Have you done a soil test, you need alkaline soil for lavenders and brassicas. They shouldn't need potting on now they should all be out. I don’t use any fertilisers anywhere on my garden, just lime the veg patch and homemade compost on the rest.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Can't help with any of the plants but re pots and the cost, it might be worth a shout out on a local Facebook or community social media page to see if anyone has a stack behind their shed that they want rid of, you can sometimes get some quite good sized buckets this way. Also garden centres often have a supply of used ones that they give away or sell cheaply.
As Lyn says, lavender gives up pretty easily in the wrong soil - too much water, too much cold (both a problem this spring) and too acidic all weaken the plant and then pests attack. I can only grow them in pots and I still lose one or two every year.
Peas, in my experience are quite tricky. They won't grow when it's too cold or too wet and then they just turn up their toes when it gets warm. This cold, wet spring and abrupt shift into warmer weather has been exactly what peas don't like - one year in five you get good pea weather - nice mild weather with not too much rain. I grow broad beans and dwarf french beans alongside peas and hope that one out of 3 will give a decent crop, depending on the weather (same principle as growing both runners and climbing french beans - one of them will be ok, as a rule, but rarely both).
Your brassicas need to be in shade and kept cool to get them big enough to plant out before they bolt and yes, nets to keep the bugs (and pigeons) off.
Your sweet peas will be fine if you can get them into a nice deep pot (bucket with some holes drilled in the bottom if you want the budget version)
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Have you done a soil test, you need alkaline soil for lavenders and brassicas. They shouldn't need potting on now they should all be out. I don’t use any fertilisers anywhere on my garden, just lime the veg patch and homemade compost on the rest.
Hi @Lyn ! All the lavender are in pots at the moment - it rains like mad here and until I have suitable ground drainage for them I won't plant them. They are in pots with grit and compost. Broccoli is in the ground, has been a few weeks, everything is later to go out here though due to the climate. I've tried a second batch of broccoli as I suspect I may have planted it too young. I haven't limed the soil either - it's my first year planting anything so rather than lime the soil I wanted to see how they did. I do need to do a soil pH test though and I got a little test kit from the garden centre so will try it
Can't help with any of the plants but re pots and the cost, it might be worth a shout out on a local Facebook or community social media page to see if anyone has a stack behind their shed that they want rid of, you can sometimes get some quite good sized buckets this way. Also garden centres often have a supply of used ones that they give away or sell cheaply.
Thanks @Angelicant I have indeed had a look - no joy however as it seems everyone has had the same idea and second hand job lots are very scare round here I keep looking though as you never know, I am also going to try the garden centre for a cheap load this morning
As Lyn says, lavender gives up pretty easily in the wrong soil - too much water, too much cold (both a problem this spring) and too acidic all weaken the plant and then pests attack. I can only grow them in pots and I still lose one or two every year.
Peas, in my experience are quite tricky. They won't grow when it's too cold or too wet and then they just turn up their toes when it gets warm. This cold, wet spring and abrupt shift into warmer weather has been exactly what peas don't like - one year in five you get good pea weather - nice mild weather with not too much rain. I grow broad beans and dwarf french beans alongside peas and hope that one out of 3 will give a decent crop, depending on the weather (same principle as growing both runners and climbing french beans - one of them will be ok, as a rule, but rarely both).
Your brassicas need to be in shade and kept cool to get them big enough to plant out before they bolt and yes, nets to keep the bugs (and pigeons) off.
Your sweet peas will be fine if you can get them into a nice deep pot (bucket with some holes drilled in the bottom if you want the budget version)
Ah that's really helpful to know all this thanks @raisingirl! I have my lavenders (two bigger ones from last year and multiple small ones from this year) in pots but the big ones I got totally wrong - I put them in compost in pots, and now they've filled them - they clearly need mixed grit and soil, is it possible to break up the plant, like you can with others plants to make multiples, in order to free up the roots a little and get it in a ground bed with lots of grit? I am making a bed for the lavender that is slightly mounded and with plenty of grit in the soil to improve drainage. The soil is topsoil I had to buy so I am guessing it will be fairly neutral but I can check.
Peas are just wrecking my head lol. I read about their temperature needs and it seems this year is not at all what they need - we've a micro climate in our garden different even from what our neighbours have downhill, we are super exposed the the elements and its been so cold until suddenly really warm. Clearly they hate it. Strangely my three broadbeans, while short, are now flowering and may produce something, as are the french beans but those have been inside - should I plant my french beans outside? Again the beds have had manure as a fertiliser added to the soil a few months ago.
It sounds like I got the broccoli very wrong - raised it in the conservatory, planted out at about 6 inches, but they are in full sun out there and its been sunny and hot, so guess that is why they bolted? Definitely need butterfly netting for them, eaten to bits as its in a different part of the garden that has no netting as it wasn't easy to install.
I will pot on the sweet peas, though most are still only about 4 inches, they've been like that for weeks, should I pot them in final position pots and see what happens? Thank you!!
Hi, I will try not to repeat too much of what has already been covered, but here is my advice. I am in the London suburbs, so my conditions are totally different to yours BUT at our Allotments, we think the season was anything from 4 to 6 weeks behind, by the end of May. Things are catching up now. Something that Monty, often stresses, it important to keep plants growing without any checks . You have already worked out when a seed packet says sow in April, you need to take account of the weather and how the season is going. In 2020, everything was early down South. Most food crops take 12-14 weeks from sowing to harvest, though salad crops are faster. I agree completely with growing Runner beans and climbing French beans. If it's cool and damp the runners do best if warm and dry the French beans do better. Sometimes you get lucky with both if we get a wet August. Peas, beans etc do best sown into deep modules such as root trainers, it gives a them a really strong root system to start. Yes you can use too much manure especially if it is not very well rotted down. If your site is very exposed, you might need a shelter belt, to help. Check out Beechgrove garden, it's the Scottish gardening programme, they often have items about gardening in more challenging conditions. I will stop there for now.
Beechgrove is very good, even though I live in Devon I rather go for what Beechgrove has said. It’s a good teaching programme, when you’re just starting out you need lessons, Monty likes to go out and look at other people’s exotic gardens, it’s not what learners want.
Carol Klein is good as well, if you can watch her tv shows that are on at the moment. its very difficult to give someone advise if you can’t see what they’ve done from the start but I hope you’ve got a little bit of info to store for next year.🙂
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Beechgrove is very good, even though I live in Devon I rather go for what Beechgrove has said. It’s a good teaching programme, when you’re just starting out you need lessons, Monty likes to go out and look at other people’s exotic gardens, it’s not what learners want.
Carol Klein is good as well, if you can watch her tv shows that are on at the moment. its very difficult to give someone advise if you can’t see what they’ve done from the start but I hope you’ve got a little bit of info to store for next year.🙂
Thanks @Lyn it is definitely a steep learning curve! I do love Monty and GW, find a lot of great tips, but I've watch Carol's show too and those are super helpful - I just got her growing fruit and veg book so will try that too. I'll check out Beechgrove, I've heard of but never seen
Hi, I will try not to repeat too much of what has already been covered, but here is my advice. I am in the London suburbs, so my conditions are totally different to yours BUT at our Allotments, we think the season was anything from 4 to 6 weeks behind, by the end of May. Things are catching up now. Something that Monty, often stresses, it important to keep plants growing without any checks . You have already worked out when a seed packet says sow in April, you need to take account of the weather and how the season is going. In 2020, everything was early down South. Most food crops take 12-14 weeks from sowing to harvest, though salad crops are faster. I agree completely with growing Runner beans and climbing French beans. If it's cool and damp the runners do best if warm and dry the French beans do better. Sometimes you get lucky with both if we get a wet August. Peas, beans etc do best sown into deep modules such as root trainers, it gives a them a really strong root system to start. Yes you can use too much manure especially if it is not very well rotted down. If your site is very exposed, you might need a shelter belt, to help. Check out Beechgrove garden, it's the Scottish gardening programme, they often have items about gardening in more challenging conditions. I will stop there for now.
Thats brill thanks @Allotment Boy I've been recommended to check out Beechgrove, didn't realise it's Scotland based, that would be much more our climate style, wet and cold and windy lol. I've sown all my peas in beans in much deeper modules, and they all started well, then just stopped. Weather clearly having a toll as well as any mistakes I've made. I think maybe the ground will be better next year - that manure will have rotted and hopefully make much better earth. I'll put together all I've learned and try a few things differently next round and see how it goes
Posts
They shouldn't need potting on now they should all be out.
I don’t use any fertilisers anywhere on my garden, just lime the veg patch and homemade compost on the rest.
Peas, in my experience are quite tricky. They won't grow when it's too cold or too wet and then they just turn up their toes when it gets warm. This cold, wet spring and abrupt shift into warmer weather has been exactly what peas don't like - one year in five you get good pea weather - nice mild weather with not too much rain. I grow broad beans and dwarf french beans alongside peas and hope that one out of 3 will give a decent crop, depending on the weather (same principle as growing both runners and climbing french beans - one of them will be ok, as a rule, but rarely both).
Your brassicas need to be in shade and kept cool to get them big enough to plant out before they bolt and yes, nets to keep the bugs (and pigeons) off.
Your sweet peas will be fine if you can get them into a nice deep pot (bucket with some holes drilled in the bottom if you want the budget version)
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I haven't limed the soil either - it's my first year planting anything so rather than lime the soil I wanted to see how they did. I do need to do a soil pH test though and I got a little test kit from the garden centre so will try it
Peas are just wrecking my head lol. I read about their temperature needs and it seems this year is not at all what they need - we've a micro climate in our garden different even from what our neighbours have downhill, we are super exposed the the elements and its been so cold until suddenly really warm. Clearly they hate it. Strangely my three broadbeans, while short, are now flowering and may produce something, as are the french beans but those have been inside - should I plant my french beans outside? Again the beds have had manure as a fertiliser added to the soil a few months ago.
It sounds like I got the broccoli very wrong - raised it in the conservatory, planted out at about 6 inches, but they are in full sun out there and its been sunny and hot, so guess that is why they bolted? Definitely need butterfly netting for them, eaten to bits as its in a different part of the garden that has no netting as it wasn't easy to install.
I will pot on the sweet peas, though most are still only about 4 inches, they've been like that for weeks, should I pot them in final position pots and see what happens? Thank you!!
Carol Klein is good as well, if you can watch her tv shows that are on at the moment.
its very difficult to give someone advise if you can’t see what they’ve done from the start but I hope you’ve got a little bit of info to store for next year.🙂