Seperating out new plants
This past week has been difficult to garden in, it’s been so changeable that its been hard to (a) choose the right gear to put on and (b) to decide what job to focus on.
The night time temperatures have been dropping so we’re at the stage now of closing the polytunnel and glasshouse doors in the early evening to keep heat in, and the garden has started to ripen and slow down in growth, crops are bountiful, roses and fragrant and the weeds are germinating! But I took the chance this week when it was raining to do some Aloe Vera division inside.
Freshly potted freebies
Aloe Vera is a super easy to grow succulent for the house, it just grows and grows with very little care. Famed for its medicinal properties many of us have a plant so we can break bits off to utilise the sap for treating burns and skin irritations.
The upside to Aloe Vera is its persistence and resilience, growing on with very little care and attention, and in turn producing loads of baby plants, which are ideal for breaking off and potting up. We call this style of propagation ‘An Irishmans cutting’, this is when you take a cutting from a plant with some of the root intact. The Aloe Vera plant produces lots of baby plants which cluster around the bottom of the main plant, all growing from short rhizome roots.
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Now is the time to be separating out these baby plants, cutting them off with a little bit of root attached and potting up, in turn these can be given away to friends and family. One Aloe Vera plant should supply 8-10 baby plants every year to support your generosity.
Bruckless House is another great garden open now as part of the Donegal Garden Trail. Bruckless House is a fine country property built in the mid 18th century and now operating as a country house B&B. The gardens of Bruckless house occupy an area around the front of the property, covering some 2 acres.
There are many fine heritage trees, Magnolias and Rhododendrons which form a splendid backbone to the garden, mixed in with this there are some lovely herbaceous plantings, a beautiful specimen Wedding Cake Tree and a delightful Hydrangea avenue. And if you pop your head into the unused walled garden you’ll also see some delightful Figs growing against a wall. More details of Bruckless House can be seen on Bruckless.com.
Next Week….Choosing, planting and maintaining Daffodils.
Gareth Austin
Gareth Austin is resident Horticulturist with BBC Radio Foyle, a member of the Chartered Institute of Horticulturists and Horticultural Lecturer with the National Learning Network. For more see www.garethaustin.com or join Gareth on Twitter @GardenerGareth .
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