May...it rain !

I have to confess that there has been something of the 'Basil Fawlty' in me these past weeks. Staring up at the sky I have felt like shouting "Thank you, thank you very much indeed!" Firstly there has been a pitiful amount of rain and now that lovely frost. Thank you very much indeed!

I do, however, realise that we live on an island on the edge of an ocean. Given the massive and rapid changes in the weather a few hundred miles north of Hampshire, we actually have a fairly easy time of it.

Which doesn't get the watering done when the anticipated "April Showers" don't turn up. Many a plant, especially newly planted trees, have been lost in dry springs. Do get out there a few times a week with the hose or watering can to soak the base of your trees and shrubs. An hour of gentle rain makes little impact on thirsty roots and dark clouds are no guarantee for a wet spell. I always enjoy getting a break from designing gardens in Hampshire.

Adding a mulch to the base of trees and shrubs will help your cause: this can be rotted manure, bark chippings or even gravel - anything to keep the moisture in.

As for the frosts - just be aware that it is only when we get to June that there is any real certainty that they are over. Cover any seedlings with a fleece or fibre that will protect them from the ground frosts. It doesn't matter how warm the day was - clear skies in spring bring on cold nights. Protect any tender plants and even fruit blossoms the same way.

In order to make sure you stay on of your garden, why not devote a few hours a week to some of the following tasks? :

• There is still time to divide clumps of herbaceous plants including Hostas and Primulas once they have flowered. 

• Daffodils and other bulbs will benefit from having a generous amount of time to be fed by their long, slender leaves - so wait until the end of the month before "chopping them back". You can divide the bulbs the same way you divide herbaceous plants.

• Birds are looking to feed their young so keep the bird feeders topped up and check for nests when cutting hedges.

• Put up bird boxes for swallows and other summer migrant birds

• Keep on top of the weeds by hoeing or laying matting and mulch.

• Lawns can be fed with a nitrogen rich fertiliser but beware of doing this in very dry weather as it can scorch the grass. Compost the cuttings but add something to stop the decomposing grass becoming too sour: a few centimetres of soil is fine but a Lime mix product is even better.

• Water new lawns and aim to be cutting the lawns weekly by the end of the month.

• Clip evergreen hedges and trim evergreen shrubs.

Despite the dryness and the occasional frost there really are so many exciting new colours and shapes emerging it is hard to get bored in the garden.

Even my inner 'Basil' can manage a "Thank you, thank you very much indeed".

April: perfect gardens (not)

Oh my word. How did this all happen so quickly? A few weeks ago I was scratching around doing a bit of pruning then dashing inside as the rains came down. I now look at the work then at my diary: a mild sense of panic rises in me as I wonder how on earth I will get it all done?

I must be a goldfish: its not as if this doesn't happen every year. Yes, every year. And the solution is the same every year too. (At these moments I have the unfortunate habit of remembering songs from musicals. "Just start at the very beginning, a very god place to start". (You know the rest).

So, firstly I make a list of priorities. What can wait a while and what is urgent? Under the urgent heading for me is getting the unfinished rose pruning done, feeding them with Rose fertiliser and chopping back the tougher evergreen shrubs such as Bay Laurel, Escallonnia and Griselinia to renovate and rejuvenate them. These are easy, bold tasks that have an instant effect. 

There. I feel better already. So now onto the tedious but necessary job of laying the weed suppressing matting down followed by a spread of approx. 5 cms of bark mulch.  That will give the blighters something to think about and frankly, save me hours of fiddling around in the shrubbery when I could be designing gardens in Hampshire.

I can now do the other things that I need to do and possibly even start to enjoy the exercise:

• Having taken the terracotta pots  out of hibernation, scrape the top few inches ( 3-5 cms) of soil off the top and replace it with fresh compost. Add some plant food but spread well or water it in to avoid burning the plant root systems.

• When the bright yellow Forsythia is over you can cut back the recently-flowered stems to the main branches. That stem will grow back and flower again the year after next.

• Divide clumps of Snowdrops but be aware that they do not always take kindly to being moved.

• Shrubs that enjoy a warm, Mediterranean climate are best planted now rather than in the Autumn. These include Ceonothus, Cistus, Santolina and Lavender.

• If you put in your pond plants now, they will become established as the water warms up.

• Be aware that birds may be nesting in hedges so have a good look before you do any trimming of evergreens.

• Set your lawn mower on a high cut. As the season progresses you can lower the cut to a height of about one to one and a half inches ( 2.5 - 3.5 cms). 

• Sow grass seed to repair bare patches and apply feed to add vitality to the lawn. Be careful when you do this around ponds as a shot of nitrogen will boost your pond weeds.

You won't have time to sit and relax for long as there will be a hundred other things to do. But you might, just might pause for breath and smile to yourself as you take in the miracle that is once again happening all around you.

February

Natural ponds

January - cold comforts

http://jollygreenwill.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/january-cold-comforts.html

December - deep freeze food

http://jollygreenwill.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/december-deep-freeze-food.html

November - inner fires

See my blog :

http://jollygreenwill.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/november-inner-fires.html

October - colours and blowers

Will Ridpath - October 2016

See my blog:

http://jollygreenwill.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/october-blowers-and-colours.html

August - shedding the years

See my blog:

http://jollygreenwill.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/august-shedding-years.html

Early Spring

Spring has well and truly sprung - so I have been trying to get round to writing this blog for 4 weeks - without much luck! So here goes....

Now is the time when most people FEEL like getting stuck into the garden - so don't hold back.....

Soil; (my hobby-horse). Where borders are likely to attract a lot of annual weeds add plenty of mulch. It will help retain the moisture, keep the annual weeds at bay and provide some nutrients if it is well-rotted. The soil will benefit from the micro organisms and the worms you are adding.

Feeding; Add fertiliser to the borders around the base of the plants. Try to avoid adding too much as this can burn the roots and shoots. Water the fertiliser in if you are in doubt. ( My rule of thumb is a level teaspoon for herbaceous and small plants and a level tablespoon for shrubs).

Pruning; Once the brilliant yellow Forsythia and and other early flowering shrubs are over you can cut the flowing branches back - as hard as you like. NOTE; when a shrub has a small hollow centre as the Forsythia and most Spireas have - you can be pretty brutal with them. The same applies to Buddlea with it's hollow centre - don't be afraid to cut it right down if you need to. If it is a healthy plant it will come back.

Silver-leafed plants can be pruned once the heavy frosts are over as can other sensitive plants such as Laveterias.

Lawns; Be careful not to make the first cut of the season too hard. If you have your mower on a high setting then a lower one for the next cut you will avoid the light green 'balding' when the mower gets to the stems of the grass.

Perennials, grasses and bulbs; Lift and divide herbaceous plants and grasses. Be Bold! They are remarkably resilient! The Snowdrops and aconites need to be lifted whilst they are still in flower.

Fruit & Veg; Whilst the air temperature may be warming up, the soil takes longer. Try to resist the temptation to rush out and do all the sowing at the first sight of sunshine. Waiting for the soil to warm up will pay dividends.

Ponds and pools; If you can bear sticking your arm into the cold,, murky water of your pond then getting at the pond plants to divide them and replant them in appropriate places will mean a less choked pond in the summer.

And in all the excitement...................don't forget to just stand and stare...................and listen................and breathe....................and smell.

To coin the immortal words of Monty Python's verbose American commentator............"Isn't Nature Wonderful" !

Wet, Wet, Wet!

February...

Oh boy ! Is this rain going to end?! There are parts of the gardens that I look after and are working on that look like they have already joined the WW1 commemoration events......

NEVER work on or with area that are water-logged if you can possibly help it.....it squeezes the life out of the soil by compressing it. This means that all the natural organic processes that are going on ( air meeting rotting vegetation/worms & microcosms feeding off organic material) are starved of what they need. Apart from anything else - it is bloomin' hard to stand upright on it and to clean it off your shoes!

A favourite solution is to put down planks to cross over these areas and where the lawns have been compressed, to stand on these planks to fork holes into the grass. This will begin to 'aerate' the soil.

You will help your lawn by raking up leaves that are stopping the light and air getting to the grass.

Most trees and shrubs are well and truly dormant at this time of year. So now is the time to do that tree pruning - cutting off diseased or damaged branches ( there will be a few of those after these high winds ). When you cut off a branch try not to leave a 'clothes peg' on the tree by leaving too much. Try to make the cut close the main stem but not so close that it damages the bark.

I always try to make a preliminary cut BELOW the final cut so when the branch does fall it doesn't tear the bark down the tree. Even better, make a rough cut well away from the main stem and after disposing of that, make the final cut accurately; you have more control that way

It may be wet, grim and grey some of these February days but with the emergence of the snowdrops, the glowing of the dogwood stems ( Cornus) and the fragrance of a number of lesser-known Loniceras (Honeysuckle family) there is plenty to enjoy.

New life is preparing to burst out and is not that far away at all.

January top-tips

Well if you are not water-logged, or partially water-logged...you are doing very well!

Clay soils will always drain slower than chalky and sandy soils. Think of pouring water into a barrel of lentils. It will take a lot longer to get through than a barrel of marbles or tennis balls.

And so it is with soil; clay particles are very small so hold in the water ( and the nutrients for that matter) much better than chalky soils ( marbles ) or sandy soils ( tennis balls ). No offence Andy Murray.

That is why we dig in manure and compost at this time of year. It helps the STRUCTURE of the soil by encouraging larger particles to bind together and smaller ones to be broken up by the organic activity of worms and microcosms.


Have you noticed the dark almost purple colours of most trees at this time of year? I am always quite struck by the colours, especially in the cold, bluish light of evening. And it is at this time of year I wonder....will spring ever come round again? What happened to the glorious greens of last year?

So signs of life are a wonder; the blue-tits, starlings and Robins at my bird-feeder. The hippy-hair flowers emerging from Witchazels and the winter-flowering scented Viburnums ( bodnantense, fragrans, tinus), the crocus beginning to show and the out-of-place looking bright yellow Jasmine nudiflorum. The soon-to-flower Sarcococcas (winter box) are a treat for those who want to fill a room with an intense, delicate fragrance.

And as much of nature is evidently dormant - now is the time to get your bare -root plants in and to do your pruning. More on that next month.

There are however, no end of chores to keep a gardener busy; cleaning out the greenhouse ( use a solution of Jeyes fluid to get rid of moss and mold ), sorting out labels, the sticks and supports and the job no-one ever gets round to but one I always find satisfying...cleaning the tools.

What is it about men and tools? All lined up and shiny and hanging evenly on hooks......do the ladies have an equivalent activity that makes you feel you can look the world in the eye?!!!

December top-tips

Soil
I mentioned improving your soil in my last blogs; well if you haven't had time for that now is the time to go for it. Compost will help improve the 'structure' of the soil ( how easy it is to work and how well it retains moisture and nutrients ) but the king of soil improvers is horse manure!

Make sure you have well-rotted manure or it will be too'strong' for the garden and the acids may affect the plants. The darker the manure the better. It takes several months for the 'goodness' to be released which is why a spring spreading of manure only brings real benefits in late autumn and why doing it now will bring benefits in spring.

The other advantage of well-rotted manure is that it contains all the micro-nutrients that won't be found in your compost heap and these are of particular value in poorer soils where there is a lack of 'humus' ( see earlier blog).

Pruning
As soon as the leaves have fallen you can start pruning the trees, shrubs and climbers - including the fruit trees. Don't do this too early as you will encourage 'bleeding' of sap in plants such as vines.

Getting the garden 'tidy' before Christmas is always a pleasing thing to do but try to be aware that 'tidyness' is not always compatible with good ecological practice. I once lost a number of slightly tender herbaceous plants by being too enthusiastic with cutting back perennial geraniums that were giving some Agapanthus valuable protection from the frost!

Frost protection
I have also lost plants because I have been taken by surprise at the harshness of an early December frost. So if you have any Mediterranean plants or semi-tropical plants that are slightly tender ( Abutilon for example ), then it is a good idea to get them covered or get them into the glasshouse. Garden centres offer a range of products from fleeces to gauze as protection; the most economical one I saw was in a Friary where one of the brothers used to put the old plastic vegetable sacks over his tender Rhododendrons!

Bare-root stock
Now is the time to get your orders in for bare-root stock ( plants that are 'lifted' from the ground and transported bare-rooted in bags to the nurseries for sales). These can be trees or two year old plants called 'whips'.

Did you know that a 45cms (18")'whip' will eventually outgrow a 180cm (6') tree? The younger the plant is transplanted, the less 'trauma' the plant experiences in being re-located. They also need a good deal less care such as watering and feeding because whips adapt better to their new conditions. The older plants are used to the pampering of a nursery so find adapting harder.

Whips are also a fraction of the price of trees!

Now there is a good reason to get those orders in!

An ideal Christmas present???

Tips on planting bulbs

Bulb planting; 

Now is the time of year to get bulbs in. People often ask "how deep should I plant my bulbs"? The general rule of thumb is to plant them at three times the depth of the bulb itself. In other words if the bulb is 5cms tall ( 2") then dig a 15cms (6") hole. and maybe add a little compost if the soil is really dense - such as heavy clay.

One thing to bear in mind is that you can often create a "V" shape at the bottom of your wee bulb hole without meaning to; the bulb roots have nothing to grow into when this happens but thin air. So always check the base of the hole is level.

I usually just swirl a touch of compost around the bottom of the planting hole and try not to compact the soil above the bulb too much. You can add a pinch of slow release fertiliser too if your soil is very poor.

Hey Presto! When they emerge in spring it all seems nothing less than a miracle!

Top-tips for October

It's here..........the slight chill in the air but the promise of harvest, colour, real fires and bonfires. When the sky is clear blue there is no better time of year to marvel at shapes, colours, back-lit grasses, spiders webs and subtle shades of gold.

So what to do in the garden?

Clearing the leaves; remember that leaves create a natural thermal layer for herbaceous plants as well as providing compost. You can make a tidy garden if you want ( who wants leaves to skid on in the drive?) but why do more work than you need to? They do a great job staying on the borders and if you have the energy add them to the compost heap, but they will do a similar job lying on soil.

Herbaceous plants; As soon as they stop looking like they are going to produce any more flowers or growth you can get stuck into lifting and dividing them. Be brutal - use two forks; they can take it! The usual cutting back of herbaceous plants to the base also applies; it will give your borders that tidy look. Again - you need not take the cuttings away; you will make a nice thermal layer for wildlife!

Lawns; If they have had a hammering then get on to adding feed asap.

Cutting back the roses; I am still getting flowers on my roses - so I am leaving that for the moment until the cold really kicks in and the wind and rain make a mess of them.

Soil; If you have heavy clay then now is the time to add that compost. Dig it in if you have the energy; the frost will help break it up. The compost will help give the soil a better 'structure' that means it retains nutrients better. The same applies to sandy and chalky soil and will assist in retaining moisture too. Nothing like that dark, crumbly matter called 'humus'. ( Not to be confused with something you dip your carrot strips into at dinner parties).

Did you know that humus has the same root as the word as humility? They are both humble, lowly and full of the ability to retain goodness! Interestingly humus comes from organic matter that has been broken down to it's lowest natural denominator.

I wonder if that applies to us human beings too?

And don't forget to take that bag with you when you go out on a walk past those blackberries and windfall apples.