Gardening: Weekend Work

Gardening: Weekend Work

STANDARD TREES planted last winter may, curiously enough, be suffering from lack of water. The windy conditions of the past few weeks have put those in exposed positions under pressure from excess evaporation, because it is unlikely that they have yet grown extensive root systems. It may seem expensive, if your water is metered, to put a couple of gallons (10 litres) of water round the roots each week until the autumn rains, but it will be cheaper, and less depressing, than having to replace the trees themselves this autumn.

THIS IS a good moment to feed your roses with a general fertiliser to encourage a fine second flush of flowers. When you deadhead spent blooms, remove no more than the top few inches of stem; the plant needs its leaves for good growth.

THIS CAN be a torrid time for brassicas. Caterpillars have been doing their worst to the leaves of cabbages and cauliflowers, and should be either removed by hand or killed with a contact insecticide containing permethrin. Put brassica "collars" round young brassica plants to stop the cabbage root fly from laying its eggs at soil level, and the resulting larvae chewing the roots.