Gardening Techniques From A - Z. Part One

Blanching: A vegetable-growing technique which has used for countless years. Light is excluded from some or most of the growing parts of certain types of vegetable, as a result the natural green colour does not develop. You will find several other possible effects - lower fibre content, improved flavour, reduced bitterness and enhanced appearance. The role of blanching is to produce a number of of these responses. The stems of Celery and Leak are covered with earth but the heads of Chicory and Seakale are blanched by covering it with a light-proof pot. Cutting: Cutting blooms and attractive foliage from flower and shrub borders for arranging indoors is, needless to say, a basic part of the gardening scene. In this way the fruits of your labours can be enjoyed at any time and in any weather, but there are pitfalls to stay away from. Obviously, the whole beauty of the flower bed or border is diminished, and in the case of newly-planted perennials the lack of stems and green leaves can harm next years growth. For those who have the space and are keen flower arrangers it is a great idea to have a separate bed where plants for cutting can be grown. In the shrub border this form of spring and summer pruning by and large does no harm, but take care during pruning the first year. A newly-planted shrub needs all the stems and green leaves it can get, so only cut a couple of flowers and do not remove many leaves. Roses are perhaps the most widely used of all cut flowers - do not remove more than one-third of the flowering stem and always cut just above an outward facing bud. Dead- Heading: The taking away of dead flowers has several rewards, it helps to keep the bed or border tidy, it prolongs the flowering season by preventing seed formation and in a few cases it induces a second flush later on in the season. Use garden shears, sharp knife or finger tips. Be careful not to get rid of too much stem. You must not dead-head flowers grown for there seed pods. It is quite impractical to remove the dead blooms from some annuals and perennials and from most trees and shrubs. There is a few large flowering woody plants, however, which must be dead-headed. The faded trusses of Hybrid Tea and Floribunda Roses need to be cut off and the dead flowers of Rhododendrums ought to be cautiously broken off with finger and thumb. Cut off flower-heads of Lilac once the blooms have faded, but the massive heads of Hydrangeas are an exception - remove these in March.

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