Amateur Gardening – 10 August 2019

10 AMATEUR GARDENING10 AUGUST 2019

Get netted for better crops

E

ARLIERthisyear,a wooden

frameworkwasconstructed

in thegardenandcladwith

Enviromeshtouseonthe

vegetableplot.I ampleasedtoreport

it hasprovedveryuseful,whilethere

areadvantagesanddisadvantages.

Rowsof vegetablesaregrownpretty

closetomakeuseof everyinchavailable,

andliftingoffthemeshcladframeto

weedandharvestcropsis tricky.It

reallyneedstwopeopletodothelifting

effectivelyandI amonmyown,butI can

seeit wouldbeinvaluable along one

sideof anallotment.

Theadvantagescertainlyoutweigh

the difficulties. First, it was surprising

It’s not perfect – but the benefitsareclear,saysPeter

“Parsnipfoliageis

a foothigherthan

those outside”

howmuchearlierseedlingscame

throughandcropswerereadytoharvest

giventhiswindprotection.Pestcontrol,

themainreasonforbuildingthecovered

framein thefirstplace,hasbeenvery

good.Tocutlovelyheadsof Calabrese

withoutattacksbycabbagerootfly

andevenmorecriticalcabbagewhite

butterflycaterpillarsis a realboon.

Peashavebeenpickedwithouta sign

of peamothmaggots;parsnipfoliageis

a foothigherthanthosegrowingoutside

theprotection;andthere’snosignof

celeryleafminingflylarvaeskeletonising

foliage.It is necessarytousethemesh

protectionoversoilthathasnotgrown

thepesthostcroptheyearbefore,asa

flyunderthemeshwouldhavea fieldday.

Myframesare3ft/1mhigh,4ft/1.2mwide

and6½ft/2mlong.Twofit togetherwith

hooksandstaplestocover13ft/4m-long

rows.Theheightwastoaccommodate

Brusselssprouts,althoughpressuresof

workdidnotgetthemplanted.Nowthe

peasareharvested,it doesgivesspace

for some late-planted sprouting broccoli.

Peter’s tips

Alamy

with Peter Seabrook, AG’s classic gardening expert

Listento

Peter’sfree

podcastevery

Thursday.Searchfor

‘ThisWeekInThe

GardenwithPeter

Seabrook’on

iTunes

TheresultsofusingEnviromeshareimpressive

• bumper crops with less interference from pests

Alamy

Framesneedtoallow

for tall-growing plants

4

Hot,dryweatherencourages

attackbyfleabeetlesonall

brassicaseedlings.Eitherkeep

seedlingswetorcoverwithmesh

topreventdamageto crops

including radish.

2

If usedtocontrolcarrotfly,only

liftthescreenoffwhenthewind

isblowingstronglybecausecarrot

fliesarelesslikelytobe on the wing

in rough weather.

3

Keepthesupplyof lettuce

comingbychangingautumn

sowingtoLettuce‘WinterGem’.

Enviromeshwillprovide protection

for this winter crop.

1

Enviromeshprotectsbeetroot,

spinachbeetandSwisschard

frommangoldflymaggotsthat

cause blisters in the leaves.

All photography Peter Seabrook / TI Media, unless otherwise credited

Inset: Alamy

Alamy