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

Winter Work Never Ends

WINTER WORK

We seem to be going through a hard spell for any keen gardener.  Last autumn came late and before I had a chance to gather up all the leaves the winter arrived and dumped at least two feet of snow everywhere. Many weeks later the snow melted very reluctantly, but there has been no warm sunny days to dry up the soil surface to allow digging, or other outdoor activities to proceed.

Any outdoor gardening tasks have to be planned in advance with an eye on the weather to take every opportunity to get outside if there is a few hours of dry weather.

The severe cold has taken its toll on a few plants, with my Fuchsia Mrs Popple really looking lifeless right down to ground level. She did that last year, but grew back up again from the crown. However, my palm tree, Cordyline australis has been dropping a lot of leaves and my Date palm, Phoenix canariensis, which just survived last winter looks deathly.

A garden is full of extremes as the hardier plants show their ability to survive. Aconites have started to germinate from natural scattered seeds and my Saskatoon seeds which I had to put in the cold greenhouse to keep them away from mice have also started to germinate.

The first flowers

My first snowdrops have appeared just as soon as the snow melted. It is very welcome to see the beginning of life in the garden. Aconites, Hellebores and the crocus species are all showing a bit of colour with the promise that they will open up their blooms as soon as we get a few warmer days.

Winter vegetables

The allotment has continued to provide a good supply of winter vegetables including Swedes, savoy cabbage, brussels sprouts, my last parsnip and leeks. The cold put paid to my Swiss chard and kale which I will miss in my stir fries, but I have just learnt that chopped up brussels sprouts are a very useful addition to the stir fry wok. I just have enough beetroot left for one more pot of soup, but I am amazed that they have survived unharmed underneath their blanket of snow for so long.

Onions in store are still quite firm, but all our eating apples are finished. Bramley apples stored in apple boxes in a cold garage are still very plentiful and used frequently for crumbles, sauces and pies. Any second rate apples are chopped up and simmered slowly to soften  then strained in a jelly bag to make pectin. This is used to help set strawberry, saskatoon, and apricot jams. Any other apples beginning to look not at their best are chopped up for the blackbirds.

Our last stored pumpkin will be kept a few more weeks before the soup pot comes out. I will also retain the seeds for this years pumpkin plants.

Freezer foods

The idea of a freezer is that you can have a wide range fresh fruit and vegetables all year round and to supplement any meagre winter supplies from outdoors. We have had such good outdoor crops that we are not making any serious impact to the stored crops other than to give meals some variety.

French beans, sweet corn, kale, pumpkin puree and every soft fruit grown are still ready in abundance. Jams and compote are used daily and Saskatoon pies for special occasions.

Aronias are used for jam and smoothies.

There is an awful lot to be said for growing your own fruit and vegetables. They are harvested when ripe and often eaten within minutes of picking. The flavour is intense, they have been grown without any harmful pesticides and there has been precious little air miles used up bringing them to the kitchen table.

The freezer allows us a fair bit of our fresh crops to be tasted out of season. This is a very healthy option. We get the exercise from cultivating and growing them, fresh air, sunshine, (as well as wind, rain and snow) and allotment life is a very sociable pastime.

We may not get a lot of crops out of season, but do we really want them?

I was enjoying my Scottish grapes from August to December when the last of the Black Hamburgs finally disappeared. Naturally grapes from the supermarket replaced my own crop. I then realized just how good my own grapes were compared to those imported grapes which were rather tasteless and neither juicy nor as sweet as my Scottish ripened grapes.

It is the same with tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, brambles and raspberries from every corner of the globe. They may look perfect, but try eating these hard, tasteless and not very sweet berries with no guarantee about which pesticides were used in their production.

Getting an allotment is the healthiest option.

Early sowings

Sweet peas sown two weeks ago are now through but I will grow them hardy in the cold greenhouse. Now is the time to sow onions and tomatoes. I grow my tomatoes on a windowsill for a few weeks hoping to transfer them to the greenhouse during a mild spell, but getting ready with some supplementary heating on any cold nights.

Soil cultivation

Continue with spreading manure and compost and getting it dug in as long as the ground is dry enough to work.

Pruning and shredding

Pruning has continued with the peach tree, roses, fuchsias, apples and pears. To make room for my new dwarf Cherry Cherokee and outdoor grape Solaris on a south facing fence, I am removing a mature Pyracantha and some shrub roses.

Many other garden shrubs are getting a prune to keep them in shape, remove old wood, overcrowded or weak shoots and encourage younger wood and flowers.

All of my prunings will get shredded and added to the compost heap. These get mixed with autumn leaves, grass cuttings, kitchen vegetable waste, old bedding plants and compost from hanging baskets, and growbags.

The compost heap will get turned at least once, or twice if I can find the energy. It is very hard work, but very helpful in producing brilliant compost. This will be ready in about  nine months.

End

Garden and studio work in January 2009

A few sunny days has allowed a bit of gardening between snow showers.

Feed the Ground
Weeds and old leaves have been tidied up and bush and climbing roses pruned to allow me to spread compost on the ground where the spring bulbs will soon be appearing. This also makes the soil quite dark and helps to make the coloured stem border stand out better. This winter garden has Cornus, Leycesterias and Kerrias and is underplanted with drifts of crocus species, and snowdrops for February colour to be followed by tulips in May at which time the shrubs will be pruned down to the ground.
Roses start early with a warmer climate in Scotland, so pruning which used to be a March task now is better done in January.
I keep two compost heaps going so one has now been used and the other has been turned over to allow better rotting down of material. It should be ready for spreading in late spring.

Winter planting
I have been in the fruit garden digging out old redcurrent and blackcurrent bushes, manured and dug over the ground, which now gets planted with a batch of nine blueberries grown from seed saved from some berries purchased for eating several years ago. It will be interesting to see how they perform. The ground was previously prepared with leafmould dug in and a generous sprinkling of sulphur chips to acidify the ground. To help this acidification the plants will only get fertilised with sulphate of ammonia and sulphate of potash, both of which will help keep to heep the pH levels on the acid side.

Allotment planting
I also grow the Scottish Blaeberries, Vaccinium myrtillus on a prepared patch in my allotment fruit garden. These plants were also grown from seed collected when blaeberry picking on Alyth Hill several years ago. These blaeberry fruit can be as large as the highbush blueberries when given good growing
conditions, though the bushes only grow about a foot
tall.

Back in the Studio
Snow showers has got me back indoors at the easel.
I have pulled out a few still life paintings that I was unhappy with and decided to rejuvenate them. It was mainly the backgrounds that let then down, so they have now been repainted.
My art classes have started for the winter session finishing just before Easter, and I am now looking for those interested in an outdoor art holiday workshop painting the Scottish mountains, glens and
lochs based at the Four Seasons Hotel at St. Fillans on the banks of Loch Earn.
To enrol see information at Paint Scottish Lochs and Glens

First Spring Flowers
Although it is still mid winter by the calendar, the spring bulbs are now coming into flower. aconites, snowdrops and hellebores have not been detered by the snowfall or frost and are now
looking for attention.