The post Annual Review appeared first on Cultivate London.

The post Community Walks from The Salopian Garden appeared first on Cultivate London.

The post Water Conservation Workshops appeared first on Cultivate London.

The post Free food growing sessions appeared first on Cultivate London.

The post 2022 Wrap Up appeared first on Cultivate London.

The post RHS Hampton 2022 appeared first on Cultivate London.

The post Brentford together grow bags appeared first on Cultivate London.

You will need:

• Scissors, secateurs, or a sharp knife
• Compost
• Pots
• Pencil
• Labels
• Optional: Rooting hormone

Step 2: Taking Cuttings

Cut off a stem free from disease, pests or damage.

Avoid taking cuttings of flowering material.
Do not take so much material from the original plant that it will cause stress.

If you’re looking for something relatively easy, mints root readily. Look for a square stem.

When you’ve taken your cutting place it in water to stop it drying out.

Step 3: Preparing the Cutting

Pinch off the lower leaves and cut the stem just below a node (leaf joint) at the bottom and a little bit above a node at the top to encourage side shoots. Larger leaves should be cut down to stop water loss from the cutting until it has a chance to develop roots to take up it’s own water.

Optional: Dip the base of the cutting in hormone rooting powder or liquid.

Step 4: Potting

Fill a pot with compost and tap it on a hard surface to ensure there are no large gaps. Gently press the compost down slightly. With a pencil or similar pointer create a hole for your cutting.

Insert the cutting into the hole so the majority of the stem is covered with compost, then gently firm the cuttings in so good contact is made with the compost.

Make sure to add a label with the name of the plant (scientific names are prefered), the date, and your name if multiple people are taking cuttings.

Step 5: Watering

Gently water the cuttings, making sure not to disrupt the compost too much. This will settle the compost so don’t be alarmed if the level in the pot drops.

Keep the compost moist but not soaking until new growth is observed. Too much water will encourage rot and mould, too little water and the cutting will dry out before it has a chance to develop roots.

Step 6: Wait

Try to keep your cutting out of direct sunlight as too much heat will dry it out. Bottom heat is good but not essential.

Continue watering your cuttings and checking on them regularly. Within a few weeks they should be rooting and producing new above-ground growth.

The post Softwood Cuttings appeared first on Cultivate London.

Early spring is the ideal time to start preparing nettle plant feed before the comfrey (Symphytum) comes through for the next feed.

When finding nettles don’t worry if you collect from a busy roadside as they are for the garden feed not for human consumption. When making nettle tea as a tonic for health never pick near polluted areas.

Ingredients:

• Bucket with lid or suitable cover
• Water
• Gloves (nettles do sting!)

Pick enough nettles to fill a container, never pull up the root as you will be destroying your nettle source. Also nettles are also essential in local ecology with native Butterflies including the red admiral using nettles leaves to lay their eggs on.

Cover the nettles with enough water to cover the whole plants. Leave for 2 to 4 weeks until it looks like a brown tea. After around 2 weeks it will be ready to strain the liquid through a sieve (Don’t use your kitchen sieve, keep a separate sieve for the garden liquids). Dilute one part nettle plant tea feed to 10 parts water ( imagine you are making strong squash in your watering can). Use to promote all leaves and vegetative growth within garden plants as this feed will be very rich in Nitrogen.

Nettle feed after one week already looking nice and gloopy!

The post Common Nettle (Urtica dioca) appeared first on Cultivate London.

Sowing time April – May

Daisy-like flowerheads in a vivid shade of orange, create a wonderful display when they appear in profusion above the softly hairy, aromatic leaves. This fast-growing annual, is ideal for the filling gaps in the border and the flowers last well after being cut. The petals are edible and have a peppery flavour, which can be used to enhance the flavour and add colour to soups, meat, egg and rice dishes as well as salads. Easy and quick to grow, it is a great choice for a children’s garden.

Properties associated with Calendula as a medicinal herb include:

• Anti-inflammatory
• Antibacterial
• Antifungal

Selecting a growing container:

• Homemade container such as a folded cardboard (toilet roll) tube for single seeds
• 9cm pot or similar for 3 seeds
• Choose a seed tray or module for larger quantities
• Use a larger tub to make up the seed mix

Growing medium:

A good free draining soil is best for seed sowing to avoid seeds sitting in water for too long and rotting. The medium shouldn’t be too rich either as this can burn the seeds before they get going.

Depending on what you have available a good seed sowing mix can be made up of slightly different ingredients.

I used two parts seed sowing compost with pearlite within the mix to one-part vermiculite. Pearlite aerates and ensures good drainage and the vermiculite will add a bit of a nutrient balance.

A homemade alternative would be a 2 thirds leaf mould a one third sand mix.

This marigold (Calendula) seedhead was saved at the end of last summer. It was dried and stored in a paper envelope so as to avoid moisture build up and rotting that can occur in a plastic bag that isn’t vacuum sealed. Marigold seeds themselves are a lovely curled caterpillar type shape that is easily picked apart and spread out on a sheet of paper to enable you to see them!

Plant the seeds around 1.5cm deep, either poke small divets in individual pots or shallow drills in seed trays shown here. Drills should be about 5cm apart. Once seedlings emerge they can be lifted and planted out into a sunny spot free draining soil at around 20 cm spacing.

I sometimes add a sprinkle of horticultural grit on top to keep pots from drying out.

When the plants are in bloom they will benefit from frequent dead heading to allow the flowering season to continue long into the summer.

The post Calendula officianlis appeared first on Cultivate London.