My crab apple in bloom for Easter
So, as usual, the weather this spring is proving to be the gardener’s greatest foe. The warm March weather has brought on some plants, only for them to be hit by the cold spell at the start of April. My newly purchased espalier apple tree was starting to come into bud but with the weather forecast predicting more frost I was worried they would get damaged, which would potentially ruin any much anticipated first crop of apples.
It was Tuesday night on our way back from swimming that I noticed the car said it was only 4C. A perfectly clear night and our breath visible in the air, I felt fairly sure it would be a hard frost. So there we were at 10pm in the back garden with only the light of the moon to guide us, erecting a bamboo cane and fleece contraption around the tree in the hope this would protect the new fruit buds. This was after a quick detour to the allotment when I realised I had taken all the canes up to the plot several weeks earlier and there were none left in the shed.
Protecting our apple tree from frost
The cane/fleece construction did need some further work to it later in the week when Wellyman discovered that there were spots where the fleece had been touching the buds and they had suffered a little frost damage. Fortunately, it was nothing serious and after some more canes were added and the fleece stretched a little it seems to have provided the tree with sufficient protection. Although, as I write the fleece is now sagging under the weight of Bank Holiday rain and will need some remedial work before tonight and another predicted frost. Remind me why I wanted my own apple tree.
I spent Saturday afternoon sowing more seed and potting on. My larkspur, antirrhinums and scabious were all ready to go into individual pots. This is always a difficult moment for the gardener without a greenhouse. Deciding how many seedlings my window sills can cope with. It’s a balance between available space to grow on, how many I need and keeping some as spares in case some come a cropper due to pests, diseases, the weather or my own clumsiness. It’s hard having to get rid of perfectly good seedlings but there’s no point in keeping too many and not being able to look after them and they all suffer. Much better to be a bit ruthless and give all your care and attention to a few but end up with really strong healthy plants.
Seed sown included cosmos, rudbeckias, zinnias, spring onions, some primrose seeds in the green and some more peas. I also resowed a batch of white larkspur because the first batch didn’t germinate. Strangely, the blue larkspur sown at the same time germinated really well but not one of the white ones popped up. It’s annoying when this happens but at least at this time of year there is still a chance for plants to catch up.
Cosmos 'Candy Stripe' - hopefully it won't be too long before I'm picking these flowers
I am running out of space though so I’m hoping temperatures will start to warm up a little over the next couple of weeks then I can start moving plants out to the allotment and others can take their place in the cold frame. April and May are just one big juggling act and much as I enjoy seed sowing there is a great sense of relief when June arrives and all the plants are in their final positions.
And finally we tackled the shed …. again. I know this is a running theme but the shed is the engine room of the garden and my shed is by no means a well oiled machine. It did get a bit of a tidy up back in March but the problem is I’m so often in a rush that when I’ve finished in the garden I tend to just dump everything in there. Another problem is spiders. Now I am much better than I used to be. I’ve been able to share the shed with 2 fairly enormous arachnids for the last couple of months. It has meant one pile of pots has been out-of-bounds because I could see the legs of one spider peeking out from behind them on the shed wall but that was fine I had plenty of other pots I could use. Wellyman, however decided that whilst we were tidying out the shed anyway he might as well rehome the spiders.
Now I know the spiders are big when I hear a Wellyman’s voice from the shed say ‘Oh yes … that’s a big one’. I, of course, am several feet away at this point doing important pot sorting out tasks. Both spiders were captured, after a degree of huffing and puffing, in a container and taken to a flower border near the local bus stop. Hopefully they don’t have homing instincts, like snails. So here’s to Wellyman, my spider catching and releasing hero! And here’s to my newly tidied shed, pots neatly stacked, rubbish bagged up and waiting to go to the tip and I can see the floor again. The challenge now is to keep it that way for the rest of the summer.
I feel you are a kindred spirit, in the garden trying to put up protection for your crab apple, so glad it worked!
Sheds take on a life of their own, then end up as a general dumping ground, I think we all have to tackle them at least once a year unfortunately, it’s amazing what you find!!
It’s all go at this time of year isn’t it with seeds everywhere, it will be worth it later!
Hi Pauline, The fleece seems to be doing the trick and it has survived the heavy rain we’ve had all day which is good news.
Oh Cosmos…lovely Cosmos…they are my fave. Frost here was’nt too bad…still blossoms on our Plum and Damson trees.
Hi Bridget, We had a hard frost on Friday night but it hasn’t been so bad the last couple of nights but more frost is predicted for this week so for now the fleece stays in place.
We had the same weather issue with a warm March and a freezing April threatening my blooms and lilacs…and my seedlings need to get outside soon…I have run out of room as well and need to plant the later veggies this weekend.
There just isn’t enough time in the day at this time of year. We’re having very cold temperatures here too, not quite zero but going that way. I haven’t planted tomatoes etc. out but I know some people have. My lemons are outside now and last night the cold wind howled around the house and I was very worried for them – luckily they’re OK. Chirstina
Hi Christina, It’s a difficult time of year, trying to manage the changes in temperature. Glad to hear the lemons survived the howling wind.
I was intrigued by your post title, fleecing the apple tree, and then I saw your photo and realised it wasn’t a large tree – I was hoping for some tips to stop the pigeons stripping the two cherry trees we have in our garden but they are too big to do anything practical with I think. April is the busiest time of year and I haven’t started on any flowers other than a couple of trays of french marigolds that I plant around the greenhouse every year. So much to do and so little time!
Hi Damo, Oh no, even I wouldn’t try to fleece a big tree. Although when I mentioned to my husband about needing to fleece the apple he thought I meant the 12 ft tall crab apple!!! Cherries are my favourite fruit so I’d be gutted to find the pigeons helping themselves to the crop. I’ve discovered birds have spent the weekend attacking my peas, They’re chewed to bits. Fortunately I have some others in the cold frame if the others don’t recover. They’ve been at my broad beans too.
What on earth did we do without fleece? I’ve seen finches tucking into the buds on our apple trees this year. Unfortunately they are too big to fleece! I’ve got some nasturtiums and sweetpeas coming on and have sown peas, spring onions and tomatoes. The second early potatoes need to go in but it was just too rainy and yuck to do them today. I can’t bring myself to go away over the Easter hols – just too much to do! :-)
Hi Kay, Fleece is great, although a bit of a pain to use. Just hope it warms up soon and then I won’t need to use it. We’ve stopped planning holidays for this time of year, it’s just too hectic. We’ll go away in June when everything has calmed down.
I did the same with my espalier on Monday night… my husband thought I was mad until we had the snow and sleet on Tuesday! Isn’t it a great feeling to have an organised and tidy shed? I must do mine sometime!!
I was also out in my garden late at night, covering young fruit trees. I must have looked like a ghost in the moonlight, fleece blowing over my head as I tried to throw it over the branches! I hear you with the spiders, I’m also getting better with sharing the shed and greenhouse with them, but, I don’t ‘do big ones. Oh no!
Grand work on saving your apple blossom.On holiday in Mull at the moment.A tad damp, but relatively mild.Not sure what havoc awaits on our return!
Have sown some bonkers Cosmos ‘Pied Piper’ this year -really looking forward to seeing these too for the first time this summer. Like you, rapidly running out of space to pot on all those tiny seedlings. Promise to self, not to order so many seeds next year! Guilt feelings re shed. Must attempt tidying soon……
Out of my shed, We spent a week on Mull last year. It’s a beautiful place. Enjoy your holiday, I’m sure all your plants will be fine on your return.
I’m exactly the same with spiders. I’ve got much better with them since I’ve been gardening, I still don’t like them in the house but I can just about cope with them outdoors.
I may be joining you later this week in covering my apple trees WW – they are all on dwarf rootstock and this will be their second year. This weather is presenting all sorts of perplexing dilemmas even with a greenhouse. Not sure whether to prick out more tomatoes which are ready to be moved on – if I do the logistics of keeping them warm at night are going to be a challenge that I can do without:) Hope that the shed behaves now that you have tidied it up.
I really need to tidy my shed, but it is also full of spiders. Maybe later today…
I quite like spiders but am not too keen on the horizontal sheets of webs that festoon the garage where I keep my gardening things. Disconcerting to pick up a broom and find a trail of ghostly grey following me out of the door!