Midwest Radio Gardening Show

Frost damage remains a risk at the moment, so, amid reports of scorching on new growth, Paraic gives advice on how to overcome any temporary setbacks during April with recommendations for trimming off any damaged growth. Additionally, feeding to reinvigorate plants should set them up for a good growing year. As growth kicks in more generally, now is the time to prune hydrangeas, roses and other summer flowering plants. There is information on growing vegetables from seed – turnips (snowball and milan varieties), parsnips (gladiator), broccoli (green magic), carrot (maestro), cabbage (primo) and beetroot (rainbow mix) are all featured. And, for those seeking some summer colour, hardy annuals such as godetia, cornflowers, night scented stock and calendula are good options which can all be sown easily now. The cape mallow, passiflora and fig tree also feature on the programme this week. Paraic discusses the drift planting approach to cover bare areas and suppress weeds, while listeners questions include greenfl