This Month in the Garden – Derek Cox

During July, at my wife’s suggestion, we purchased a birdbath on a three feet (90cm) pedestal, which we both thought would deter cats from pouncing on unsuspecting birds. To watch the birds drink and bathe, I have sited the birdbath15 feet (4.5m) from our kitchen window. Blackbirds are always the first to use the birdbath and they will fight any other birds who attempt to get into the bath whilst they are there. Small birds keep out of the blackbird’s way, but recently three young song thrushes have appeared in my garden and these take it in turn to distract the blackbird while the others drink or bathe.
During late July, I received a sample of Nemasys ‘No Ants’, the pack contains minute living organisms (nematodes) for the control of black and red ants. The pack was sufficient to treat 16 ant nests and as my lawn and rockery are infested with red ants, I applied the ‘No Ants’ using a watering can with a coarse rose. As it is not a chemical, organic gardeners will no doubt welcome ‘No Ants’, but as it does not kill ants, but simply makes the area uninhabitable, I am now waiting to see if this results in the ants being moved elsewhere in my garden.
I have just received a press release from Thompson and Morgan, which shows a number of new and outstanding vegetable and flowers. ‘St George’ is a new runner bean which out produced 44 other varieties in the RHS trials; it has bicolour flowers and masses of light green string less beans. During September I shall be planting up a hanging basket and a container with Viola ‘Allspice Mixed’, this is a new Thompson and Morgan introduction of winter flowering Viola’s whose flowers produce a rich fragrance. This will make them ideal to place close to a house doorway to enable you to appreciate the scent during the winter months. This year my Golden leaf Indian bean tree (Catalpa bignonioides ‘Aurea’) has put on almost three feet (90cm) of growth, it has lovely yellow leaves almost nine inches across and these are even larger if the tree is pruned back during March. Last year the tree produced quite a number of Foxglove-like, white stained yellow and purple flowers. This year I have yet to see one flower and if someone was to query this on Radio Leicester’s ‘Down to Earth program we would immediately say the soil is lacking potash. I gave my Catalpa three handfuls of Sulphate of Potash last March. Potash slows growth down and helps to produce flowers and fruit. My tree was not listening when I told it what potash would do. During September, many perennials will have come to the end of their flowering season, but it is then, in my garden that Schizostyis coccinea ‘Major’ comes into its own, it has narrow sword-like leaves and now shows off its brilliant sprays of red flowers. This is a hardy, easy to grow perennial flowering for two months and as a result has received the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM).