Four Parishes Arts Society - March 2008

Preparing The Garden For Summer - by Ray Broughton on Tuesday 11 March

Ray Broughton, from Winchester, has a string of honours, not least O.N.D. Horticulture (Distinction), and is a fellow of the Institute of Horticulture.  He trained at Wisley and has been teaching a wide range of horticultural subjects for over 30 years.  His present post is Senior Lecturer at Sparsholt College, Hampshire.  In September 2000, the Institute of Horticulture awarded Ray Fellowship of the Institute in recognition of his service to horticultural education.

Ray opened his talk by demonstrating how to make a Neutraball to feed hedges and plants:

Lay out 2 segments of good quality kitchen paper.  Place along the length of it some vermiculite then sprinkle on top fertiliser.   Get this mixture into the centre, fold over paper on both sides  and roll up like a ball and secure with two elastic bands.  Plant these next to your plants, bushes and hedges.  Nutrients are released over 2 years and cause no pollution – cost 37p.

With the help of a few samples of various hedges and bushes, Ray demonstrated the best way to trim them.  Leylandii should be cut in April or October but the best time is October when the birds have finished nesting.  The best time to cut Conifers and Hornbeams is between the 20 July and the 20 August.

A slide show followed covering the care of fruit, vegetables, cleaning out of butts, diseases of plants, choosing the right pots for potting on. Most importantly, the correct way to water the lawn e.g. Every 3 days for 10 minutes only!  Therefore don’t over water.   He also advised us how to get rid of lawn moss.  Once the moss is killed, Ray demonstrated the mixture of compost and lawn seed to use for reseeding 10 days after scarifying.  He advised us not to use cheap grass seed, prefering Bents or Festuca seed.  O yes, the best manure for the garden - Bullock’s manure!  If you have Thrip on your tomatoes, hang a blue sticky card over the plants – the Thrips don’t like blue!!  Gooseberries can be grown as cordons, thereby avoiding being scratched when harvesting.  He also went into some detail showing the best way to have a successful compost area.

After coffee Ray was kept busy answering our questions. It was an extremely interesting talk and slide show, learning a lot of very useful tips along the way. So here is to a successful summer in the garden with thanks to Ray’s help and advice.

Diary Dates:  Tuesday 22 April – Coach Visit to Chichester
                     Tuesday 13 May.  Quarley Hall – Kennet Accordion Orchestra