Gardening with Pat Duke: 'tis the Caulifl-hour!

In the garden

May is the time when planting outside becomes a realistic proposition and gardening starts to become a more mainstream activity for anyone with outdoor space. The hardcore fraternity have been slogging away all winter but by the time May arrives, even a small child can scatter some seeds with success. 

Unless you are a lawn geek and wake up in the night at the thought of a single weed taking hold it’s a good idea to leave the lawn alone until the end of May and adhere to ‘no mow May’. This gives the bees and other pollinators a higher percentage of survival and in turn your flowers, trees and vegetables too.

White clover, daisies and selfheal will provide enough nectar to feed ten times the number of beneficial insects than if the grass was cut. Lawns left to grow have a wide diversity of plants that bees in particular need. Bees use specific plants as healing medication too. 

Many gardeners are devotees of this movement and only cut their lawns monthly during the summer as a result. Anecdotally at least, more people seem to be reverting to using a scythe or a simple hook rather than a strimmer which is in the long run less work and the time you save can be spent on other nurturing tasks like hand weeding or watering/feeding. 

On a more vertical trajectory, clematis needs to be trained into a climbing structure before it starts to form a heavy bush and drunkenly slump forward. This simple task is a quick win and is often a therapeutic job where you can listen to the overjoyed birds and grateful humming of pollinators while you weave flimsy green stems upwards. 

Although they are proficient climbers, they will need something to climb on. Trellis, a fence or a simple structure of bamboo canes will see them go wherever you direct them to and slowly fill in their soft clouds of hot pink and striking blue clusters of flowers. 

On the Plot

There is an array of vegetables that can be sown directly outdoors now. It’s the last window for brassicas that have a longer growing season. 

Purple sprouting can’t be missed to be ready next February when there is little to lift the spirits. 

Cauliflower, sprouts and cabbages can be sown by running a bamboo cane along the bed to make a small drill. Plant them so you can get a hoe in between and you’ll be thankful later in the season that you are not on your hands and knees under a cabbage bed. 

Plant sweetcorn in a block or grid system. This is necessary as they are wind pollinated. If you can, do this with a small relative as it's a great way to get them into growing their own food and knowing where food comes from. It grows quite quickly and is great to eat. You could even dry the corn to make popcorn with them. 

Don’t miss the chance to grow herbs in a bed somewhere. Coriander, chives, parsley and fennel will thrive given some sunshine. These are pretty hardy but the more woody seedings like thyme, rosemary and the sage family will still need protection until that icy wind is a distant memory. 

Protect the potato crop by earthing up and dragging soil around the base of plants to ensure any lingering frost does n’t freeze the tubers. 

Root crops can seem a tad mundane and pedestrian but the holy trinity of beetroot, parsnip and carrots will keep you busy and fed when the more sophisticated veg is long gone later in the autumn. 

Keep hoeing in between seedlings and keep pests off where you can. The prolonged dry spell has been great to keep molluscs at bay but they’ll be back with a vengeance with a drop of rain.