Work in the Winter Garden

IT’S WINTER BUT THERE’S WORK TO DO

This has been an excellent winter for catching up with outdoor gardening tasks. It has not been too cold, but just enough frost to firm up the ground for getting on with the digging. We have not been bothered with a lot of wet weather or snow so fence repairs, staking and fruit bush pruning are all in hand. The mild weather has brought on a lot of early flowers with snowdrops, crocus and aconites about a month ahead of their normal season. Normally we should worry about this, as a late frost will do them no favours, but weather forecasts do not seem to give us much cause for concern, so just enjoy the bonus for as long as it lasts.

Outdoor tasks

Harvesting continues with fresh vegetables from the allotment including cabbage, kale, sprouts, Swedes, Swiss chard and leeks. Stored eating apples are now finished, but Bramley cooking apples are still plentiful, though a few are developing a wee bit of brown rot, so these are removed as soon as they are spotted. Onions in store are still perfect, quite sweet and full of flavour.
Prune summer fruiting raspberries by removing lasts years fruiting canes down to ground level and tying in all the one year old canes which grew last year as they will produce this year’s crop. If you have a lot of canes remove any weak ones and reduce the number to leave enough so that when they are tied in along the top wire with a running knot the canes will be spaced about four inches apart.

Autumn fruiting raspberries are removed entirely at ground level as the row will produce new canes which will fruit at the end of summer and into autumn.

I feed my summer fruiting raspberries but not the autumn ones as they have never lacked vigour and I do not want canes higher than six feet. However I will give them both a good dressing of well rotted compost to help conserve moisture just in case we get a dry summer. Now don’t laugh, it is perfectly possible, though most unlikely if we consider recent past summers.

 Blackcurrants were pruned immediately after fruiting, but redcurrants can now be winter pruned. I have established a bush with nine main stems. All side shoots growing from these main stems are spurred back to a few buds and two of these stems will be replaced each year as new young shoots grow up from the base.

Gooseberries are grown on a short leg to allow good air circulation as previously older varieties were very prone to mildew. Modern varieties are more resistant so mildew is not a problem. Cut out any shoots growing up the centre and those on the outside if they are too near the ground and if there is still a bit of congestion in the middle which can make picking a thorny nightmare then do a bit of spur pruning to assist picking.

Brambles are pruned like summer raspberries but as the shoots are quite long devise a bending and looping system without breaking the canes so they take up less room.

Outdoor grape vines need an annual cut back of all shoots back to one bud on the established framework. When the vine is in its early years allow it to grow like a fan or espalier apple so it fills its allotted space with a framework of main branches spaced about one or two feet apart. These will need a permanent strong wire support as in summer the young shoots can grow very long if you don’t get the summer pruning done on time. It is these young shoots that produce the bunches of grapes. Each shoot then gets summer pruned back to two leaves after the bunch, but now in mid winter they are cut off right back to the stem.

Indoor tasks

Greenhouse grapes are grown the same way, but the framework is usually upright rods spaced about 18 inches apart. Pruning needs to be completed in January as they are quite quick to start growing in the warmth of the glasshouse.

Geranium grown from cuttings are now well rooted and can get potted up into small pots.

Blackcurrants in the freezer surplus to our needs are now being brewed into another batch of wine.

Plant of the week.  Winter Aconites

Winter aconites, Eranthus hyemalis, normally appear in February but when we get these mild winters they can start to show their buttercup yellow flowers in early January. They associate well with snowdrops and compete to see who can produce the first flower of the year. Plant a patch close to a window so you can enjoy the promise of spring just round the corner from the warm comfort of your home.

They belong to the buttercup family, are not too fussy about soil and will grow in sun or shade as long as the ground has good drainage. They are perfect under deciduous trees that have a dense canopy as the Aconites produce their leaves quite early, while light and sunshine can filter through. As soon as the tree begins to produce its canopy, the aconites have had their short growing season so are happy to go dormant, and if the ground goes dry under the tree canopy this helps to ripen off the corms. Propagate by splitting up clumps immediately after flowering and save and scatter the seeds as soon as they are ripe. They will flower from seed within three years.

END

Plant a Cherry Tree

PLANT A CHERRY TREE

When you are in your youth you enjoy fresh fruit throughout the summer because they taste so delicious in their season, but as you get older you get wiser and understand the immense health benefits of home grown fresh fruit. I have always loved fruit so I try to grow just about everything possible in our Scottish garden.

Cherries are full of anthocyanin, a very potent antioxidant, which causes the red pigment colour. These are known to have very beneficial health properties linked to heart disease, diabetes and help to reduce cholesterol, so even if the cropping season is short, at least it will be a very healthy summer period, and then we begin the next healthy fruit crop.

Last year I planted my first cherry tree seeking out a sheltered spot against a south facing fence so I can train it as a fan as my space is limited. I got the variety Cherokee grafted onto the dwarf rootstock Gisela 5.

Last year was not the best year to get it established. Lack of sunshine, gales and continual rain did not help it to get established and put on good growth. However plants do not give up easily, especially after planting on well prepared soil with a lot of well rotted compost added to the planting hole, so eventually it put on some nice growth.

Brilliant, I thought, so I left it alone for a couple of weeks. That was a mistake as they are very prone to attacks of blackfly which suck out the sap causing the leavers to curl up. This protects the blackfly from predators and me, so a spray of insecticide was of little value as it came too late.

Lessons have been learnt so this year I will keep looking for the first signs of this pest and take action before they get a hold.

Cherries are also a very short season plant, so they only get one chance to grow per season, so if it gets curtailed, you then have to wait till the next year.

Cultivation

Cherries prefer a deep heavy soil that has been well cultivated and free draining. They usually flower too late to be affected by frosts unless you get a very late one, so pollination is usually very good and modern varieties are mostly self fertile so you do not need two for cross pollination.

Good varieties in include Stella, with dark red fruit, Cherokee, also with dark red fruit and Summer Sun, similar and suitable for our cooler climate up north. I make sure they are grafted onto the dwarfing rootstock Gisela 5 which is said to keep the height down to six to eight feet. This will make netting against birds easier against my fence.

Give a dressing of general fertiliser in early spring, water in any dry spells and a mulch of compost will help to retain moisture if ever we get back to any dry weather.

Watch out for those blackfly early in the season and net against blackbirds. Bullfinches can also be a problem in spring as they peck out buds and pull of flowers.

Plant of the week

Cornus alba Westonbirt is my favourite dogwood. It has bright red stems that dazzle in the winter sunshine and add interest in the garden at a time when there is precious little flowers, leaves or berries around. Westonbirt is the best red, but in a coloured stem winter border there is a place for the lime green stemmed Cornus stolonifera flaviramea and the bright orange/red Mid Winter Fire.

If you fancy something really unusual then include Cornus kesselringii which has black stems.

To show off the coloured stems to their best grow them as stooled bushes where they are pruned back to ground level every one or two years. Give them some fertiliser in spring to encourage growth, and a mulch of compost in winter which helps to feed them, retain moisture in dry weather and keeps weeds down in the growing season. I underplant my coloured stemmed border with spring flowering bulbs such as snowdrops and crocus to extend the floral impact after pruning at the end of March, so I do not cultivate the soil in this border as it would damage the bulbs.

Painting of the month

“Tullybaccart Farm” This farm sits in an elevated location overlooking panoramic views to Coupar Angus, Blairgowrie and Alyth. This area is very popular for hill walkers and anglers and is served with a busy roadside car park. I walk around Tullybaccart about six times every year in all seasons, so I am always around when the views are at their best. Winter is my favourite time as long as the roads are open and there is always gorgeous sunsets. This painting captures one such winter evening, as I always take my camera with me. I must have done about twenty paintings of the farm and surrounding landscape, and nearly all of them as snow scenes. However the light is always changing so they are always quite different.

END

Edible Landscapes

EDIBLE LANDSCAPES

When I look at life today and see how much it has changed in my lifetime, I have the benefit of over sixty years of change for comparison. We live in a modern high tech world where wealth plays a major role as there is so much to spend it on. We all want a nice house, one or two cars, at least one holiday a year, plenty food, drink and entertainment and to get our kids the best education. This puts a lot of pressure on people to find and keep jobs and work longer hours.  To save time and effort we shop at supermarkets, buy ready made meals and travel by car rather than walk.

It is recognised that this lifestyle is not the healthiest option for our wellbeing or the planet, so more and more people are making the effort to get fit, grow and eat better food and recycle waste.

Builders no longer create new houses with much garden space, so those wishing to grow their own food often look for an allotment. That may be fine for a few keen gardeners, but there is a need to look beyond the individual.

It is no longer fashionable to send your kids to the country in summer to pick raspberries and strawberries and potatoes in the autumn. That would be viewed as punishment. There is a recognised need to educate our kids in the way we grow and use food crops and animals in a way they will find entertaining and informative.

More and more local communities and schools are addressing this need by creating edible landscapes within the schools as well as other outdoor landscape areas. This movement is in its infancy, but it is becoming very popular. Landscapes today need not just be planted with ornamental vandal tolerant plants but use of edible plants can provide the same function and still be aesthetically attractive.

Community and school gardens

These projects are all about educating people in how plants are grown, used and enjoyed, and getting involved working together as communities. Kids love to see where our food comes from, to try them out when ripe, grow them from seeds, cuttings or small plants, and see where plants can be used for dyes, basket making, fibres, brushes, fuel, soap, insecticide, fertiliser and numerous other uses. Some rural community gardens also include keeping hens for egg production. This is always popular with kids.

The principles that apply to normal landscape design will also apply to this type of project, i.e. plants will still function as trees, hedges, shrubs, fruit and vegetables, medicinal herbs, ground cover, and climbers. Plants will also be selected for sunny spots, shady spots, and those needing dry or damp soil. However the selection will be based on how the plants can be used in a useful living community.

Forest gardens

This is a further development and may be on a larger scale within a woodland setting, but plants chosen are useful or edible and form a woodland flora from the taller canopy trees such as walnut, sweet chestnut and edible lime trees to the forest floor layers such as blueberries and wild garlic.

Other layers form at shrubby levels, herbaceous types and those that prefer woodland fringe or forest clearings. There are also many edible plants that prefer a pond or bog garden from watercress to reeds, cranberries, white water lily, and other plants that have edible rhizomes, leaves, fruit and seeds. Always make sure you can identify the plant accurately as some may be poisonous in the raw state.

It is the aim to grow a very wide range of useable plants in a permanent setting without soil cultivations but recycling plant materials by composting. It is feasible for a family of four to feed themselves from an acre of woodland and without any harm to the environment. As the woodland is permanent it has a very low maintenance requirement.

More information on forest gardens can be found at www.agroforestry.co.uk

Edible plants

We are all familiar with the obvious apples, pears, plums and cherries, but there is also mulberries, hazelnuts, saskatoons, chokeberries, quince, medlar, fuchsia, figs and hardy outdoor grapes.

There is no reason why other edible fruit and vegetables cannot be added into the landscape plan. Brambles, Tayberries and loganberries make excellent climbers, and currants, raspberries and gooseberries will form good hedges.

Plants with edible leaves include lime trees, nettles, sorrel, bamboo (shoots), campanula, and wild garlic, and the list of herbs and medicinal plants is enormous. We use rosemary, thyme, sage and mint for flavouring many meat dishes and kale and Swiss chard are excellent in a stir fry.

Food for free landscape designs can incorporate any type of plant from edibles to those that have other functions, but the skill is in creating an attractive landscape that functions as well.

A lot of research on edible and usable plants has been done by Ken and Addy Fern on their experimental site in Cornwall. They have over 7000 species of plants on their database.

Their website Plants for a Future www.pfaf.org is a mine of information.

End

A Quiet Time in the Garden

A QUIET TIME IN THE GARDEN

January can be a very quiet time in the garden. A few hard frosts and a blanket of snow soon obliterate any remaining flowers surviving the mild winter. Most early snowdrops and aconites are not yet ready to push up the, though I have had some varieties of snowdrop in bud since December.

Tulips, narcissus and hyacinths are all showing a wee bit of growth, but will be very vulnerable if we run into a cold snap.

Winter cleanup and digging are just about complete, so there is plenty of time to start the pruning of shrubs, roses, fruit bushes and grape vines. Then just when you are all organised and feeling good that you are ahead of the game, along comes more gales and a few more fence panels come tumbling down.

The days are now very short, so garden tasks are quite limited. This gives me more time for studio work and so, back to my easel.

In the studio

Frosty mornings and a covering of snow can give you fantastic opportunities to get the camera out and find those special winter landscape images to capture on canvas. It is too cold to paint outdoors, but travelling around quickly I can get enough good photo shots for four to six snow scene paintings in the few hours while the sun shines. I take lots of photos then compose good scenes for a painting, often using several images together. In the studio I may start off with a good image, but then the creative juices kick in and I explore all the “what if” options. Do I change the sky, do I alter time of day, do I add a man and his dog, or a young mother and child, and do I remove trees or add a few in. Often I can get six to ten very different paintings from one good photo. My allotment site has given me many great images to paint at all times of the year, but it is now time for snow scenes.

My latest winter landscapes will go on display in the West End Gallery in the Perth Road, Dundee.

Outdoor Pruning

January and February are perfect months for pruning as bushes are dormant, and the ground may be snow covered or frozen so you can’t get on with other seasonal tasks.

In the fruit garden the currants, brambles, raspberries and gooseberries all need pruning and I will lop out one or two tall shoots from each of my mature Saskatoon bushes right down to ground level. Over vigorous goji bushes will get some pruning and some tying in to see if I can get them to flower and fruit this year.

Apple trees will get a few taller main branches removed to encourage young growth to keep the trees balanced and not get too big as I want to do most of the picking from ground level.

All rose bushes and climbers can be pruned then spread a bit of compost around them and lightly fork it in.

Before you prune garden shrubs, look them up in Google or a good garden book, as they all have different pruning needs. Do not prune good bushes into square or round shapes just because it tidies them up. This style, often practised by some professional landscapers shows those who have not got a clue. Some like forsythia and philadelphus get pruned like blackcurrant bushes, buddleia gets cut back to just above ground level and others such as pyracantha get spur pruned. Many like rhododendrons don’t need any pruning. Cornus and other shrubs grown for their coloured stems do not get pruned till the end of March.

Outdoor Harvesting

There are still plenty of winter vegetables to keep the kitchen supplied with fresh greens and roots.

Cabbage, sprouts, leeks and Swedes are not troubled by the winter, and if you still have any beetroot left, earth them up a wee bit to protect them from frosts. Kale and Swiss chard are still perfect for soups and stir fries. Parsnips have had their few days of frost to sweeten them up so now appear in many dishes from soups to roasts. Onions in store are still perfect and now quite sweet.

In the kitchen

During summer I look forward to our courgette soup, but at this time of year on a cold winter’s day, the pumpkins are in a world of their own. They are very versatile as they can be stored for months fresh, then you cut them up and scoop out the flesh which can be frozen for future use. Fresh made soup can also be frozen if, as normal you make a pot too big for a couple of days servings.

I no longer ask Anna to make a note of the recipe as every batch is slightly different from the previous one, but they are all brilliant, so what does it matter. Various pumpkin soups have had stock, onion, garlic, celery, carrot, sweet potato, tomato, Swiss chard, kale, lemon, rind of orange, ginger, cloves, coconut milk, butter, thyme, parsley and crisped bacon added, but not all at the same time.

Garden Birds

When the ground freezes and the last berries have been consumed from the garden bushes the birds can have a tough time foraging for food so keep the bird table stocked up and the frozen water dish replaced with clean fresh water. Any apples not keeping too well in store may be ok for the blackie, and bacon rind is ok if chopped up. We have to look after our local wild life even if they still return in summer to eat our strawberries, blueberries and outdoor grapes when our backs are turned.

End