Gardening: Jobs for another glorious weekend, with Brian Kidd

Now you can entertain in your garden again, you’ll want it looking even better than it did in lockdown.Here’s Brian’s list of jobs for the weekend.
You can plant tomato plants straight into the garden now. Picture: ShutterstockYou can plant tomato plants straight into the garden now. Picture: Shutterstock
You can plant tomato plants straight into the garden now. Picture: Shutterstock

• Be prepared! Buy some Bordeaux Mixture to prevent potato and tomato blight. Spray when the weather feels humid and repeat after rain.

• Tomatoes can now be planted in the open garden. Try to avoid strong winds. If it's possible to give them a little protection, this is a good idea.

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• Keep the hoe going especially while weeds are small. Pick them up and throw them on to the compost heap. They make a good layer between grass mowings.

• After mowing the grass, don't forget to sprinkle on one part urine in seven parts water after each boxful of mowings. Try to cover the top of the heap to seal in the warmth. This will help destroy any grass seeds which are cut off along with the mowings.

• Sow a few more runner beans to follow those already planted. And don't forget: there's a place in every garden for runner beans as it is one of the most attractive of all climbing plants – edible or not.

• Continue to sow short rows of beetroot, spring onions, radish and lettuce. Just a few seeds every fortnight, as you don't need 300 lettuces!

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• Plant marrows out of doors now with a bucket of well-rotted compost or manure dug into the soil. Put a four-feet-long cane alongside the plant and you will be able to water the plant at the root because the leaves grow so large, you can't see where the water has to go.

• Ridge cucumbers can be planted out now.

• If you have a huge geranium in the greenhouse pop it into the garden border and take some cuttings in August. This will give you a bit more space it the greenhouse and the old girl will flower really well outside all summer.

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