of rain in late September, the West and North were “enjoying” quite wet conditions.

This is excellent weather for spring pastures, but not so good if we want to get on with our spring vegetable sowing.

A look at the sowing list for October shows that the only seeds which cannot be sown this month are broad beans.  The list does include dwarf and climbing beans, but in our cool districts it is advisable to wait until the soil is warmer in November.  Autumn sown broad beans should be setting pods by early October.

Raspberries - By September, canes should have been lifted and divided and replanted with plenty of old manure, some potash, and a layer of straw between the rows.  Any old fruiting canes from last season which missed the pruners can now be detected, as they have no budding shoots, so can be cut off at ground level.

Geraniums - Cranesbills, the true Geraniums - as distinct from the frost tender Pelargoniums - begin flowering in September/October. Geranium sanguineum, the Bloody Cranesbill, pictured, (so called because the deeply cut foliage turns blood red in winter), makes a good ground cover on a dry sunny bank. G. pratense, the Blue Meadow Cranesbill, disappears over winter, but sends up single stemmed flowers of pure blue or white in late spring.

Photo | Nell Carr