The Gardening Diary

What kind of hedge to plant - Hedgerows are a valuable component of Ireland"s cultural and natural heritage. Hedges have been used as cattle enclosures since early Christian times. By Medieval times many hedges had been planted to enclose "town lands", making town land boundary hedges among the oldest hedges in the country.For many, planting a hedge is as much as statement of style as picking out stone for wall building. Often, stud farms boundaries and stately homes have avenues of beech and laurel native to Ireland.Hedging is all about patience and care. If you are impatient you will want something that jumps up out of the ground such as rocket-like Leylandi or laurel. The good part is they are quick to grow - but anything that grows quickly needs a lot more trimming and maintenance and once they get out of control like Leylandi they don"t like heavy pruning.Personally I prefer holly (jc van toll). A beautiful hedge for winter, it produces clusters of berries and on frosty mornings is quite a picture. There is a security value in having a tight-fitting thorny hedge around your property; combining this with fine gravel around your house means no one can approach without being heard first.Beech hedging and hornbeam are slow to grow and require some feeding to help them along. The purple variety gives crimson shades during spring and keeps its leaves in autumn.The great thing about beech is it requires very little maintenance and is one of the reasons it is used on larger estates due to the little amount of clippings it produces.Red robin (Photinia) creates brilliant displays of new red shoots and can be quite a bold statement if you like to be different. For smaller gardens, box hedging adds a nice air of formality, separating borders from drives and softening the front of house. It is easily maintained but does not like to be cut back too far.Euonymus and various herbs can also be used; rows of lavender or rosemary look amazing when in bloom and have the added bonus of heavenly scent. Hedges and trees can increase property values by anything from 5-20 per cent. If you are building a new home and landscaping it you will find that indigenous species like blackthorn, hazel, holly and elder, to name but a few, may be required as part of the planning permission..Hedging for you - Fast growing ….Leylandi / laurel / berberis / lonicera, photinia.Slow growers …beech /yew / holly /Woodland hedging holly / blackthorn / hazel /Low hedging small gardens, box / lavender/rosemaryWhat to look out for...Snowdrops - The first sight of snowdrops peeping through the undergrowth signals that winter is coming to an end. They flower from January to March with the colder the weather the longer the flowers last. There are over 100 species of Snowdrop (all white) the most common being Galanthus nivalis.They thrive in light shade under deciduous trees or shrubs. It can be hard to cultivate snowdrops from dried bulbs, the best way is to purchase them 'in the green' still in full leaf but after flowering.The same applies to when you can divide clumps to transplant to other parts of your garden. There are several varieties currently in flower in the walled garden at Belvedere.Gardening tips... It"s a good time to service that lawnmower and don"t be afraid to give the lawn a trim. It"s better to keep it at a nice height than to tackle it in late spring when it"s too long. Remember golf clubs cut the greens all year round to keep them neat.In order to tackle that garden get inspired. Visit some local gardens and draw up a plan, setting some goals like building a water feature or introducing lighting .When buying plants make sure you harden them off. Flowers look great in garden centres but require that you introduce them outside over a period of time a bit like the way we dip our toes into the water before we jump in.Water winter and early spring flowers especially those in tubs under roofs and canopies. The wind can dry out tubs just like clothes on a washing line.When planting up pots using compost, mix some natural soil into the pot at the surface as compost alone dries out too quickly in sun.Grow your own... This week get organized - Collect plastic bottles and make bottle cloches, these are a cheap and efficient way of protecting seedlings and having early vegetables.Buy your seed potatoes now if you haven"t already got them. Put them on a seed tray and cover with a couple of sheets of newspaper to encourage sprouting before planting outside. If planting into the open have well-dug prepared soil with no stones and make into ridges.Remember that later on the potatoes will have to be 'earthed up' which consists of covering the top of the ridge with extra soil to protect the young tubers from pests and the sun.A general rule of thumb was plant your potatoes on St Patrick"s Day and you can eat them on the 12th of July. There is nothing more rewarding than harvesting your new potatoes and boiling and eating with butter. If short of space potatoes can be grown in buckets or deep pots.Rhubarb plants can be "forced" in early February to produce a crop of delicious, slim, and pale pink stems. If you have fruit trees, cut away grass at ground level and dress with some organic chicken manure pellets. Feed the soil with some manures and fertilizers from the gardencentre.This week... This week we talk about composting as it is a great way to reduce household green waste and convert it back into the vegetable cycle.What is composting and how does it work? Composting is the breakdown of organic material, such as kitchen or garden waste, by organisms in a controlled environment. Bacteria, fungi, worms and beetles are some of the organisms that cause breakdown or decomposition.These organisms bring about decomposition by feeding on organic material. Organic material is anything that was once living. For instance flowers, trees, grass, fruit and vegetables, eggshells, tea, coffee, are all organic and will decompose. Do not use raw or cooked food or a lot of newspaper. Composting of organic waste from your kitchen is a relatively simple process that can be carried out in your own garden. The result is compost, a dark, nutrient-rich soil conditionerHave a covered bucket in your kitchen where you collect waste for composting and transfer to large composter outside in your garden. The compost bin outside can sit on open ground for the benefit of worms etc however if pests (rodents) are a problem in your area place on a hard surface. There is a useful leaflet on composting produced by Westmeath County Council and it can be found on www.westmeathcoco.ie/media/compostingathome.pdf.Compost bins are available at a reduced price of €40 from Mullingar Recycling Centre, (044) 9344155 or you can construct your own.. Composting as well as providing valuable nutrients for your garden reduces your refuse collection and makes good economic sense.