Swedes are grown for their edible, mildly sweet-tasting roots.
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Although a brassica the swede is kept in the root section of the vegetable crop rotation because the copious amounts of manure required to grow good brassicas creates an enriched, fertile soil which makes the roots of swedes fork.
Plant seedlings 25 centimetres apart in an open, sunny position.
Prune grapes by removing wood which has borne fruit and replace with the young, new season’s canes, keeping the strongest and removing any weak ones.
Potted blueberries can be planted in a well-drained soil with a pH of 4.5 to 5.5. Do not use lime as the plants are very sensitive to it.
Prune in winter by cutting out low-spreading or damaged branches and open up the centre of the bush.
Pansies are hungry plants and thrive best when the soil has been enriched with compost.
Get ahead with hydrangeas
Hydrangea macrophylla, the mop-head hydrangea, is deciduous in colder countries and in warmer climates can be semi-evergreen.
The mops are clusters of either tiny single or double flowers in colours of white, pink, red, blue or can be combinations.
An open, light position protected from the hot midday sun is ideal for maximum flower production and you can improve the soil’s moisture retention by digging in plenty of organic material before planting.
Mop-heads come in dwarf, small and medium growing varieties.
Flower facts
Yellowing leaves on potted gardenias may be an indication the plant has a magnesium deficiency. To correct this problem sprinkle a tablespoon of Epsom Salts around the plant and water in.
Cornflowers bring a soft glow of colour to the garden with their many-branched stems and button heads surrounded by frilly petals.
The pretty blooms which come in blue, pink, white and carmine are much sought after as cut flowers.
Frost hardy annuals, they like a well-drained soil in a sunny position.
Winter flowering pansies are frost-tolerant and provide bursts of bright colour to liven up the garden from autumn through winter.
As well as massed plantings, pansies are happy in containers or growing in the company of other plants in a mixed border.
Pansies are hungry plants and thrive best when the soil has been enriched with compost.
Fortnightly feedings of a liquid fertiliser from planting until the buds appear secures the best.