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The perfect hanging basket is easy to create

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By Debby Looney, gardening expert

When the weather is as glorious as it has been this last week, where do you start?

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The garden beckons, although, if I am honest, so do windows, floors and most other surfaces which come to light in the bright sunshine! However, this is a gardening column and not a householder's mope! So ... do you start with weeding, edging or mowing? Well, I would say, colour. We have had enough grey and now is the time for fun!

Starting in the borders, perennials are all showing signs of life. Don't worry if they seem slow, those in garden centres are generally cultivated in protective environments and are way ahead of their counterparts in the garden. Hardy osteospermums, campanulas, geraniums and aquilegias will all be showing colour. Invest now in lupins, penstemon, aconites and delphiniums, so they can really have a long growing season and give you months of colour. Most perennials enjoy sunshine and well drained soil, plants such as rudbeckia, echinacea and heleniums should be planted in such sites.

However, there are plenty of choices for the more common heavy, wet soils. Phyllis, or cape fuchsia, is a particularly hardy plant. Bearing long, tubular flowers in pinks, salmon or cream, it can grow to 1.2m high. It is semi-evergreen in the winter, and thrives in wind, wet and even shade. I recommend you give it a good trim every spring, both to encourage new, fresh growth, as well as keeping it in check. Astilbes are also ideal for trickier spots, their long flowering season of pale pink, crimson or cream plumes can brighten up any area. They will grow in the wettest of gardens, which makes them ideal for pond side planting too.

HANGING BASKETS

A question which I am asked every year without fail is how to ‘do a good basket’. The perfect hanging basket is easy to create if you follow a few simple guidelines. Using plastic or rattan type baskets will prevent them drying out very fast, and they are easier to manage. If you have wire baskets, I recommend coco liners. Always use a round piece of polythene (I usually cut a circle from the compost bag and use that) between liner and compost. You need not bother putting drainage holes in it – this way you prevent dripping when you water. Baskets dry out so quickly as they are open to all the elements such as sun and wind, however they rarely get rain.

For this reason using water retentive gel is helpful, but only to a certain extent. Diligent watering and feeding is key. Baskets contain so little compost yet support so many plants, that feeding is vital. Slow release fertiliser breaks down through dampness, however baskets dry out so often that it often does not get the chance to work properly. So, again, an all-purpose liquid feed is what I advise. Remember - avoid the temptation of too many plants in a basket! I find setting a theme is best when shopping for plants but it does not always stop me from buying too many though!

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Massive Park Road housing development given green light

A private developer has been given planning permission to build 249 new residential units at Upper Park Road. The development, which will be built on a recently cleared site near […]

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A private developer has been given planning permission to build 249 new residential units at Upper Park Road.

The development, which will be built on a recently cleared site near An Post’s sorting office, will include a variety of properties from five-bed houses to single apartments, along with a crèche and over 500 car spaces and over 300 bike spaces.

The development has been welcomed by local councillor Martin Grady.

“Killarney has a massive housing shortage so this is very positive. It will retain young families in the area, stimulating economic growth,” he said. “After 17 years of different planning applications it’s finally coming to fruition.”

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Ballydribeen residents living in fear due to anti-social behaviour

Residents in the Ballydribeen are living in fear as a result of increased anti-social behaviour in the estate. Several serious incidents in the estate have resulted in several Garda visits […]

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Residents in the Ballydribeen are living in fear as a result of increased anti-social behaviour in the estate.

Several serious incidents in the estate have resulted in several Garda visits in the last week.

Local councillor Martin Grady told the Killarney Advertiser that residents are “living in fear” as a result of very serious incidents in the last week alone.

One house in the estate was badly damaged when fire crackers were placed inside a letter box.

Another house had its windows smashed in over the weekend.

“It’s a major problem,” added Grady after meeting residents there earlier this week.

One of the most serious incidents occurred on Tuesday night.

A passing motorists had rocks thrown at his car while driving along the bypass whch is adjacent to the estate.
Taking to social media, local primary-school teacher Pádraig O’Sullivan posted:

“Travelling home tonight, at 11.05pm on the Killarney side of the bypass our car was hit by a rock – not a pebble – from the Ballydribben side , which hit the passenger door.

“It was centimetres away from hitting the window where my father, who is visually impaired, was sitting.

“This could have caused catastrophic permanent injury to him.

“The Killarney Garda were on the scene within three minutes.

“They can’t be patrolling the bypass all night.

“It comes down to parenting. You should know where your children are at this hour and be able to teach them what’s funny and what ruin a person’s life or cause a fatal crash.“

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