麻豆社

Summer raspberries flower and fruit on last year鈥檚 growth. Right now the plants should look like a mix of dead canes (with old fruit on) and brand new shoots which are green and full of vigour. Cut back your old dead canes completely leaving no stub and then deal with remaining green canes.

Reduce the number of green canes from each plant so four to eight vigorous shoots remain with space between. Secure the remaining canes onto a strong support (posts, wires or other structures) by tying them in individually, or as Monty does, by weaving one long piece of string around each cane on a wire. The tied-in canes of summer fruiting raspberries will produce fruit next year.听

If your raspberry canes are still green and producing fruit it鈥檚 more likely you have autumn fruiting plants. Keep harvesting until the fruit stops and in the winter when the plant is dormant, cut to ground level, these will then shoot from the base next year and fruit on the top of this growth.

听(飞飞飞.谤丑蝉.辞谤驳.耻办)

Horatio's Garden
The Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre
Salisbury District Hospital

Horatio鈥檚 Garden has become an essential part of life in the hospital鈥檚 spinal treatment centre. It is designed by Cleve West complete with smooth running paths wide enough to take a hospital bed and clever perennial planting. The result is听a garden which can be enjoyed by all throughout the year.听

Horatio鈥檚 Garden will be open for the National Garden Scheme in July 2015; please see the link to the right for more information. For information on the garden, and the charity which supports it and other spinal unit gardens, see the link below.

(www.horatiosgarden.org.uk)

British bluebells, (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) developed in isolation for around 8,000 years on the British Isles, becoming graceful pendulous spring plants of an intense blue hue. In 1683 the Spanish bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica) was introduced and started to undo the isolation, hybridising with it and making it more erect, lighter and more vigorous than our native wildflower.听

To ensure the remaining populations of the UK native bluebell are conserved there are now laws protecting the native plants and their sale. The main threats however come from habitat loss and hybridisation. To help prevent hybridisation and therefore the loss of the English Bluebell, try not to plant Spanish bluebells or hybrids anywhere near native populations.听

, Hyacinthoides non-scripta ()

Choose strong straight shoots of semi-ripe material (growth from this year which is going woody at the base but still soft at the top) and cut to around 10-15cm (听4-6 inches). Prepare the cuttings by removing the lower leaves by a third, plunge the cuttings around the edge of a container filled with free-draining compost. Place outside (or on a warm bench to encourage quicker rooting) and听water. In spring check for roots emerging from the base of pots before potting on.

(www.rhs.org.uk)

听

Whilst it鈥檚 still warm, you can ripen tomatoes in the greenhouse on the plant. Remove leaves so the sun can warm fruits. If temperatures inside or out drop below 17-21oC it鈥檚 unlikely the tomatoes will ripen. In this case remove the whole plant (remove soil from roots), trusses or individual fruits and ripen indoors in the warm away from direct sunlight. If they still aren鈥檛 turning then try placing a ripe banana on or near the fruits, this will introduce more ethylene (the natural gas which is associated with fruit ripening). Finally, if the fruits haven鈥檛 fully developed and are quite hard and green they may never ripen but don鈥檛 worry, they make great ketchups, chutneys and sauces!

听 (www.rhs.org.uk)

Even though there鈥檚 a change in season there are still new buds developing on flowering plants. Remove the heads down to a side shoot or new bud to encourage the new bud to burst. Don鈥檛 forget however, this will prevent the plant seeding, so remember to keep some heads of plants you wish to collect next year鈥檚 seed from.

(ww.rhs.org.uk)

听