Parsley plants are generally available in two main types.
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The more common variety has tight, dark green curled leaves, while the leaves of the Italian or continental parsley are flat.
Parsley is used as a garnish or flavouring for many dishes.
Parsley can be planted as mature plants, but it can also be grown from seed.
However, parsley seed is quite tiny and its size can present problems at the time of sowing.
One recommended method is to put the seed, quite thickly, in a groove around the outside edge of a pot to which has been added potting soil with a layer of seed raising mixture on top.
The seeds should then be covered lightly.
To help rapid germination, water that has just boiled should be poured over the soil where the seeds have been planted.
Add the water gently so that the seeds are not disturbed from the soil.
The addition of boiling water to the seeds makes them heat up very rapidly for a very brief period of time, after which they quickly cool down.
Pots should be kept damp as the young plants will not develop if they are allowed to dry out.
The result should be a thick carpet of young plants that appear over the next couple of weeks
The young seedlings should be thinned out to leave a required number of plants, which can be gradually planted out, in multiple lots, into pots of increasing diameter.
Mature plants will be available for harvesting in about two months.
Parsley plants can be grown in positions of full sun to light shade, depending on the climate.
Regular feeding and watering as required will ensure good crops.
Although the plants will grow more slowly in the winter months, good, consistent growth is needed to avoid tough and bitter produce.
Curly problem
Peach and nectarine trees can have leaves affected by a fungal disease called leaf curl. It can be treated once the leaves have fallen from the tree as a part of their deciduous cycle.
Leaves affected by leaf curl will appear to be badly distorted.
Peach leaf curl is a virulent and resistant fungal disease that appears on the leaves of fruit trees in early spring.
In spring, the emerging leaves on the tree will appear thick and lumpy, taking on a blistered appearance.
Foliage can change in colour to pale green, pink or sometimes purple.
Occasionally a white bloom may appear on the leaves and they will then brown off and fall.
Left untreated, peach leaf curl will continue to affect the tree year after year and become increasingly worse.
Treatment includes removing any affected or fallen leaves, disposing of them in a bin.
This will minimise places where the fungus spores can hide.
Spraying the tree with copper oxychloride, a spray with a low environmental impact, or a lime sulphur product will act as a preventive measure.
However, it is imperative that this is done in winter, before bud burst and before symptoms appear again.
Rose care
Roses benefit from attention at this time of the year.
Dead flowers should be removed from the bushes. The stem may be cut back to just above a new shoot that will appear at a leaf junction. This will encourage new shoots that will produce flowers.
An early autumn feed, such as Dynamic Lifter, will encourage a good, final flush of flowers before the colder weather sets in.
The cooler temperatures of autumn will often produce more intense colourings in the petals.
An application of a rose-specific spray will assist in keeping autumn pests away from the leaves and flowers.
If new rose plants are desired for the garden, then a visit to a garden featuring a wide variety of roses will enable the gardener to observe growth habit, size and leaf health as well as the colouring of the flower petals.
This will then enable a more informed choice.
A number of rose shows are also held at this time of the year and these will display the best of the rose blooms.
This information will often be more accurate than relying solely on a description and photo in a rose catalogue. Local rose growers will also give an indication of varieties that perform well in the area.
The humid weather will also encourage the development of black spot in plants that are susceptible to this disease.
Black spot is a fungal disease that starts as a black spot on a leaf.
The spot then becomes surrounded by a yellow colouring and the leaves eventually fall from the plant.
Plants that are badly effected will not produce good flowers.
Ensuring a good air flow around the plants will lower humidity levels.
An application of sulphate of potash at a rate of 100 to 150 grams per bush about four times a year will also help to reduce the likelihood of black spot.
An application of a spray will also be needed.
Organic sprays are available, including a mixture of two teaspoons of bicarb soda in five litres of water.
The addition of a couple of drops of detergent or seaweed extract will help to ensure that the spray coats the leaves well.