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allotment Tasks in the garden

A week of gardening cartoons and tips for May

The worms have pledged to support the ‘Put Pollinators First’ campaign to raise awareness of the decline of insects and bees.

Plant out your sweet peas, they’re hardy enough to withstand a light frost … but will need protection from slugs and snails In this cartoon a worm is upright in the soil with a sweetie twisted around it as if it was a support. The work says: “sweetpeas aren’t fussy, they’ll grow up anything”

The worms have spent some time thinking of tasks in the garden for April and May this week. There’s quite a few to dos, here’s a recap … Happy gardening.

  • Plant out your sweet peas, they’re hardy enough to withstand a light frost … but will need protection from slugs and snails In this cartoon a worm is upright in the soil with a sweetie twisted around it as if it was a support. The work says: “sweetpeas aren’t fussy, they’ll grow up anything”
  • After flowering either prune or leave your ornamental quince to grow its astringent fruits. In this cartoon two worms are looking at ornamental quince fruits on a branch at ground level. One worm explains, “you can eat them, but I find they numb my tongue and contract my throat” The other worm is lying on its back with its mouth wide ope, it just says,”yeeessss”
  • Look out for wilting plants in the garden. These could be signs of being attacked by vine weevil grubs, you can combat this by using biocontrol. This cartoon shows a vine weevil grub under the soil with a worm, the grub has eaten through the roots of the plant, which is wilted on the surface. The worm says, “ I think I’ve found the root of the problem”
  • Identify any poor performing shrubs and perennials, and add the recommended dose of granular or liquid fertiliser. The cartoon shows two worms at the foot of a plant looking at some granular fertiliser sprinkled at the base. One worm says, ”It’s a quick solution to boost flowering”. The other worm says, “ Really? I could swear that’s granular.”
  • April’s the time to pinch out your grapevines to two buds beyond each flower truss. This cartoon show three worms looking at a grapevine with a flower truss. One worm turns the worm at the back and says, “you know what they say, two’s company, three’s a crowd.”
  • making a cold frame guide. This page shows the before and after. Wood on a bench and a cold frame, built and sitting in a raised bed
    cold frame
  • making the frames for a cold frame
    Marlon Fsx 3mm Solid Polycarbonate Clear Sheet 1000 x 500mm
  • showing the frame parts of a cold frame being put together
    A diagram Showing the frame parts of a cold frame being put together
  • Attaching the wooden sides to the frame of the cold frame
    A diagram Showing the frame parts of a cold frame being put together

Wild flower meadows flower for longer due to the diverse range of plants in them. That’s more flowers for you, and more food for the bees and insects. Plant one and join the Gardener’s World Put Pollinators First campaign – raising awareness of the decline of our pollinators @GWmagazine

The Wrigglers have joined the #putpollinators first Campaign

Click to see our ‘Put Pollinators First’ page

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Gardener’s world launched its #putpollinatorsfirst campaign, as part of their 30th Anniversary celebrations of BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine. See what you can do to play your part:

Join in the Gardener’s World team and pledge here

With a panel of pollinator experts, committed to helping bees and other pollinating insects to thrive, Dr Trevor Dines says, ” Since the 1930’s, over 97 percent of our wildflower meadows have been destroyed. That’s 7.5 million acres, gone. Now you can understand why our pollinators are in such trouble.”

There are 3 ideas:

Sow some pollinator meadow seeds

Create habitats for butterflies, moths and caterpillars

Make a cornfield nectar bar

By making a meadow, even on a small scale, we can provide a banquet for pollinators that’ll help them to thrive.

Here are some seed suppliers and links:

Dobies

Thomson and Morgan – how to sow wildflower seeds

RHS – How to grow a mini wild flower meadow

More from the worms

Year-round garden pruning guide

Great advice and full of quick and simple tips too, for example … don’t cut into tender plants or evergreens right now as their top growth provides insulation from penetrating cold.

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