APRIL 2000

THE GARDEN

(Sponsored by Glynns Garden Centre & Fruit & Veg.)

April, the clock has gone forward and with the arrival of the long evenings our interest in the garden has been re-awakened.
Following our recent spell of fine weather where the ground dried out and soil and air temperatures rose, growth began in earnest.
Trees are beginning to break into leaf and soon you will notice al the flowering cherries and flowering crabs break into bloom.

In the vegetable garden you can start planting. Seed potatoes can be still sown, British Queens as second earlies and the maincrop varieties of Records, Roosters, Kerr Pinks, and Golden Wonders. Cabbage plants, particularly 'Early York' plants can be sown now. Plant sets and shallots (onions) now also. The seeds of other vegetables could also be started now. Getting vegetable seeds off to a good start is a very important factor for successful vegetable growing. If the seeds are weakened by unfavourable soil conditions, the young plants may struggle to become established and may not do that well. There is the problem of gaps in the row of seedlings, caused by variations of conditions along the row.
This is usually caused by uneven soil preparation due to lumpy or wet ground. Apart from being a waste of effort, gaps in the cover, encourage weeds.
An important point to consider about sowing vegetable seeds is the firmness of the tilth - the top few inches of finely cultivated soil. For large vegetable seeds such as peas and beans, the tilth need not be so fine. But for smaller seeds such as onions, carrotts, and lettuce the tilth needs to be as fine as possible. Be careful though not to overdo the tilling of the soil. If it is made too fine, a problem called capping can occur. This occurs when the fine soil sticks together after rain, forming a cap on the surface. Small seedlings can find it impossible to break through this layer. A shake of coarse sand into the surface of the seed bed will help prevent this problem.

Finally, be careful not to sow vegetable seeds too deeply - the effort involved in pushing to the surface can
Too much for them. Seed packets often give very shallow depths for vegetables, perhaps between ½ inch and ¾ inch. In practice, a sowing depth of a ½ inch is difficult to achieve and most gardeners will sow a bit more deeply, but don't sow any deeper than 1 inch!

Vegetable transplants from boxes should be planted from the end of April on so as to avoid frost.

In the fruit garden, feed any fruit trees with sulphate of potash now, to help fruiting.
It's too late to spray fruit trees with tar oil now. Continue planting your fruit trees now, pears, plums, cherries, apples and the soft fruit bushes, blackcurrants, gooseberries, etc. now.

The lawn is still some peoples first start in the garden this month. You can continue to cut a regular basis now if conditions are ok. A lot of people are coming to this year with the problem of moss in the lawn. Because of the heavy soils in this vicinity and the wet winters and summers you will always have a degree of moss. Moss in a lawn can also be caused by shade, poor drainage and cutting the lawn too low. You should always have an inch of grasss on lawn. Collecting the grass clippings is also important because if you don't it leads to a spongy layer called thatch. This is a mix of old dead grass and moss. This can be got rid of by scarifying blade put on to your existing lawnmower. This sorts all this layer and will leave you with a lot of debris to rake up and get rid of.
You could then apply a lawn weed and feed such as Golden Vale 3 in 1 which has all the general fertilisers to feed the lawn, two weedkillers to till and weeds in the lawn and sulphate of Iron that kills the moss and gives the lawn a dark green colour. This is applied at a rate of 23 ozs to the square yard.

All trees and shrubs can be fed now with a tree and shrub fertiliser or 7:6:17 at a rate of 2 ozs (1 good fistful) to each plant. Scatter it around the soil at the base of the plant.

Anyone wishing to plant summer bulbs should do so now., bulbs such as Gladioli, Lilies, Begonias and Dahiahls need to be planted soon.

Finally, I am asked quite a lot when is the best time to plant trees and shrubs. Nowadays most plants are containerised so as they can be planted all year round.
However, when planting in winter if it is very exposed, it's best left until Spring as the plants are not actively growing and get beaten by the elements: whereas in Spring the are coming into growth and take off much better.

That's it for now, happy gardening, BOSCO MCDERMOTT, Glynn's Gardening Centre & Fruit & Veg, Lydican, Oranmore. (Tel: 799135).

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GOOD LUCK TO COMPÁNTAS LIR WHO GOT THROUGH TO THE ALL IRELAND FINALS IN BALLYDUFF, WATERFORD WHICH WILL BE HELD NEXT WEEK.
Congratulations to Compántas Lir on their very successful production of Oscar Wilde's classic comedy "An Ideal Husband", which opens at the Taibhdhearc on April 6th, 7th and 8th.

Founded in 1983, Compantás Lir have been regular participants in the All-Ireland Confined Drama Finals. The cast includes Philip Cribbin, Fidelma O'Rourke, Liz Hession, Simon and Maura Kavanagh, Carmel Kenny, Mary McCarthy, Bernadette Prendergast, Lilyanne Hannon Mary and Peter Talbot, Malachy Noone, Seamus McNulty, Malachy Noone, Paddy Greaney, Patsy Cahalan and Vincent Moran. "An Ideal Husband" is directed by Mike Hession, a well seasoned Actor/Producer/Director.

The costumes and set are exquisite, the set built by locals Regis Goulding, John Whelan, Malachy Noone, and John Brennan. The costumes were splendidly created by Mary Duggan and Ann Moran - a sight not to be missed.

For those of you who have not seen their performance todate, do not miss a memorable night . Tickets at £8, available from the box office at the Taibhdhearc. Tel: (091)563600.
Josette

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SPECIAL NEWS
Congratulations to Gerard Reilly, Cloon, for coming 1st in the County Ploughing Championship in Longford and coming 2nd in Athenry.

Best wishes to 6th class girls and boys in Carnmore and Claregalway who will be making their Holy Confirmation on the 6th May next.

Best of luck to all College students undertaking exams soon.

Belated birthday wishes to Maria Cribbin, Cahergowan, who was 19 in March.

Belated birthday wishes also to Cyril Duggan, Summerfield, who was 17 on the 24th March

Birthday wishes to Averyl Farrell, Cregboy, who will be 19 on the 7th April.

Birthday wishes to Martin Duggan, Summerfield, who will be 15 on the 9th April.

Joint birthday wishes to Kathleen and Liam Cahill, Summerfield who celebrate their 80th birthdays in April. We wish Liam a speedy recovery after his recent illness.

Congratulations to Maria Moran, Lakeview and Caroline Garrett, Cregboy on winning silver medals in the Connacht Schools Badminton.

Congratulations also to Padraig Hanley, Carnmore/Oranmore, on winning a bronze medal in the Connacht Schools Badminton.

Congratulations to Anne Collins, Carnmore and Liam Burke, Kilconiron who were married on 25th March.

Congratulations to James O'Connell, Knockdoe and Tricia Ferry, Boston who were married on 31st March.

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CLAREGALWAY LEISURE/COMMUNITY CENTRE
The A.G.M. of Claregalway Leisure Centre was held on the 7th March.

The incoming committee consists of:
Carol Steven (Chairperson)
Tony Clarke (Vice-Chairperson)
Siobhan Lynskey (Secretary)
Patricia Carton (Assistant Secretary)
Mary Reidy (Treasurer)
Hubert Newell (Assistant Treasurer)
Mary Casserly (P.R.O.)
Committee Members: Mary Forde, Gerry Moran, Maura Harte, Margaret Kearney, Gerry Mooney, Tom Lenihan.

The annual AM/AM Fundraising Golf classic is to go ahead on Saturday 29th April at Tuam Golf Club. Local businesses will be approached for sponsorship in the coming weeks. This is vital to the running of the Centre and all support is appreciated. For further information contact any of the tournament committee - Gearoid Hartigan (798236), Jimmy Moran (798047) and Martin Casserly (798176).

The annual Summer camp will take place in July from Monday 10th to Friday the 14th. Bookings are now being taken, and forms have been distributed to the local schools. Contact Mary Reidy (798887) for bookings. ANY and ALL help with the running of the Camp is welcomed. Contact any of the committee members if you feel you can spare the time.
SIOBHAN LYNSKEY, Secretary.

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Congratulations to our Division III and Division IV teams for reaching the County League Finals.

Our Division III team were successful on the day and go on to contest the Connacht Finals on April 16th. Good luck to all.

Team Members
Liam Hyland, Mairead Glynn, Paul Casserly, Fionnuala Glynn, Niall Hartigan, Caroline Mooney, Carmel Joyce.

Our Division IV team were beaten in the Final but had some great matches during the season and enjoyed it all.

Team Members
Rita Burke, Comán Duke-Farrell, Maria Moran, Brian Casserly, Mary Forde, Tom Cogley

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