Gardening: Enjoy the art of plant swapping

Having too many young plants at this time of year is the equivalent of a football manager having selection problems. There are always flowers we want to plant but don’t have the space.

This is when it’s invaluable to have gardening acquaintances with the same problem. Swapping plants helps you reduce your stockpile and also introduce new species, height and colour.

It’s far too easy to stick to what you know. Sometimes the lottery of someone else’s knowledge opens up a whole new genre.

This week while giving away Nicotiana ‘white trumpets’, I was handed back (a bit too quickly!) Amaranthus ‘hot biscuit’. I'm now mildly obsessed with different amaranthus as a result and didn't realise it has even been described as a ‘super food’.

It may seem a pointless exercise transplanting young healthy plants into what can only be described as dust but in actual fact it’s easier to pop plants in as long as you water the hole before and after planting.

If you have a smaller area and no room for growing annuals then it can be fun to walk round a garden centre choosing a pot to fill with any of the off the shelf plants.

Choose a tall plant for the middle or back such as agapanthus and plant smaller colourful plants around it like osteospermum, asters, cornflower ‘black ball’, scabiosa or statice which goes on forever. Doing this will transform a barren concrete corner and be daily uplifting until the flowers go over and you can put something else in their place.

It’s also time to plant wallflowers so they’re ready to flower in early spring. Water a narrow drill you've made by drawing your finger across the soil and plant a thin line of the seeds before covering with soil and keeping watered. You can move them to where they’re needed early next year.

Another bonus of the arid conditions is that the dreaded weeds are also finding it hard to make a living. This means time previously spent weeding can be given over to careful watering at the roots.

ON THE PLOT

The veg patch should be looking glorious right now with a harvest every time you potter down there.

It’s important not to ignore the compost heap so give it a turn over with a fork to distribute the moisture and bacteria to hasten up the decomposition process. It can be a smelly job so wellies and gloves are a good tip.

Sweetcorn, French beans and Brussels are all ready to fend for themselves now so can go out and be watered daily until they’re big and strong.

Tomatoes will need their annual nipping off of the side shoots to promote more fruit growth. It’s easy to do when the plants are this age and they are growing so quickly. You only need to do this once a week by pulling off side shoots that grow from the main branches.

Do this by hand as it helps the plant recover better by forming scar tissue. Side shoots appear at the apex of the main stem and trusses (stems that contain the flowers). Flowers mean fruit so we need to look after them and focus the plant on developing that area. You really want a bumper crop of tomatoes as they’re so versatile but also as they can be labour intensive. Soon they'll need feeding twice a week when the fruit starts to appear.

It's not only the plants that need water in this heat so it's a good thing to put out a bowl of water for mammals and to keep the bird baths filled up if you can. I've also noticed that bird feeders are being emptied at an alarming rate too so refilling them helps the busy sparrows with their version of a big shop.