Last updated 10:25, Thursday, 07 August 2008

Gardening with Toni Magean, head of parks at Copeland Council

Black Spot: Take action

IT WAS fantastic news this week to be informed that Copeland’s parks team have been selected as a National Finalist for the Association of Public Service Excellence Parks Team of the Year Award 2008.

This is the second year running that the team have reached the finals, which are regarded as the industry Oscars! For me the key to this unique achievement is the loyal commitment of all the park staff, from the stalwart gardeners down to the young apprentices learning their trade, to whom I pass on my sincere appreciation and thanks.

Last week I was a little previous talking about the weather and how we all can look forward to enjoying more barbecues! This may be due to wishful thinking given it’s the holiday period.

Mind you, one of the advantages of the wet weather is that plants around the garden have clearly put on a fantastic spurt of growth over the last few weeks, though one of the disadvantages is the attack of diseases to your plants.

In my own garden I have noticed powdery mildew on a number of my plants. Powdery mildew appears as a dry, whitish powder coating leaves, shoot tips and often flowers. Other symptoms can include stunted and distorted growth, and reduced flowering.

Powdery mildew belongs to the family Erysiphaceae. For an organic control remove infected areas as soon as seen, collect and burn or otherwise dispose of all infected parts. Fungicides are widely available to the home gardener for powdery mildew such as myclobutanil or sulphur as a dust or as a spray with fatty acids.

This week I have been busy around the garden and have given the mixed hawthorn privet hedge its final trim, as it is unlikely to grow much before the cooler weather kicks in. I have also lightly trimmed the earlier flowering shrubs and perennials: Hebe “Fragrant Jewel”, Lavender Stochas “Fathead” (French lavender) and my Wisteria Sinensis.

I also noticed black spot on my roses, a common problem that roses face at this time of the year. Black spot is a fungus that causes dark spotting on the rose leaves and stems, and eventually the leaves turn yellow and drop off before autumn. The disease has been encouraged by the recent weather conditions. However, it is too late to be using a chemical spray for control!

If you have black spot on your roses, I strongly recommend that you remove the affected leaves and clear away any fallen leaves as spores overwinter on the fallen leaves and re-infect the plant in spring when the new foliage appears.

August is an excellent time to be taking semi-ripe cuttings of many shrubs and it’s a cheap way of getting more plants for your garden. A semi-ripe cutting is taken from this year's growth – the tips are the new tender growth, with the lower part of the cutting being older and harder growth. I’ve been busy taking cuttings of my lavenders, fuchsias, rosemary, viburnums and camellias.

While I enjoy the wonderful displays of my floral baskets and troughs, I am now receiving many catalogues advertising spring-flowering plugs and bulbs, it appears that the seasons seem to be becoming shorter each year!

However looking through the catalogues it’s nice to see such a range of new plant material and to decide what to purchase for the garden.