Rhubarb is delicious in a number of ways, especially when used in a crumble or even in drinks as possibly a cordial, but there are steps which can be taken now for next year
Home growers can prepare gardens now for a delicious vegetable known as one of the earliest fruits of the year – which could be ready as early as March.
Rhubarb is delicious in a number of ways, such as in crumbles and in cordials to make drinks. It should be planted in fertile soil with the likes of horse manure to give it the best chances of growing healthily. Easy to grow, it produces a number of stalks every year which are edible – the leaves are not. Now, garden expert Monty Don has given advice to people keen on growing it at this time of the year.
He told Gardener’s World : “Looking after rhubarb is not that tricky at this time of year. “Obviously, there’s no more to harvest, it’s dying back and you can just leave it so all the stems and the foliage dies right back and then clear it. Or, strip away the leaves and the stems that have fallen below 45 degrees, just pull them, you don’t need to cut them, pull them from the crown. And then give them a good feed – ideally well rotted manure or garden compost – as thickly as you can.
“Don’t cover the crowns, if you suppress those they can rot and then you won’t get any next year. That’s it, that’s all you have to do if your rhubarb is fairly young, up to five-years-old. But if it’s a bit older than that, you can refresh it and rejuvenate it now, at this time of the year. All you have to do is dig up the crown and divide it so your new shoots have just one section. You can get to or even three plants from that. Plant it so the crowns are above the level of the soil.
“Don’t harvest it next year, let the new crowns establish and in two years’ time they will be ultra productive.” Keen gardeners will know October is an important time of year to set yourself up and ensure the crops you get next year are seriously lush and bountiful, but that does mean this month comes with a pretty long to-do list if you’re green-fingered.
According to the experts at Gardener’s World, one of the most important things you can do this month is get cracking with pruning and cutting back a lot of your established veggies and other plants. All this year’s crops that are finished should be gotten rid of because they can end up home to some nasty diseases and pests.
