Gardening Advice & Tips for Irish Gardeners

Just because the summer is over doesn’t mean gardening stops too! Ok, the weather has certainly turned and night time temperatures are down to about 4 degrees but the work in the garden continues in earnest. While autumn is a time of harvest, it can also be a time of sowing as there are a wide range of vegetables that can be sown now and enjoyed next spring. The list below are some of the simplest and most rewarding;

1. Spring cabbage

If you haven’t sown your seed already, you are a bit late as spring cabbage seeds should be sown in August and early September. However you can still buy transplants from your local garden centre. Plant out your cabbage plants about 40cm apart and protect from frost.

1. Broad beans

Ideal for sowing in October, broad beans are much hardier than French beans which can only be summer sown. When sowing broad beans, prepare drills and sow beans 60cm apart. Ideally the beans should germinate and reach 4cm or 5cm in height before the outset of winter when they stop growing until the following spring. In spring remove any frost protection and set up a climbing frame.

1. All year round lettuce

They is in fact a range of winter grown lettuce seeds available. Lettuce is a cool climate plant and is not suited to growing in summer, when it can bolt easily. Even though lettuce like the cooler weather, they do not like the frost and need protection from mid October onwards. Use a garden cloche to cover your rows

1. Garlic

Garlic ideal to autumn sowing, however you will need to wait quite a while before harvesting. Plant your garlic cloves in mid November and allow them to sit out in the cold winter to encourage the cloves to split and grow. I recommend that you add a small amount of sand beneath each garlic glove to improve drainage and prevent the cloves from sitting on damp soil over the winter months.

1. Onions

Still not too late to sow onions and have a crop by Christmas, all be it a crop of scallions. Prepare your soil, making it light and airy with good drainage. White Lisbon Scallions are a good variety for sowing now.

1. Green manure

If however you have enough of growing vegetables and your vegetable have been left to the weeds, then green manure may be just what you need. Green manure is a mixture of ground cover plants that will grow and cover your plot, reduces weed growth, protecting soil and added nutrients to the ground. Simply dig into the soil next spring before sowing.