THE GARDENING YEAR ENDS

THE GARDENING YEAR ENDS

As the gardening year draws to an end, now is the perfect time to look back and compare our hopes and expectations of creating a great garden with this years choice of plants and seeds, but working with the weather which is not always in our favour.

Best wishes for 2018

Gardening activities are an ongoing process, so success in one year is often the result of the previous years planning and purchasing of plants, bulbs and seeds. If I was to choose the best success of 2017 it would have to be the spring bulbs with tulips making a massive impact. The previous autumn I had bought in a batch of the tall bright red Apeldoorn and Golden Apeldoorn Darwin hybrid tulips to

Tulips with wallflower

make a bold splash of colour, and also a large batch of dwarf early tulips to plant amongst my roses. As they are dwarf and early they would not interfere with the roses which would grow strongly once the tulips were over. The display was immense but weather was on my side. The spring was dry and sunny but never hot so the show lasted from early April till the end of May, then in June the rain came on and lasted for months. This year may have gone down as one of the warmest on record, but not up north. We got a really wet summer which wiped out my sweet Spanish onions with white rot. Next year I will go back to established varieties.

Lily Casa Blanca

Crocus Yellow Mammoth

However my tubs of geraniums and tuberous begonias put on a brilliant and very long lasting display. Impatiens and lobelia were also favourites but petunias all died out from lack of sun and too much rain. Azaleas all enjoyed the spring weather with a mass of colour for a couple of months.

Although there was a lot of wet weather and we may have missed out on heat waves, it was warm all summer so many crops excelled. Berries of all kinds produced heavy crops and right into late autumn for my star performer, autumn fruiting raspberry Polka.

Red tuberous begonias

Strawberries were also cropping well except my new variety Colossus, which was not all that big and cropping was very light. It is getting dug out along with blackberry Reuben which is very highly rated in catalogues but just does not live up to the description. The fruit is not big and the flowers are so late that most of the fruits do not ripen. Bramble Helen is hard to beat and very early fruiting in August, so it would be good to find one that crops into autumn. The search goes on.

Sarpo Mira potatoes

The warm wet summer suited all the green leafy vegetables from lettuce to cabbages, kale and Brussels sprouts as well as all the root crops, especially potatoes. They grew so well early on that even those that got blight still produced a heavy crop. Star performer was Sarpo Mira with massive spuds, but Amour which also cropped well turned out to be a poor keeper as shoots started to grow after a couple of months in store. Afraid it is off the list for 2018.

We have a big problem with clubroot disease on the allotment so I use a lot of resistant varieties of cabbage, cauliflower, sprouts and Swedes. Made a sowing of clubroot resistant swede Invitation and standard variety Best of All. None showed any sign of disease

Berries in abundance

but the best roots came from the cheaper Best of All. Clubroot resistant cauliflower Clapton was sown in mid March then again in mid May. All were successful but as the whole row is ready at the same time, next year I will sow smaller rows with three sowing dates a month apart.

Grape vines

Black Hamburg grapes

both outdoors and under glass had a growth year, though continual summer pruning kept them under control and there was no wasp problem this year as they were discouraged by the continual rainfall. Outdoor varieties Solaris, Muscat Bleu and Polo Muscat all failed to impress so after several years of trial they have all been dug out. Rondo, Regent, Phoenix and Brant all gave good crops so they will remain for a few more years. Grapes gave me four demijohns of wine, but I had to add some sugar to give me 11% alcohol, as the autumn sun did not last long enough to sweeten up the grapes. I will rest the wine for three years in a cool room to let it mature.

Wee jobs to do this week

Impatiens rooted in jars of water

Pot up Impatiens cuttings taken in autumn and rooted in small jars of water. They soon grow roots, but water has no nutrient value so potting them up will get them growing strongly. Keep them watered and warm and even in winter they can begin to flower and add colour as a pot plant.
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TIME TO RELAX

TIME TO RELAX

The festive season is well under way with Christmas just a few days away, but the keen gardener finds it hard to hang up the spade, put away the secateurs and relax, as there is always just one wee job needing attention.

Merry Christmas from John and Anna

The Christmas tree has been brought out from the attic, dusted down and put in place and I had every confidence the ten year old Christmas tree lights would still work. Decorations now add a wee bit of festive cheer around the studio. That’s one job done.

Festive poinsettia

Sorting out some festive flowers was not easy. My Christmas cactus which is normally in full flower by now has totally failed to produce a single flower. My pink Phalaenopsis orchid has dropped its last flower, but considering it was in full bloom from August it has done us proud, so it can have a rest in a warm light room and with some occasional feeding it will build up strength for next year. Amaryllis is a great Christmas flower, but our bulb was started too late so will miss the festive season, though it is looking

Green manure ready to dig in

very strong with two large flower spikes. So it was down to the supermarket for a decent poinsettia to give us a splash of colour. There are plenty around of all prices and sizes, so choose a good one as they can last many weeks.

Winter weather has come early this year, but the autumn was quite dry so winter digging has just about been completed apart from the areas with clover and tares green manure which I may leave till the end of winter. This gives them more time for root growth which helps to break up the soil and improve drainage. Nutrients retained in the foliage will be released back into the soil in spring after they get turned in and rot down.

Winter veg in abundance

Garden and allotment weeds were also removed in late autumn and falling leaves collected for the compost heap. The compost heap was getting quite big so it got a final turn over so that fresh material can rot down and be ready for use next spring.

The weather has been kind to winter vegetables so there is an abundance of brussels sprouts, cabbage, leeks, beetroot, swedes, parsnips and kale but my cauliflower Clapton grown from a late sowing were brilliant, but now all used up as they do not keep long once the curds have formed.

The garage has been perfect for storing onions, apples and pumpkins, and the freezer is still bulging with strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries, saskatoons and chokeberries, so we have plenty of choice for the Christmas dinner.

To keep up the festive spirit, a few demijohns of three year old homebrew got bottled up as we will expect a few guests over

Selecting some refreshments

Christmas and New Year so it is hard to know where to start. Will it be the saskatoon, blackcurrant, gooseberry, apple or chokeberry wine or my special Brant grape wine. Three years ago when I started this brew the yeast on the Brant grapes got really excited and kept fermenting as I gave them a bit more sugar, but after reaching 19% alcohol the campden tablets came out to put a stop to the fun. I think this may be better for New Year rather than Christmas.

Now the garden, the store and the vegetables have been sorted out we cannot forget our feathered friends outdoor, so we keep the bird table topped up. The Joseph Rock rowan is loaded with berries which a thrush and our local blackies go to war over, but good luck as any time now we expect swarms of waxwings to appear and clear every berry in site. However I see nearby cotoneasters are just laden with berries so this should keep birds fed for a wee while longer. As I go through stored apples and pick out any with signs of brown rot, these can be cut in half and left out for the birds which seem to enjoy the change in diet.

Browsing through catalogues

Wee jobs to do this week

As most of the wee jobs have now been taken care of we can relax with a wee drink and ponder seed, fruit and flower catalogues to give us inspiration for new ideas and new plants to try out for 2018 to replace those which never reached the grade in 2017.

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WINTER COLOUR

WINTER COLOUR

Winter has arrived as Carolina sweeps over the land and many of us wake up to a covering of snow plus a few trees, fences and sheds blown about. No doubt this will be followed by more

Rowan Joseph Rock

winds, snow and frost.  Gardening is now enjoyed looking out of a window from the comfort of a warm room. Then a few days later the sun comes out and we can wander round the garden enjoying a bit of winter colour, and catching up on winter

Outdoor fuchsia

digging, raking leaves and repairing any wind damage. Having had many years to indulge in planting up those must have plants, I have also been careful with their placement in the garden design. I know there are many winter days when you just can’t get out so the design is geared to making those areas in front of windows attractive in winter.

The summer flowers have gone and the spring ones yet to appear but there is still a few shrubs flowering in winter as well as plenty berries and plants with brightly coloured stems

maple

and variegated foliage. It is during the winter months that these plants are appreciated as they have no competition.

Flowers

Holly

In some sheltered spots the spring bulbs are pushing up into the daylight with promise of flowers to come. Snowdrops are favourite to appear early in recent years with mild winters I have a small drift that are at their best in full flower at the end of December. They are assuming we are getting another mild winter as the flowers are four inches tall and just about ready to open up.

Snowberry

Back at ground level the heather Erica carnea is adding a bit of pink and white in the heather garden, and the yellow Jasminum nudiflorum grown against a fence is always very reliable as it will flower even when covered in snow.

Mahonia Charity

Mahonia Charity

will grow at least six foot tall and is at its best in December covered in bright yellow sprays. Another shrub, the Fuchsia Mrs Popple continues to flower even though we have had several frosts, but although very welcome at this time of year, its days will be numbered. Last winter it suffered a lot of die back, but it always recovers strongly in spring.

Foliage

Euonymus

Some evergreen shrubs are winners in winter with their variegated foliage such as the gold and silver Euonymus which is also brilliant for ground cover smothering any weeds under its branches.

Houttuynia is more vibrant with red variegation but not such a good ground cover, and it tends to meander well beyond its allocated spot. Ivies come in a wide range of colours and are great for sunless dark and damp corners, but they need an annual trim to control their spread.

Brightly coloured stems

Cornus

The winter garden would not be complete without a range of red, yellow and grey stemmed Cornus, as well as Salix britzensis, Kerria and the grey stemmed Rubus giraldianus. Grow all these as stooled shrubs cutting all growth back to just above ground level at the end of March.

Berries in abundance

Cotoneaster frigidus

Cotoneasters are the most prolific plants for berries in red, orange and yellow. The Firethorn, Pyracantha is also dazzling when covered in bright red or orange berries, and for white berries try the snowberry, Symphoricarpos. Holly is also great for berries but can grow quite large.

Wee jobs to do this week

Topping up the bird table

Cold weather combined with frost and snow can give our garden birds a problem finding food, though there is still plenty berries on cotoneasters and some rowans. This is a good time to put up the bird table and a few feeders with some quality seeds. Birds are fussy eaters (except pigeons which will eat everything) and if you have put out some cheap seed mixtures you will find some types getting left behind. Put out a dish for clean water and if weather is frosty make sure water is warm enough to last a few hours before freezing up. Keep all water dishes, bird tables and feeders cleaned regularly.

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WINTER PRUNING

WINTER PRUNING

Although summer may have been a washout for many of us the autumn has been remarkably dry so digging has been a treat as the soil was never wet for walking on and now as we start the

Well pruned apple tree

pruning no damage is being done to the soil surface. Pruning in winter is another task I try to complete before the end of the year. Bush roses put on a late flurry of blooms in mid November but by the end of the month they had lost most of their leaves and were ready for the secateurs. Autumn fruiting raspberries Polka and Autumn Bliss both decided to offer me some fresh and very attractive fruit before the loppers came out, but I am afraid their sweetness had gone so there was no reprieve.

Pruning autumn raspberry Polka

On the allotment site I do all the pruning of trees, fruit bushes and roses at the same time, and then I can bring out our shredder for the wood and add the shreddings to my compost heap.

Raspberry Glen Fyne and Glen Dee are both summer fruiting so it only the old fruiting canes that we prune out at ground level, then the remaining canes that grew this year are tied in to the straining wires using a running knot, spacing them out about four inches apart along the top wire. Autumn fruiting varieties are very easy as all the canes are cut back to just above ground level. New canes start to grow again in spring and these will fruit from late summer onwards.

Pruning fig bush

Brambles are similar to summer raspberries as they fruit on the long shoots produced the previous year, so it is a matter of cutting out all this years fruiting wood. The remaining shoots, still fairly green, will be quite long so normally they are looped between support wires to save space.

Gooseberries can be quite prolific croppers so pruning is done to remove branches too close to the ground to prevent soil splashing on the fruit, and pruning out some shoots growing in the centre to aid picking, especially on those varieties with wicked thorns.

Blackcurrants fruit best on young shoots of one and two years old so cut back any older branches to encourage more young shoots to grow.

Spur pruning grape vine

Redcurrants fruit on spurs so I retain a framework of about nine main shoots growing up from the crown and all smaller shoots growing on these are cut back to a couple of buds. However it is beneficial to replace two or three of these main shoots each year to keep the bush healthy. Replace them with young new shoots as they appear near to their position.

Figs grown outdoors up north are usually planted against a south facing wall or fence so prune shoots growing too far away from the wall. Also remove very low growing branches as these will produce figs that get eaten by slugs.

Pruning roses

Apples and pears have very different pruning needs based on the form of tree as well as rootstock, and plums are similar but should not be pruned in winter due to the risk of infection by silver leaf disease. Pruning will vary depending on whether you are growing a dwarf bush, large tree, cordon, espalier, stepover or fan shape so look up the pruning requirements as appropriate.

Grapes under glass are usually grown as upright rods spaced about 18 inches apart. These produce fruiting spurs about six inches apart up the rod. The fruiting laterals grown from these spurs are cut back to one or two buds near the rod from which the next year’s crop will come.

Birch tree with lower branches removed

Roses flower best on young shoots so always look to cutting out old shoots providing there is plenty of new growth to take their place. Shrub roses get minimal pruning and climbers are the same as bushes but on a larger scale.

Birch trees grown as specimens with white bark need removal of lower shoots to expose the brilliant white stems that are very attractive in winter once all the leaves fall off.

Blackberry cuttings

Wee jobs to do this week

Blackberries can be propagated from cuttings taken from the ends of young shoots about four inches long placed in free draining compost to be well rooted by early spring. They can also be grown from root cuttings about four inches long laid just below the surface of compost in pots.

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EARLY WINTER JOBS

EARLY WINTER JOBS

As we leave autumn behind, and winter has not yet set in there are always a few dry sunny frost free days when we can get into the garden to catch up on all those wee jobs put off for a few days.

Deciduous trees and shrubs are now

Fresh Vegetables in December

dormant and most have shed their leaves, so these need to be gathered up and added to the compost heap. Old leaves from cabbages, kale, sprouts, swedes and winter cauliflower are also better cleared up as leaving them in place encourages slugs.

Cauliflower Clapton

The herbaceous border plants are also dormant so they will also need tidying up by cutting back old stems and removing weeds and any supporting canes and strings. Once the border is cleaned up take the chance to check over clumps of plants such as iris, pyrethrum, doronicum, kniphofia, peony, delphinium, shasta daisies and oriental poppies and where ever they have spread too far, dig up and divide them. Replant the strongest plants usually growing around the perimeter, into freshly dug and composted border soil. Delphinium crowns are a favourite food for slugs so drop a few pellets around these, but most of the others are usually safe.

Doronicum Little Leo

Although the summer up north was very wet, the autumn has been a lot drier so winter digging has been proceeding without wet soil clogging up the boots and wellies. My main difficulty has been separating out freshly added composting material on my compost heap so I can get into well rotted compost buried deep underneath. Unfortunately I don’t have room for two compost heaps.

Oriental poppies

However we are still on target to complete winter digging before Christmas, although those areas with a good covering of clover and vetch green manures can be left for digging in later next year. Green manure crops will continue to grow and take in nutrients from the soil, so these are not washed away by the winter rains and snow, but after digging in these nutrients are released back into the soil as the green manure crops rot down for the benefit of the next crop. If the land allocated for late crops such as pumpkins, courgettes, sweet corn or French beans has a green manure crop on it, do not dig this in till a couple of months before planting as that is plenty of time for the cover crop to rot down. For these heavy feeders I also add plenty of compost while digging proceeds.

Winter lettuce Hilde

There is nothing to beat a trip to the allotment on a cold frosty day or when there is a covering of snow and harvesting a good selection of fresh vegetables full of nature’s goodness. Brussels sprouts are not just for Christmas and can be delicious chopped up in a stir fry, or even sliced and added to the bacon, egg, tomato, mushroom and sliced apple for a good fry up. Winter cabbage, kale, Swedes, leeks, parsnips and cauliflower are all quite hardy and can last throughout the winter.

So far my beetroot is quite happy outdoors, but I will keep an eye on the forecast and bring them indoors if the mild winter turns out to be wishful thinking.

Winter hardy lettuce, spring onions, radish and rocket can also be grown to supply fresh salads in winter if grown in a sheltered spot or in a cold greenhouse after the tomato crop has been cleared.

Early winter is also a good time to check for any repairs needed to fences, gates, uneven paths, leaky sheds or doing some shed renovations for extra shelves, tables, seats, racks to hang tools on and cupboards for seeds, chemicals, fertiliser and hand tools.

Potting up rooted geranium cuttings

Cuttings of geraniums, fuchsias and other plants taken at the end of summer will have rooted and now be ready to pot up. Use small pots as they will not grow much now but need plenty of light and just enough warmth to keep them frost free over winter.

Wee jobs to do this week

Check over stored apples, potatoes, carrots, beetroot, onions, dahlias, begonias, gladioli,

Checking pumpkins

pumpkins and any other crops, bulbs, tubers being kept over winter in frost free sheds, garages or other places. Apples can suffer brown rots that would spread if not removed. Potatoes, beetroot and carrots can sprout if temperatures are too high. Pumpkins are very erratic in storage as some can go off quickly and others last perfectly till spring.

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