Contents:
- Editor's welcome
- Doodlher
- Toni Baker
- Petrus - 50 years of changing lives
- Gardening tips for Spring »
- No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy
- Kingsway Business Park set for 'unprecedented year'
- Alpha Photography
- Williams BMW Rochdale named UK's best BMW retailer
- Access all Areas open event at Hopwood
- Lieutenant Commander Lawrence Scholes
- Collection of British literary treasures from Littleborough's Honresfeld Library saved by National Libraries charity
- Laser assisted fat loss - how to lose inches from your waistline
- Cheese & onion pie recipe
- Setting up a business
- Rochdale AFC appointed as female football talent hub
- Beauty feature: Repair and protect your nails
- Lily May Boutique - affordable fashion
- Rochdale in Bloom reaches Britain in Bloom nationals
- Albert Mill
- Hairdressing Trend - The bixie
- Spring into action
Spring 2022Gardening tips for Spring
ABOUT THE WRITER
Roy Down is an engagement and development worker at Petrus as well as the chairman of Rochdale In Bloom. His role at Petrus is to help improve the mental health and wellbeing of volunteers through gardening, as well as those referred via NHS social prescribing.
Lift and divide perennials in Spring. This will ensure you get healthy plants every year. Roses can be pruned now and we recommend pruning about half a centimetre above the bud for best results.
If you fancy growing vegetables this year, start by planting onion sets and shallots. It’s also a good time to start chitting potatoes before planting. Chitting is a great way to prepare potatoes for planting. Place potatoes in a tray (often in egg cartons) in a light and cool place, shielded from direct sunlight. After the potato sprouts are about one inch (2.5 cm) long, the seed potatoes are planted in the ground.
Think about your pots. Plant some summer flowering bulbs, making sure your pots have good drainage and are topped with fresh new compost. Growing herbs is easy, and if you don’t have a lot of room in your garden, plant herbs into a container or tub. Sage, rosemary, thyme and oregano look great, and you will have your own fresh herbs on your doorstep.
As temperatures start to rise, and hopefully the chance of frost has diminished, it is a good time to plant your hardy annuals and wildflower seeds.
At Petrus Incredible Edible Rochdale (PIER), we are always looking at ways to be ecofriendly gardeners and this year, we are increasing our commitment to adapting to environmental change. If you want to do the same, there are some easy steps to take. Start by using peat-free compost wherever possible. Plant more perennials and less annual bedding plants. Look out for drought-resistant varieties, which will save on using water. Try home composting - be patient; it is worth persevering with. You can also install a water butt if you don’t have one already.
Whatever the size of garden or growing space, enjoy spending time maintaining and nurturing your plants. It is a great way to get outdoors and there are so many health and wellbeing benefits as well. Good luck.