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Get news, good gardeny guidance and regular stories from Kim and KO & CO’s ever-practical man on the job, Zhenya.

Four Essential Garden Ingredients

18 June 2018

I want to talk to you about the four main ingredients that are a must if you want an excellent garden – there is no getting around, over, under or sideways of this.

First up is your SOIL CONDITION. A plant planted in the correct soil for its type will do ten times better than if one just plonks it in. For this reason, when I am planting I make the hole wider and deeper and use a ‘shrub and tub’ medium to mix in at least 50-50 with the existing soil.

Oderings Barrington has this medium in bulk if you’re planting up en masse, and it’s excellent stuff.

The shrub and tub mix contains food already so I don’t worry about feeding for another six months.

Second is WATER. You will simply have a rubbish garden if you don’t give it much, particularly when it’s hot.

It very much matters how much and when. In any garden you will have shady areas that need less water generally, and sunnier areas that need more. Thing is though, in summer those shady areas need one hell of a lot more water than you think.

My rule of thumb is (excluding problem areas that may have extremely high-water tables) water every day in 25-degree heat or more, in both the morning or evening. And keep in mind that in that heat, pots will require 10 litres every day.

FEEDING. For pots, apply a long-term slow release fertilizer three times a year – in spring, summer and autumn.

I use Oderings Replenish, in fact I use this for just about everything because I know how effective it is.

For your vege garden and tomato plants in particular, they may need feeding more as they’re gross feeders.

Generally speaking, when you see any sign of yellowing leaves during the height of their season, whack on the food. BUT follow the written instructions because you can actually, over-feed too. Man, nothing’s easy, is it?

The rest of the garden at least two times a year, spring and early autumn. The exception to these guide lines, is when a plant is failing for want of.???

Last, but not least, correct PRUNING will make the world of difference to the structure and health of your garden. KO&CO will soon commence a service designed to take care of this exceptionally important aspect of garden maintenance. Frankly, if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing with the saw, then don’t. It’s best to get a pro in – capiche?!