Anna Pavord: Weekend work

The weekend ahead

Friday 14 March 2008 21:00 EDT
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What to do

* Mulch the ground where lily of the valley and Solomon's seal grow with well-rotted compost. This is more easily done before the new shoots are through the ground than after. Mushroom compost, a by-product of the mushroom growing industry, is excellent for jobs such as this and is friable and weed-free.

* Prune and train ornamental vines such as Vitis coignetiae and 'Brant' growing on walls and pergolas. On pergolas, you can wrap long growths round the poles, securing them with soft string. On walls, you should train out growths so that they do not cross over each other, fixing the stems at intervals with galvanised vine eyes.

* Hoe gently between rows of winter-planted garlic to loosen soil that has got beaten down and sour during the heavy rain of the last couple of months. Do the same between early rows of broad beans. Feed if necessary with an all-round fertiliser such as Growmore.

* Sow seed of herbaceous perennials such as lupin, delphinium, statice, thalictrum, primrose (I've just sown an old-fashioned mix of primroses called 'Cottage Pastels), violas and pansies.

* Repot indoor plants such as asparagus fern, aspidistra, and succulents of all kinds, giving them if possible, a pot one size larger than the one they were previously growing in.

What to see

* More than three million viewers watched Carol Klein in Grow Your Own Veg on television and the Royal Horticultural Society is hoping that just as many people will get actively involved in growing their own food this season. This year the spotlight is on urban gardens and ways of growing fruit and vegetables in tubs and window boxes. Pick up a Grow Your Own Veg leaflet at an RHS garden, such as Wisley, which gives details of special open days in March. Alternatively, visit the website www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables where you can subscribe to a monthly newletter, full of growing tips and recipes.

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