Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2012 | Page 102

Gardening with Tina All I am going to say about the past two months is that there was a distinct lack of Pimms moments. My early strawberries produced a wonderful crop, and everywhere is looking extremely verdant. Unfortunately many tender plants needing higher temperatures have struggled to grow. I know several T in a H ug he s trai ne d as a profession al ga rd en er afte r leav in g school a nd spent a su m m er w orki in Tu sca ny as a n E ng ng lis h Ga rd en er. Sh e ha s a N at io na l D ip lo m a in Horticu lt ure. crops of runner beans to a All for lawn combination of cold and the As the days shorten, lawns benefit from some attention. ravenous hordes of slugs and The two essential treatments are scarifying, to remove the snails that are flourishing at layer of grass clippings known as thatch which encourages the moment. St Swithin’s Day disease and makes the lawn susceptible to both drought was dry so I’m keeping my and waterlogging. Unless your lawn is tiny a powered fingers firmly crossed that scarifier does the best job. The next step is aeration using we can finally enjoy some a garden fork to make holes after scarifying to relieve sunshine. compaction in areas that are walked over frequently to people have lost their entire improve drainage. Worn areas can be re-seeded using a mixture of potting compost and lawn seed. Do you have a qu estion? If you have a question, need some advice or even a suggestion for an article then please email: [email protected] A prickly proble m Help to stop ou r hedgehogs disappearing. Take a look at www. hedgehogstreet .org which give s lots of advice and the chance to become a Hed gehog Champi on. Sounds intrigui ng. 102 www.visitislandlife.com