Lightly tease out the outside roots of evergreen trees and shrubs when planting them.
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Deciduous tree roots can be pulled out and straightened and any damaged ones trimmed off.
Don't forget to remove name tags from all plants. If left on they can cut into the stalk or trunk as the plant grows and may cause it to die.
Tomato Tales
There are three main groups of tomatoes, tree, climbing and bush with differing pruning techniques required.
Tree tomatoes need to be staked and kept pruned by taking out any side laterals that grow from the junction of the leaves and the main stem.
Climbing tomatoes can be espaliered onto a wire frame.
Let three to four leaders grow and fan these out then keep them pruned as with tree tomatoes.
Bush tomatoes are easy as they generally require no pruning.
Ancient asparagus
Asparagus is one of few perennial vegetables that will often produce good crops for as long as 35 years or more.
As early as 200 BC the Romans were cultivating asparagus in almost the same way as we do today.
Asparagus have male and female flowers on separate plants.
As male plants yield the best spears discard any seedlings that have red berries as these are female plants and don't produce as well.
To harvest asparagus cut the spears every few days before the tips begin to open by scraping the soil from around the bottom of the plant then cut the young shoots as low down as possible.
Loving Iris
Tall bearded iris require full sun and well-drained soil.
Poor soil can have a dressing of blood and bone before and during early growth.
When planting the rhizome make sure that only half its depth is in the soil as they don't like being buried.
Planting time for iris is immediately after flowering in November and early December.
Delphinium displays
Delphiniums are worth a place in any garden where they can show off their tall spires of vivid blue or purple blooms with new varieties in pink, red, yellow and coral shades.
Delphiniums like lime, well-drained, humus-rich soil and extra water in hot weather to keep up their majestic appearance.
Carnation care
Carnations are extremely lovely flowers with their delicate pastel colours and spicy scent.
They like a sunny position protected from hot winds and grow in most soils but prefer a light sandy one with plenty of added humus.
An occasional dressing of potash is beneficial.