SUNNY DECEMBER IN THE GARDEN

SUNNY DECEMBER IN THE GARDEN

I had intended to write up a very pleasant article of a dry sunny day gathering up loads of fresh vegetables from my allotment. However that only lasted one day as overnight storms came down from the north and winter arrived in a great hurry. The weather plays a huge role in writing about gardening as it is very unreliable and changes happen suddenly. Every year has a different tale to tell from severe gales, frost and snow, constant rain, then heat waves, drought and hose pipe bans.

Warm sunny December days

However I did have a lovely day in early December in full sun, with no wind or rain to hinder the late harvest. Beetroot was still perfect and summer turnip Purple Top Milan sown late had produced small but perfect roots so we have not yet started on our row of winter Swede turnips. Autumn cabbage has also been excellent so as yet the later maturing January Kings still await the first cutting. I had difficulty lifting the huge parsnips which were a good thickness, rust free and very long. Late sown lettuce Arctic King had large tender hearts and other leafy salads such as rocket added to the variety.

Leeks are always essential in winter, as are a picking of Brussels Sprouts Wellington and curly kale.

All the roots and leeks got washed on site from the rain filled water barrel then left in the sun to dry off.  A cold task, but at least I didn’t have to break the ice to get to the water.

It is these precious moments that make gardening a great pleasure.

Then once back home it was into the wine buckets giving the latest brew a good stir to keep the yeasts on their toes. We had such a huge crop of dessert apples that I started five demijohns of apple wine in October. This is now slowly fermenting away very happily, but once the Bramley cooking apples got harvested and sorted we realised that we could never use them all so another batch of wine was planned with 36 lbs of apples. This got supplemented with 12 lbs of grapes from my outdoor Brant and greenhouse Black Hamburg vines. This should give me six demijohns of wine and as I have never tried this mixture before the future should be very interesting.

Winter arrives with gale force winds

Just when you think life is so wonderful, you realise it is just too good to last. Overnight the gales arrived in UK, coupled with rain and snow bringing warm sunny days to an abrupt end.

The strong gusts of wind proved more than my greenhouse could stand and twelve panes of glass got shattered as the structure buckled in the gale force winds. Fortunately I had just harvested all my grapes, but my winter salad leaves and Cape Gooseberries suffered badly as the next few days were quite frosty and all the protection has gone.

The grape vine plants however are quite hardy as long as they get a chance to harden off slowly, so I am hoping they will survive. One whole side of the greenhouse has been demolished, so it will not be a patch up job and with the structure now twisted, most of the glass will have to be removed to see if the metal can be straightened up. Broken glass strewn all over the garden will need to be cleared before it gets lost under falling leaves as it can be a huge hazard as you are always handling the soil. However the gales have brought down most of the deciduous tree and shrub leaves apart from some shrub roses and my willows.

The rest of the garden survived just fine. I worried for the tall eucalyptus in full leaf which really bent severely in the gale, but they are very tough and flexable and now appear totally unaffected.

The cold snap brought in a dusting of snow and the frost iced up paths and roads, but as this is just the start of winter it is perfect for hardening up plants.

Looking on the positive side, a light frost will firm up the soil surface to allow winter digging to proceed without boots collecting mud, and the exercise keeps you warm.

Plant of the week

Spindle bush, Euonymus europaeus is a very hardy deciduous large shrub or small tree with brilliant scarlet autumn colour. The very attractive fruit last into early winter starting off as bright red capsules which open to reveal orange seeds. It is easy to grow but it can get quite large so is perfect for large gardens, and the edges of shelter belts and woodland fringes.

END

GOOD TIME FOR PRUNING

GOOD TIME FOR PRUNING

Most fruit bushes and trees can be pruned any time in the dormant season from now till mid March. I tend to keep this task for times when it is frosty or there is a snow covering and other outdoor tasks are curtailed. As long as you wear plenty warm clothes cold should not be too much of a problem. Pruning of raspberries, currants, gooseberries, saskatoons, brambles, outdoor grape vines as well as apples, pears, peaches and cherries can all be tackled, but don’t prune the plum trees. There is always a risk of infection from spores of the silver leaf fungus so leave them till late spring.

Prunings can all be shredded then added to the compost heap as they will rot down in time, when mixed with other plant materials such as leaves and grass clippings.

Top fruit

Pruning of apples and pears depend on type of tree grown whether it is a bush, or one with a restricted growth such as spur pruned stepover, fan, cordon or espalier. The first priority is to create the basic shape of tree, then after that has been achieved pruning is done to encourage a balance between good growth and fruiting.

Trees can be grown as standards or bushes where height is kept down so picking can be done without ladders or climbing up the tree. I prune my young trees with secateurs, but my large mature Bramley apple gets pruned with loppers and a saw. Keep branches well spaced to allow plenty of light in to ripen up developing fruit. Any branches growing upright or too tall are cut back. This encourages fresh strong growth which then gets thinned out. Remaining branches are then allowed to fruit for the next three to five years before they get too big and have to be cut down. However always make sure the tree has a good wine glass shape overall.

Restricted growth trees get spur pruned in winter cutting back most young shoots to a few buds from their base. These would previously have been summer pruned to ripen up the shoots. Where ever growth requires to be extended the leading shoots should be shortened by about a third of their length.

Soft fruit bushes

If blackcurrants were not pruned immediately after picking they can be done now by removing old wood which has fruited cutting it back to a young shoot lower down the bush.

Redcurrants are spur pruned cutting all shoots to a couple of buds and leaving a framework of about eight main shoots. These are replaced over time with new shoots.

Gooseberries are also spur pruned, but first remove any low branches near ground level as well as those growing in the middle of the bush. This will assist harvesting on those bushes with vicious thorns determined to cause a bloodbath to pickers hands.

Summer fruiting raspberries have the old canes cut out to leave this years young canes which will crop next year. Autumn fruiting raspberry canes are cut right down to a few buds at ground level.

Saskatoons only need a few tall shoots to be removed to ground level so they can send up fresh shoots to fruit for the next four to five years.

Plant of the week

Mahonia Charity is also known as the Oregon grape is a very hardy evergreen shrub growing ten or more feet tall in time. It produces clusters of long racemes of yellow flowers in late autumn and into winter. They are said to be scented, but I cannot say perfume is one of their strong points, though the bright yellow flowers are very welcome in November and December.

Mahonias are very popular as ground cover as they will smother out most weeds, and height can be managed with occasional pruning of straggling shoots in spring after flowering.

They are very easy to grow as they like most soils and will be just as happy in shade as in full sun.

END

MARVELOUS MAPLES

MARVELOUS MAPLES

Maple trees are probably the most widely planted trees in UK. The Romans get the blame of bringing over the sycamore which has naturalised itself and can be quite a weed nuisance. They all grow very well in our soils and just love our climate so are very favoured in Parks, country estates, woodland fringes and shelterbelts, highway street avenues and gardens. The smallest are used in bonsai culture producing brilliant miniature specimens but still retaining their dazzling autumn colour. The field maple, Acer campestre and many forms of Japanese maple, Acer palmatum are often selected for bonsai.

Larger specimens include the sycamore, Norway maple, sugar maple and silver maple. These maples are extensively grown in Canada where their autumn colour is legendary. The sugar maple, Acer saccharum is used for maple syrup as the sap has a high sugar content. The sap is extracted by tapping with a tube just under the bark and collecting it in containers. However it contains a lot of water which has to be boiled off. It takes 40 litres of sap to produce one litre of syrup, thus it is not a cheap product, but very tasty.

Medium sized specimens include numerous types of Japanese maples and those grown for their ornamental bark. Most have fantastic autumn colour, some brilliant spring foliage and some very colourful young shoots in spring.

Maples for large gardens and parks

The sycamore, field maple and Norway maple are very common everywhere but both the silver maple, Acer saccharinum and sugar maple, Acer saccharum are well worth planting, but my favourite is Acer cappadocicum rubrum which has scarlet shoots in spring as well as brilliant autumn colour. Another excellent large maple is the red maple Acer rubrum with fiery scarlet foliage in autumn.

Many of the large maples have columnar forms which can be used in smaller gardens.

Smaller maples grown for their ornamental bark include Acer grosseri hersii known as the snake bark maple with green and white stripes up the trunk. Another small maple grown for its pink and white striped bark has the unfortunate name of Acer pensylvanicum erythrocladum, though better known as the Coral Striped maple. The paper bark maple Acer griseum, with flaky cinnamon coloured bark has scarlet crimson leaves in autumn.

Maples for the smaller garden

There is a small popular sycamore, Acer psuedoplatanus Brilliantissimum which has outstanding shrimp pink foliage in spring, but then it slowly greens up and is a lot less attractive.

However Japan has given us hundreds of varieties of dwarf maples suited to every garden, though by no means a cheap plant. Spring leaves vary from pale green to golden and maroon, but in autumn they turn golden, orange, scarlet and deep crimson. Most are varieties of Acer japonica or palmatum with my favourite the older form of Sango Kaku the coral bark maple. This form has very attractive foliage all summer which goes deep golden in autumn before falling to reveal fiery scarlet stems which retain their colour all winter.

Plant of the week

Scented Jasmines. In the garden we grow the yellow winter flowering Jasminum nudiflorum which can be a vigorous climber. However for the sheltered garden the summer flowering Jasminum officinale is very welcome with small white but very attractive and highly scented flowers. It is also a vigorous climber, and can be quite hardy in most winters, but unfortunately a very hard winter can kill it.  At this time of year the shops and garden centres have plenty of the scented pot plant, Jasminum polyanthum. It has pink buds that open into starry white flowers with a heavenly perfume. It is often twined around a small basket and although sold as a small plant it will grow a lot bigger in time. Jasmines are very easy to propagate from cuttings or layering.

Painting of the month

Dighty Burn at Downfield is a winter landscape showing Dundee’s Dighty Burn from Downfield looking up past Pitempton Farm towards Bridgefoot. It was a very relevant scene to paint for me as I was born in that area where, in early childhood, we would go to roll our Easter egg, before people discovered the Den O Mains. Camperdown Park is now the in place at Easter, so it has been captured on canvas as well.

These paintings and many others can be seen in my studio at Menzieshill Road, Dundee in my Winter Exhibition running from today till Sunday 8^th December, open every day from 11am to 5pm.

END

LATE FLOWERS

LATE FLOWERS

Now the leaves are off the trees, and frost and snow are regular occurrences it would seem that winter has started. However in the garden not all the plants have gone dormant. We might not be getting the impact of  massed flowers, but it is great to see the late autumn and winter flowers appear on those very hardy plants.

Then indoors we can still enjoy flowering pop plants popular for the Christmas and winter market.

Some we can grow ourselves, but others are bought in from garden centres already starting to flower.

Outdoor flowers

The yellow flowered winter jasmine is always very reliable and makes an excellent climber bursting into flower all winter whenever we get a run of sunny days. It can grow on any wall or fence facing any direction, though I find it most profuse on a south facing fence with more sunshine.

Both Viburnum bodnantes Dawn and Viburnum fragrans continue to flower in early winter when a few days of sunny weather opens up the sweetly scented pink flowers.

Summer flowering fuchsias such as Swingtime and the hardy outdoor Mrs Popple and Snowcap are continuing to flower even after several days of light frosts. Swingtime is only half hardy and growing in a tub so it will soon be coming into the greenhouse to dry off and over winter, but the others are quite mature, hardy and settled into the garden. They may die back a wee bit, but come spring they burst back into life.

The pink flowering Nerine bowdenii are at their best in mid autumn, but my small clump is continuing to flower as we go into winter. They like a poor well drained soil in a sunny position. Bulbs should be planted with the tops at soil level, but give them a mulch in the first year to protect them from frost. Once established, leave them alone as they prefer to form dense clumps for best flowering.

Indoor flowers

The Christmas market is popular for house plants as gifts so we are usually spoiled for choice.

Bowls of prepared scented hyacinths are always favourite and nearly everyone gets a poinsettia at some time, but the phalaenopsis orchid is fast becoming the popular up market choice for living rooms, kitchens and bathroom as long as the light levels are good, but no direct sunshine for these rain forest exotics. Our favourite at this time of year has always been the zygocactus or Christmas cactus flowering in late November to mid December in a wide range of colours. It spends most of its life kept dry in a sunny windowsill, but when buds start to appear in autumn it gets watered and looked after while flowering. After flowering, stop watering as it needs a rest for about four months. Once it wants to grow again in spring start watering then give it some feeding to encourage good growth. However by mid summer it needs a rest again to build up strength for flowering in winter.

 

Amaryllis, the hippeastrum is another plant with a demanding regime if you want repeat flowering every year. Fresh new bulbs can be potted up from autumn to mid winter and will flower about three months later. New bulbs will already have a flower bulb ready to emerge in the first year. Plant the bulbs in ordinary compost in pots with the top of the bulb above soil level. The flower should appear before the leaves, but sometimes they all come together. Keep them in a warm sunny room near or on the window sill. After flowering keep them growing and give them feeding to encourage strong growth. Towards the end of summer stop watering to dry off the plant so the bulb can rest and form a flower in its dormant stage. However they prefer to flower when completely pot bound so often don’t give much flowers in the second year as they are still growing at the expense of flowers. By the third year you should have a flower pot with several large bulbs and a completely root bound plant. It will now be very happy and should give you several flower spikes.

Another couple of excellent plants to continue flowering before Christmas is impatiens, the Busy Lizzie and geraniums. Cuttings from beds and hanging baskets can be taken at the end of summer and root very easily. Pot these up and grow them on to flower in a few weeks time.

Plant of the week

Blue orchid is the latest flower to hit the headlines and demand for this plant has been huge as it is the very first blue colour in an orchid. Apart from delphiniums, meconopsis, pansies and a selection of other plants, blue flowers are not all that common. Breeders and growers would love to get a true blue rose, hydrangea or tulip, and have now turned their attention to the phalaenopsis orchid.

This is one of the most popular and easy to grow orchids.

However this rich blue orchid colour is not natural, it is created by injecting dye into the flower stem and will only last for one year. The orchid will revert to white the following year. The technique is patented and the dye is not available to the public.

END