Page 38 - Simply Veg 1 2024

Dahlia cuttings ready for taking
mine till April. I plant mine 12 inches (30 cm,) apart in a trench and put a layer of lawn mowing’s in the base which helps to prevent scab disease.
This is the last month for planting bare root fruit trees and bushes. If you buy them from a garden centre, though, they will be in pots. These can be planted any time because there is no root disturbance. I described how to plant them in January.
So much for planting but there are other jobs to do it is a good idea to give established fruit trees a feed at this time of the year, just a general fertiliser raked into the soil round the tree and watered in.
Brassicas sown in 3 inch pots
38 Simply Vegetables
If you grow perennial flowers, you could increase your stock by splitting up the clumps and re-planting them. Prepare the ground first by raking in some fertiliser. Some may also need staking.
If you planted your dahlia tubers in boxes in February, as I suggested, and put them in a propagator or on a warming bench
to start them into growth, there may be cuttings ready for taking. The same applies to boxes of chrysanth stools. If you didn’t start them off in February there is still time to do so but, of course, your cuttings will be later. Cuttings of dahlias and Chrysanths are taken the same way about 3 inches(7.5
cm,) long, cut just below a leaf joint, the end dipped in rooting powder and inserted in compost in trays or pots and given some bottom heat to help them root.
I mentioned tidying the strawberry bed last month but if you didn’t do so, there is still time to do it.
I have said before that bush roses can be pruned any time between November and March, but this is the traditional time for doing it. Cut out any dead branches and prune the others by half to an outward pointing bud.