Jamie’s Little Allotment: Gayton-based gardener talks planting dahlia tubers and half-hardy flower seeds

In his weekly column, Gayton gardener Jamie Marsh discusses planting dahlia tubers…

As we are well on the way to the middle of April, there’s plenty to do in the garden. The days are getting longer and warmer, which means there’s lots to be getting on with in the potting shed.

It’s the perfect time to start sowing your half-hardy flower seeds, but remember half-hardy means they don’t like frost.

So sow the seeds in a tray with some peat-free seed compost and keep them on a windowsill in the house or, bare minimum, in the greenhouse.

If you choose to keep them in the greenhouse, keep an eye on the weather reports, and if you see the temperature is going to go down anywhere close to 0°C overnight, make sure you cover the seedlings with some horticultural frost fleece just in case.

It would be devastating to wake up, look in the greenhouse, and all your seedlings are dead.

While we are talking about flowers, a job I did this week was to start to wake my dahlias up.

Whether you lifted your dahlia tubers back in late autumn or early winter and stored them somewhere frost-free and dry, like I did, or you have bought some new tubers, it’s a great time to kickstart them into life again.

As with the seedlings I spoke about above, dahlias do not like frost so it’s still a bit to early to plant them out in the garden, unless you’re willing to remember where you’ve planted the tubers, watched the weather reports and protect the tubers by covering them with frost fleece or a bucket if we are going to get a late frost.

That’s not a problem for what I’ve done with my dahlia tubers, because they will be nice and warm in the greenhouse in pots.

If you’ve stored your tubers over winter, dig them out and check them over - you’re looking for any damaged or rotten parts.

If there is, cut the bad pieces off with a sharp knife or secateurs, nice and close to the main tuber, also if there are any long, wispy roots from last year, they can be removed as well, because they won’t be used, the dahlia will put out new roots this year and the old ones will just rot and cause disease.

Once you’ve checked it over, find a pot which will fit the tuber quite snugly, add some compost to the bottom of the pot then squeeze the tuber in and fill in and around it with more compost, giving the pot a few sharp taps on the bench will help the compost find its way in and amongst all the bulbus bits of tuber.

Don’t worry if the shoulders of the tuber are poking out of the top of the pot, in fact it will help with taking cuttings of the dahlia, which I will be telling you about in a few weeks when they have started to grow.

Now they are all tucked in with compost, give them a bit of a drink, don’t saturate them, because the tubers have got lots of moisture stored inside to get them well on their way, then put them somewhere nice and warm and wait.

By the time the last frosts have passed and you want to plant them out, your dahlias will be well on their way.

Thank you for all your emails - I really enjoy hearing about what you’re doing in the garden and trying to answer your questions.

If you have any questions, please email me on Jamieslittleallotment@gmail.com