While the world may feel rather dull at the moment, lockdown has at least enabled some people to go green and inject colour into their gardens.
With more time spent at home and a prolonged spell of sunny weather, many people across the district have taken to gardening. With the green light from the government for garden centres to reopen, people can now get their hands on all sorts of horticultural goods.
Megan Peel, co-owner of Kit Peel Gardens in Harrogate, has given some professional advice on things you can buy and grow now to give you lots of pleasure in the garden all summer long:
“If you are new to gardening its tempting to buy the things that look most enticing in the garden centre today rather than those plants which will go on providing you colour and interest all summer long and on into Autumn.”
Grow your own
If you are planning on growing some of your own fruit and veg this year, don’t be tempted to plant out young veg seedlings too early or they could be killed off by the late frosts we have up here in Yorkshire. Either wait a few weeks to buy or keep on a sunny window .. and gradually harden off outside in the daytime, bringing in at night until planting out when the risk of frost has well and truly passed.Our top tip is to start by growing what you love to eat, and focus on growing those things which taste better straight from the ground, or which are hard to come by in supermarkets. We grow a lot of courgettes, above all for the flowers – which we love to eat tempura style in a light beer batter, stuffed with ricotta and herbs; peas which the children pick and eat straight from the pod – and we also like to add the shoots to salads; beetroots and salads – which you can sew successionally every two weeks throughout the summer. Peas can also be sewn into June, as can carrots. Aim to have a few trays of young lettuce seedlings waiting in the wings, and you can fill in any gaps of bare earth with a quick ‘catch crop’ while plants around them are maturing – alternate neat lines of red and green lettuces, for an old fashioned potager look, adding rows of winter brassicas, onions and leeks that will mature in the autumn after the leeks after harvested. Growing beans in the same bed will help fix nitrogen in the soil and benefit the brassicas .If you don’t have the space to set aside for a dedicated veg patch then ornamental brassicas like Kale Lacinato and Red Drumhead cabbages can look eye catching planted in borders amongst your flowers. Edible flowers like nasturtiums; viola heartsease and marigold and cornflower petals can transform a simple summer salad into something special. “
- Cosmos – The ultimate cut and come again cut flower… Quick to germinate, so there is still time for an indoor sowing from seed on a sunny windowsill before planting out after the last frosts. Plant a row and you will have buckets of cut flowers all summer long. The more you cut, the more flowers you will have.
- Dahlias – another cut and come again stalwart in an array of showstopping colours – often with flowers the size of dinner plates – and again the more you cut the more flowers you will have. At this time of year, it’s best to buy Dahlias in pots which have already been grown on from tubers. Dig them up in autumn and divide the tubers to propagate. Store the tubers in a cool dark shed, and fill the planting holes with tulips.
- Sweet pea seedlings – unbeatable for scent in the summer garden.. Buy seedlings now, and harden off outside in the daytime before planting out after the frosts.
- Cornflowers and Nigella – can be broadcast into soil raked to a fine tilth at the front of a border, or sewn in a cutting patch
- Salvias – find a sheltered spot for stunning tender perennials like Salvia Nachtvinsander – and they will reward you with scent and colour until late Autumn. Alternatively salvia nemerosa caradonna is hardy. Salvias are great to plant amongst roses as they protect from fungal diseases like black spot and powdery mildew.
- Pentsemon – another fantastic perennial to combine with roses that will continue flowering all summer long into autumn and which looks good planted amongst roses.
“If you are sad to be missing out on your normal summer holiday in the Mediterranean and want to recreate a little of the holiday feeling at home – plants, especially scented ones, can help transport us back to favourite places.. If you have a sheltered sunny spot and your soil is not heavy clay.. then why not create a herb garden to recapture the holiday spirit”
- Lavender – a lavender hedge will not only look and smell great – but will also be brilliant for attracting pollinators into your garden all summer long – we nicknamed ours the Butterfly Bar last summer
- Thyme and sage, especially purple sage, make wonderful scented ground cover for the front of the border… and can of course be used in cooking.. or even cocktails..
- Tender herbs in pots.. plants basil. coriander, mint, parsley, lemon verbena in pots near the kitchen door – so you can nip out and cut a handful quickly when cooking dinner
- Euphorbia Wulfenii is a great big structural foliage plant that looks dramatic all year round and works well interplanted with Verbena Boniarensis
Harrogate garden centres prepare to re-open as lockdown measures ease
Some garden centres across the borough will be opening their doors to the public from tomorrow, after being closed for seven weeks due to the coronavirus lockdown.
It comes after the government announced on Sunday, that garden centres in England will reopen on Wednesday 13 May as long as they ensure social-distancing measures are in place.
RHS will be opening all four of its plant centres including the one at Harlow Carr.
Sue Biggs, RHS Director General, has said :
“We are pleased to reopen our RHS Plant Centres to bring joy, food and beauty into the lives of thousands of gardeners, and it is hugely encouraging that the Government recognises the vital role gardening and gardens play in supporting positive mental and physical health… We are ever mindful of the world we now live in and will, therefore, be operating with strict safety measures at all our sites to ensure we protect our visitors and staff who we thank for being patient with us at this time.”
Crimple Hall Garden Centre in Harrogate has been offering contactless deliveries to customers during the lockdown, but now as restrictions are lifted they are preparing to open.
Sally Dugdale who is the plant manager at Crimple Hall, told the Stray Ferret that lockdown came at a bad time for garden centres:
“The height of the season is between March and June, so it’s not been good at all for garden centres. We are now hoping that the season is extended with people spending more time in the garden and not going abroad.”
But not all garden centres in the borough are opening tomorrow, with some saying they don’t feel it would be safe for customers or staff.
Heoplants Nursery in South Stainley is remaining closed despite the go-ahead from the government. Deborah Withington, who owns the nursery told the Stray Ferret:
Drake’s Fisheries make special delivery to Harrogate Neighbours for VE Day“We have been operating a contactless service since we closed… It has worked really well so we have decided to continue that way for now as we feel that casual visitors and passing trade would pose social distancing issues.”
Harrogate Neighbours overcame the problem of social distancing to put on a special day of VE Day celebrations for the residents of The Cuttings in Starbeck and Heath Lodge in Harrogate. Drake’s Fish and Chips in Knaresborough arrived with an appropriately-dressed team to deliver lunch.
A Harrogate veteran who survived the D Day landings was the star of one of the town’s VE Day celebrations yesterday.
Sergeant John Rushton, known as “Jack” among friends had his spirits lifted as residents on his street went to great lengths to make his day special.
Jack is 95 years old and has been inside his house on Beech Road in Harrogate since lockdown started. But thanks to Vic- Smith Dunn, who lives on his street and runs the Oatlands community group, there was socially distant celebrations.
There was a heartwarming performance from 14-year-old Lucy Hall, who was playing the bagpipes as well a visit from Lieutenant Col Richard Hall who is the commanding officer at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate.
Jack leant out his window to watch all the goings-on throughout the afternoon.
Jack was ready to celebrate.
WATCH: Harrogate district residents reflect on what VE Day means for them
Streets across the borough have turned red, white and blue today, as people celebrate VE day.
The Stray Ferret has been speaking to residents across the district about what VE day means for them and their families.
As lockdown continues many people have spent time turning their gardens into a colourful tribute to war veterans who liberated Europe from Nazism 75 years ago today.
Dentists and technicians from the Raglan Suite Dentistry Laboratory in Ripon have developed a protective visor from 3D printers normally used for dental work.
So far they have provided almost 2,500 visors free of charge to local care homes, hospitals and other key workers that need them.
Steven Campbell, Dental Technician at the Raglan Suite and MD of Nexus Dental Laboratory, told The Stray Ferret:
“Dentistry is on pause, so we wanted to make use of our 3D printing machines that usually make night guards, liners and dentures. I was shocked at the lack of PPE available so we have managed to come up with the perfect design to create these essential visors. It is brilliant to be able to provide PPE equipment to our local area.”
The technicians have also been making 900 ear savers each day to make the visors more comfortable for people to wear for long periods of time.
There has been industry funding for the production of these and there is also a go fund me page where people are able to donate towards the making of them.
WATCH: St Aidan’s choir go virtual performing an uplifting song by Yorkshire songwriter
St Aidan’s CoE High School in Harrogate has created a virtual performance of “King of Kings” by Yorkshire songwriter Jarrod Cooper.
The uplifting production includes 64 current and former members of the St Aidan’s chamber choir.
A spokesperson from the school told the Stray Ferret:
” During the extraordinary locked-down days of April 2020, we have decided to create a virtual choir performance to the hugely popular worship song. “King of Kings” features regularly in our collective worship at St Aidan’s and is truly an Aidan’s Anthem! “
“The virtual choir members stretch as far back as 2002 and have answered the call for them to submit their own video and audio tracks. The resulting mix is a heart-warming, uplifting collaboration for these uncertain times by St Aidan’s musicians across the years and locations .”
Eurovision 2020 may not appear on our televisions as we know it this year, however, thanks to Tom Taylor, former Ashville College pupil and now local comedian, there will be a star-studded “Isolation Song Contest.”
This will be the first of its kind and will include many famous faces from the world of entertainment, including Mel Giedroyc, Divina de Campo, Nick Helm, Tim Vine, Måns Zelmerlöw, Josie Long and Neil Hannon.
Each act was randomly assigned a country and has been given one week to compose an original Eurovision-style entry and music video for that nation before the Isolation Song Contest.
The finale is to be shown online at 8pm on tonight, and all money raised will go to three national charities – The Trussell Trust, Crisis and Refuge.
Tom Taylor told the Stray Ferret:
“I am working every hour to get the show ready. On the night I’ll be launching the contest and then handing over to ‘special guests’ who will introduce each act ahead of their isolation performance.
All the songs are original compositions, and I must say on the whole they are very good. As well as it being a fun show that people can enjoy from the comfort of their own homes it is great to be able to raise money for such worthy charities.”
To donate, visit www.isolationsongcontest.com where you will also find a link to watch the show.
Captain Tom Moore has been appointed Honorary Colonel Officer of Harrogate AFC to mark his 100th birthday.
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hall MBE YORKS, Commanding Officer of AFC Harrogate, welcomes Colonel Tom into his new role. He told the Stray Ferret that he couldn’t think of a better role model to champion the college:
‘They told me I wouldn’t be resuscitated’ – Harrogate mayoress speaks about her battle with coronavirus“Getting our soldiers to understand the core of the army is something we really focus on… and now we have this shining beacon of selflessness and courage to act as a role model… He really is a phenomenal person.”
The Mayoress of Harrogate, April Martin came down with symptoms of coronavirus 5 weeks ago.
She isolated at home for 14 days after she started to get symptoms, but on the 16th day, she took a turn for the worse. She was admitted to Harrogate hospital where she tested positive for the virus.
April was taken to intensive care where she received treatment before she was moved to a ward where she stayed for 2 weeks. She told the Stray Ferret:
“I was otherwise fit and healthy, then on the 16th day I just couldn’t go on any longer… it was very scary but the staff at Harrogate hospital were amazing. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here now.”
The Mayor of Harrogate was not tested, however, he told the Stray Ferret that he did have mild symptoms of Covid-19 whilst they were isolating at home. He said:
“When they put April in the ambulance and asked if I wanted to come and say bye, I thought to myself this could be the last time I see my wife, it was a very dark moment.”
