Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Ask Lynne’ for the Western Mail. 2nd April 2016
My carrots suffered from the dreaded carrot root fly last year but they remain a favourite vegetable with the family when fresh from the garden so I want to try to grow them again this year. Any tips?
You can’t beat the taste and smell of a freshly pulled carrot but unfortunately the carrot fly thinks the same. There are several methods of deterring the fly but the only foolproof, or fly proof way, is to protect them with a screen or cage of a fine mesh like Enviromesh.
Terry Walton was telling me that he always builds a cage over his carrots as the notion that carrot root fly can only fly 2 ft above the ground is rubbish. It was thought that if you put a 3 ft barrier either side of the carrot row that would be enough to protect them but apparently they have been adapting their flying skills accordingly!
Other deterrents include choosing a disease resistant variety like Flyaway, Sytan or Maestro, avoid thinning out as that disturbs the carrots and releases the fragrance that that attracts the fly, and sowing crops later in the season, although these measures are not guaranteed to prevent the fly.
My neighbour has a beautiful display of pink flowers and yellow flowers on two separate bushes in his garden. They are really pretty and uplifting at this time of year, do you know what they are?
They are almost certainly Ribes and Forsythia – a fabulous spring partnership used liberally by most garden designers (myself included) and gardeners, to brighten up the garden after a miserable winter. The Ribes in question is a flowering currant, so make sure you ask for the flowering variety or you will be given the fruiting currant. There are numerous varieties of both shrubs providing a wide range of height and spread, so there will be a variety suitable for any garden. They are indeed a great choice for spring colour and can also provide good informal hedging.
I have a stunning Magnolia soulangeana in my garden, which is just coming into bloom. The flowers always seem to get annihilated by the late spring frosts, which turn them brown. Is there anything I can do to protect the beautiful blooms?
The short answer is, ‘no, not that I am aware of’. My attitude to this admittedly-frustrating problem, is to simply accept that it is worth having a shrub so wonderfully flamboyant and majestic and just hoping that it will escape the frosts for the occasional year for you to enjoy. Unfortunately heavy rains also destroy the beautiful blooms so here in Wales it really does run the gauntlet with the weather. But just one good year of stunning blooms will make all the disappointments worthwhile.
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