Springing back to life

 PLAYING CATCHUP  

The battle being fought between the end of winter and the beginning of spring is a real pain. We had more snow than we really wanted, but every so often, in between showers, the sun comes out and plants are leaping into growth. We have to ignore the constant dull rainy days as plants are seasonal so sowing, planting and hardening off are dictated mainly by the calendar not the temperature.

Vegetables, fruit and flowers all need attention. I try to start off many plants in the home, then onto a sunny windowsill at germination. Before too long plants need hardening off before they go out to the cold greenhouse. Unfortunately this is always full so some of the more hardier plants such as geraniums need shifting outdoors as soon as the threat of frost diminishes.

Up on the allotment the digging continues whenever the surface is dry enough. That has been a big obstacle this winter, but there is a lot of excellent compost to get dug in so if the sun is shining, I will most likely be digging.

The front of my allotment has a permanent flower border of roses, Iris, wallflower, tulips and Iceland poppies. Digging is not feasible here, but to keep it fertile I like to add a mulch of fine compost and lightly fork this into the surface. Dundee Council’s Discovery compost is perfect for this task, but unfortunately is no longer available at weekends.  Do they not realise that the modern gardener of today is not just the pensioner, but also the professional and working man of all ages, the young mother with kids and the student who wants to live cheaply but healthily. They are all working or studying through the week, so weekends are when the gardeners come alive.

The tip is staffed at weekends, so why is the compost kept behind a locked gate out of reach.

Glorious spring flowers

 This spring the crocus put on an excellent show, but now it is the turn of the Chionodoxa, the Glory of the Snow. I have a large drift of these planted in between my flag Iris. This gives an early spring display well before the Iris flowers alongside other herbaceous plants including Oriental Poppies and Pyrethrums. Another deep blue flower catching the sunlight is the ground cover plant Pulmonaria which is planted around a clump of golden Doronicum, an early flowering herbaceous plant. I frequently get them flowering together, but they both respond to weather differently, so the idea is not foolproof.

Rhododendron praecox is usually the first Rhodo to flower, but very often it gets caught with a late frost which wipes out the delicate blooms. Not this year as the season is late so it has been fantastic.

The winter border

The display of crocus drifting thickly over my coloured stemmed border will be over by the end of the month. However the coloured stems of cornus and salix may still be very attractive especially when the young emerging golden spring buds appear, but this is when I have to be brutal. The loppers come out and these get chopped back to ground level. They always quickly recover with fresh new shoots that will brighten up this border next winter.

I do not prune the green stemmed Kerria at this time as it flowers in early summer, but will get some thinning out after it finishes flowering. Also my wine red Japanese maple Acer Sangokaku does not get pruned.

The removal of the old stems clears the way for the next show of bulbs from my tulips, planted underneath the crocus. Flowers respond very well to interplanting to get the maximum display from all garden areas.

The fruit garden

I am keeping a watch over my peach tree, as it flowers very early, usually before there are any pollinating insects around. The pink flowers have to be hand pollinated with an artists sable brush every day. As an artist, I always have plenty sable brushes.

This year the seasons are running late and as yet my peach is not flowering, so hopefully they will not get frosted. Last year the season was also late and I could have had a huge crop, but a very late frost killed off many young fruitlets leaving me with a favoured dozen that ripened brilliantly.

My peach is growing against a south facing fence so catches a fair bit of sunshine.

Saskatoons and Chokeberry seeds were sown last autumn in cellular trays and stratified outdoors over winter. They are now all germinated, though they did suffer a bit when a few mice decided to make a meal of the swollen seeds. That was their last meal.

We are still enjoying Bramley apples stored in the garage, and the freezer is still packed with strawberries, rasps, blackcurrants, saskatoons, chokeberries and brambles.

Indoor gardening

Broad beans sown in cellular strips have now germinated and grown into nice sturdy wee plants on the windowsill. These will now be moved to the greenhouse to make room for my onions. They were also grown in smaller cellular pots with about four or five seeds per unit. I am getting a good germination, so in another week or so I will thin them down to two or three seedlings per cell. Onions are happy to be clump planted, but need really good soil as they are gross feeders and respond to heavy applications of well rotted manure or compost at digging time.

Amaryllis is now in full bloom giving a magnificent display for the living room.

Christmas cactus, also known as the Easter cactus, is back in flower again. It always produces its best show in early December, then I dry it off and store it in a light cool location. This ripens it up and every so often if you are lucky it will come back into flower just before Easter. After two sessions of flowering it will need a long rest so it goes back to its light cool spot for a couple of months and kept almost bone dry. Just give a wee bit of water to keep it alive, but not enough to restart growth too soon. It will let you know when it is ready to grow by pushing out some growth buds in early summer. At that point start to give it regular watering and a wee feed to encourage new growth. Put it in a sunnier location, even outdoors on a patio. At the end of summer dry it off again and keep it dry to ripen up the new growth which will then form flower buds for blooming in December.

Plug plants are now available in garden centres getting ready for the summer bedding season. These are not yet hardy, so need a warm sunny location to continue growing.

Do not buy any that have been allowed to go dry.

End

Winter Pruning of Fruit Trees

  WINTER PRUNING FRUIT TREES AND BUSHES

 The dormant season from November to March is the perfect time to tackle the winter pruning with   pruning saw, loppers and secateurs. Other garden tasks have been put on hold while we wait on better weather once all the snow melts, but pruning is mostly above ground level so deep snow and frost are no obstacle as long as you have warm clothing and the promise of some hot pumpkin or beetroot soup once the job is complete.

Pruning fruit trees and bushes has always been seen as a skill beyond most amateur gardeners and only acquired after good training and years of practice. Even in professional circles I have found great gardeners who never did break down the mystery of pruning. One expert propagator highly regarded for his skills in raising plants never got his gooseberry bushes to bear any fruit.

In reality the principles of pruning are similar for all fruit production although each type has its own needs.

I try to keep my pruning very simple and may not follow the book. I leave that to those undergoing training, who have to follow the Royal Horticultural Society precise methods so they understand the principles and get through their exams.

Then there is the commercial growers who wish to produce quality fruit with high yields, but with the minimum of labour input and aimed at producing trees that can all be picked from the ground.

My methods combine RHS principles applied with a simplified version of commercial practice.

My first aim is to produce a strong well shaped tree or bush, then prune lightly to encourage a balance of fruiting wood and replacement shoots. These must be well spaced to allow light into the tree to ripen up young wood so it can initiate fruit buds.

Pruning also removes weak growth, diseased shoots, crossing branches, branches broken with heavy crops or just too near the ground.

Apples and Pears

 

Pruning method varies depending on whether the trees are bush, cordon, espalier, stepover or fan trained. All of these can be spur pruned by summer and winter pruning. Cut back all side shoots to five or six leaves in mid summer, then again back to two buds in winter to encourage formation of fruiting spurs. In time reduce the size of these spurs otherwise you may get too many fruits at the expense of size.

Leading main shoots are reduced by a third in winter.

My apple and pears are grown as bushes so I do not spur prune them. I carry out replacement pruning of fruiting branches which have got too old and bent down with heavy cropping. This is done with loppers and saw, not secateurs, and I always look for a young shoot to replace the branch being removed.

If the tree becomes too vigorous, I do not feed in spring, but at the end of August. This feed is too late to encourage fresh growth so the tree uses it to build up fruit buds. Late pruning once spring growth has just started will also help to curb an over vigorous tree.

Plums

These are always pruned in summer to minimize the risk of Silver leaf disease. The spores of this disease are around from late autumn to late spring and could penetrate any cut surface.

Form a well balanced tree with five or six main branches in the early years. Plums tend to crop heavy and pull limbs down, so replacement pruning is perfect for them. There is usually plenty of young shoots to replace any limbs removed. Replacement pruning is carried out as required and not necessarily every year.

Peaches

These are usually fan trained against a warm south facing wall or fence, so pruning is carried out to keep the tree in this shape, and allow ample sunlight onto the ripening fruit. Fans have four main branches on each side. These are constantly being replaced by young shoots that are allowed to grow for one year producing new fruit buds that overwinter to make the following years crop. To allow sunlight into the centre of the tree remove all unfruitful shoots in late winter and during summer prune out weak growth, upright shoots and any showing signs of disease. Remove some foliage around the fruit in summer to help colour up the fruit.

Raspberries

Summer fruiting types fruit on canes produced the previous year. These are removed after cropping or in winter and the new shoots tied in. If the variety produces a lot of canes thin these out so that canes are spaced out at four inches apart tied along the top wire with a running knot.

Autumn fruiting types are cut down to ground level every winter as they fruit on new canes.

Blackberry (Bramble)

These are similar to summer fruiting rasps but the canes grow a lot bigger so have to be tied in to a wire framework where they are looped up and down to save space. Train the new canes up the centre and above the fruiting canes to keep them out of the way.

Tayberry and Loganberry is pruned the same way.

Blackcurrants

Immediately after planting cut the new bush down to a couple of buds on each shoot. These prunings can be used as hardwood cuttings to grow into more bushes. Blackcurrants fruit on one year old shoots and older wood. Prune after fruiting or in winter by cutting some older branches down to ground level or to a young shoot coming from near the base. Aim to replace all growth over about four or five years.

Red and White currants

These can be grown as a bush or a cordon as they fruit best on spurs. Allow the bush to form an open centre with about six main shoots. In early summer cut all side shoots to about six inches then in winter further reduce these to two buds. After a few years start to replace one or two main shoots every year with new young shoots.

Gooseberries

These fruit very easily as long as bullfinches don’t go pecking out the buds in spring. Pruning is mainly to make picking easier, so keep the centre open and also remove any low trailing shoots otherwise soil could splash the fruits. Remove any crossing shoots and overcrowded areas.

Saskatoons and Blueberries

Saskatoon  fruit bushes produce berries on all wood, so pruning is only carried out after several years to keep the plant down to an easy height for picking. Every year remove a branch down to ground level to encourage new sucker growth to keep the bushes young.

Blueberries also require little pruning for the first few years as they are quite slow growing. In later years cut some older branches down to younger shoots coming from the base or lower down the plant to rejuvenate the bush.

Grape vines

In Scotland these are either grown under glass or on a sheltered south facing warm wall. Under glass grow them on single upright rods spaced about eighteen inches apart and in winter cut every shoot back to one or two buds of the main rod. Shoots emerge from these spurs and form small fruit bunches. Allow these to grow then prune them to two leaves after the bunch. Then for the rest of the growing period cut all other growths to one leaf. In early autumn thin out more shoots and leaves to let sunshine ripen the fruit. Pruning wall trained vines outdoors is just the same, though grow them on a well spaced framework of main branches rather than rods.

 End

A Year to Remember

 A DIFFICULT YEAR ENDS

 Looking back over 2010 I have to admit it has been an uphill struggle for many garden plants.

The year started with a winter to remember as we had not really had a decent winter for many years previous. As a painter of Scottish landscapes specializing in winter scenes I was always looking out for a good snow scene. Often I would rush out with my camera to capture as much as possible before it all melted by mid afternoon. Last winter there was so much snow that access to outdoor landscapes was severely limited due to blocked roads.

Back in the garden the early snowdrops were getting used to flowering in early February, but not this year. They were loath to appear by March, then there was a rush as crocus, aconites and Hellebores all came out together.

The low temperatures really gave many plants a fright. Outdoor fuchsias all died except Mrs Popple, Hebe’s died, Lithospermum Red Damask did not survive and my mature thirty foot tall Eucalyptus lost half of its leaves. I had a strong date palm in a flower bed near a warm south facing wall, but it died back to ground level.

On the plus side my outdoor Peach was very late in flowering, much so it missed any late frosts. It produced plenty of pink flowers which kept me busy each day pollinating them with my best watercolour sable brush. I got twelve very large fruits of a very high quality in mid summer.

A Wet Summer

Many Scots might feel a wee bit of global warming could improve our climate. The garden would be bursting with colour and fresh succulent fruit and vegetables.

If the temperatures are a little bit warmer, I can’t say it has been very noticeable this year as the continual rain has dampened down any beneficial effects. I am now looking back as we are well and truly locked into another severe winter weather period. If this is global warming, why is the cold weather breaking all previous records?  Will Fuchsia Mrs Popple survive into 2011 ?

Plants are very adaptable. My flower bed of geraniums took every opportunity each time we had a few days of sunshine in between the deluges to give a fantastic display of bright colour. Begonias were late but very dependable, especially those put into tubs. Gladioli, chrysanthemums and roses all put on great displays, but roses suffered from black spot, rust and mildew late in the season.

Soft Fruit Crops

Following the very hot summer of 2006 we have suffered four very wet years. My normally very dependable raspberry Glen Ample got infected by a root rot which I suspect was a strain of Phytophthora. Over three years the canes slowly died out and no fresh canes emerged. My allotment garden is on a slope and immediately south of my rasps other fruit bushes began to go yellow and die. These included a white currant, a gooseberry, two  Saskatoons and some cultivated blueberries I had been experimenting with. My autumn fruited raspberry, Autumn Bliss was unaffected and still produced a normal crop. However with so much rain and lack of sunshine the fruits were not as sweet as normal.

The Glen Ample was replaced with another raspberry called Cascade Delight. This is a summer fruiting variety bred at Washington State University and showing some tolerance to phytophthora root rot. It has large fruit with an excellent flavour, which I hope to sample next year.

The cool wet summer also delayed ripening of my Saskatoon fruit which cropped for over three weeks, whereas in the previous year they only lasted one week.

Strawberries were badly affected by botrytis rotting the fruits. Modern varieties have resistance built into the plant, but this was an exceptionally wet year. I had replaced my perpetual strawberry variety Flamenco with a new one called Malling Opal. It has not been happy with our wet season and I will see if it fairs better next year. Perpetuals fruit all summer long so it is nice to have fruit into late autumn, but it is difficult to propagate this variety as they do not produce many runners. Flamenco did produce ample runners and these produced fruit immediately.

Both blackcurrants and red currants cropped very heavily this year so no change for them next year.

Saskatoon fruit ripened over a far longer period but the quality was still very good I may do a wee bit pruning, taking one or two main shoots down to ground level to encourage fresh new shoots which will fruit for the next five years.

Goji berry plant is still growing but no sign of any flowers or fruits. Maybe next year.

Outdoor trials of grape varieties have not been successful. They did produce bunches of grapes, but they just would not ripen in our wet year. I will try another variety called Solaris for next year.

However my outdoor variety Brant was exceptional. The bunches are small, but quality is great with over one hundred bunches of sweet black juicy grapes.

I have persisted with our local Bramble Loch Ness, but it is hopeless in our wet years, so it got grubbed out. The fruit was small, tasteless and very prone to botrytis. My other bramble Helen which fruits in August is still hard to beat.

Top Fruits

Pears were a disaster this year. Comice may be a fantastic pear when conditions are right, but it is so prone to scab in a wet year that I cannot recommend it unless our climate takes a turn towards a drier regime. I was very impressed with the variety Beurre Hardy which I got at Glendoick Garden Centre Apple Weekend last October. I kept the fruit for two weeks when it ripened beautifully. This variety is quite strong and resists scab infections. Conference is also very good and scab tolerant, but it is very hard to get anything to compete with Comice.  Some Comice will get grafted with another variety next year.

I worried about my plum tree as although it flowered very late the cold weather had reduced the insect population drastically and I only ever saw two bees on the tree throughout its flowering period. However they done a great job and the tree developed a full crop. Normally I would have been ecstatic as a fully ripe Victoria plum is an absolute delight, but lack of sun and too much rain resulted in a soggy fruit lacking flavour and sweetness. A lot of the fruit got left on the tree.

Now the apple crop was very different as I no longer grow weak varieties prone to scab. The early variety Oslin gave too much crop as it does not store so has to be eaten when ripe.  Some shoots will get grafted next spring with another variety. Discovery and Red Devil were brilliant, but Red Falstaff has not stored well this year, so half of them are going out as winter food for our blackbirds.

I have always fancied growing sweet cherries and now that growers are using the new very dwarfing Gisela 5 rootstock it will be easy to net the tree from birds as it only grows to six feet or so. This one is on my lists for planting next year.

 Allotment vegetables

A mixed year depending on how tolerant plants were in a high rainfall year. Courgettes and pumpkins were excellent. No lanterns for us at Halloween, we need them for soup to last till next summer. I also save the seed every year as I have an excellent strain.

Onions were very poor with ripening up very difficult. Most other vegetable crops grew very well in our wet summer and now we still have excellent savoy cabbage Traviata, Sweet flavoured Brussels sprouts Wellington and plenty of Musselburgh Leeks. My beetroot still in the ground under a foot of snow is still perfect

The Greenhouse

There was just enough sun to ripen my grapes and my Black Hamburg has been very sweet. I look forward to 2011 and getting some grapes from my new white seedless vine Perlette.

Tomatoes ripened very late and quality was not up to usual standard, but maybe next year will be drier with more sun.

Plans are being considered to take a stand at both Gardening Scotland at Ingliston and the Dundee Flower and Food Festival next year as demand for my saskatoon plants and grape vines is still very strong.

Now let us get out that bottle of Glenfarclas and raise a toast in the hope that next year the laws of average will prevail and 2011 will be exceptionally warm and dry and my next packet of parsnip seeds will produce more than three plants.

Cheers !!!

 End

Autumn Colour

AUTUMN COLOUR

A gardeners world has always entailed a fair bit of energetic graft, but then later you reap the reward. It may be the tasty fresh produce you have grown or the beautiful plants now looking their best, or a tranquil spot in which to relax in a sunny corner. If only you could ignore that never ending voice in your sub-conscious reminding you of that weed that needs removing, the broken fence to repair, a few plants needing potted or some other job from a long line of tasks that never end. However, summer is gone, the sun lounger is in store, so  topping up the sun tan is no longer an option and a new set of tasks for autumn is reaching priority status.

However, autumn does come in a brilliant blaze of colour that can take your breath away.

When the garden is being planned and planted up in the early years, this is the time to consider good plants for autumn colour as the best are usually trees or shrubs that need careful thought to allow them space to grow. Your garden size will determine what you can select.

I usually start by looking at the space for a tree or two. They come in all sizes so it is not difficult to find an appropriate list suited for shelter, screening, blocking unpleasant eyesores, or specimens to be admired. In UK most trees, other than conifers are deciduous so there is plenty scope for colour when they lose their leaves in autumn.

Brilliant trees

If you are blessed with a large garden you can indulge in any amount of forest trees with excellent autumn colour from the scarlet red oaks, bronze beech, golden maples and sycamores, horse and sweet chestnuts, lime, poplar, and even some elm if you are happy to risk the ravages of any remaining Dutch elm disease. They will all give a brilliant display in the autumn, but do some research before you buy as there is always some outstanding varieties within any one type.

It is always hard to pick a favourite but Acer cappadocicum rubrum is hard to beat if you can find one.

There are a few deciduous conifers that put on a dazzling display in autumn. Larch is the most frequently used, but try to find space for the Dawn Redwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, the swamp cypress, Taxodium distichum,  or the maidenhair tree, Ginkgo biloba. These are all large trees ultimately though some are slow growing and worthy of a place for ten years or so before they get too big.

Smaller gardens can still enjoy a wide range of good autumn colour with other species such as rowans, whitebeams, cherries, upright forms of hornbeam, liquidamber, amelanchier, maples and  birch. There are very many different forms, sizes and attributes for all of these trees, so as tree planting is for the long term do some research before making your purchase.

Dazzling shrubs

There are just as many types of shrubs as trees coming in all sizes from ground cover to small trees. They are used to form boundaries, hedges, and as ground cover to smother weeds. Some give shelter and privacy and are often mixed into shelterbelts, windbreaks and woodland fringes to add variety, interest and colour. Some types can be used on steep banks to prevent soil erosion with added benefit of providing food and shelter for wildlife.

Shrubs are often grown for their flowers or other features and good colour in autumn is a bonus. Deciduous azaleas have brilliant autumn colour as well as dazzling scented flowers in spring. Contrast them with the smoke bush, Cotinus coggygria which turns a deep scarlet.

However the plant with the widest range of brilliant colours must belong to some of the Japanese maples. I grow several of these, but Acer palmatum Sangokaku is not only fantastic in autumn but also has bright red stems that glow in the sun all winter.

Autumn is also a time when the heather garden attains bright scarlets and golds on many of the Callunas.

Then don't forget the fruit garden as the blueberries brighten up at leaf fall as well as the saskatoons and chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa. The latter is fast becoming popular as demand for quality superfood increases. The Aronia may only be known as an ornamental large shrub with almost edible berries and excellent autumn colour at present, but its fruit quality is at the highest level for anti oxidants.

My two best climbing plants for autumn colour are the  Virginian creeper, Parthenocissus and the ornamental grape vine Vitis vinifera Brant. Careful with the former as it can be very vigorous and grow very tall, and Vitis Brant is also vigorous, but easy to keep in check with pruning. It will need a support to cling to with its tendrils. Its leaves turn scarlet and gold in autumn and its fruit bunches may be small but they are delicious eaten fresh or as a juice extracted from the fruit and kept in the fridge for up to two weeks. Surplus juice can be frozen.

Now we have enjoyed some blissful moments amidst the colourful gently falling leaves our thoughts go back to the next job needing attention

Autumn tasks

Those once admired leaves have now dropped down and will need raking up, and then this is the last chance to remove weeds before winter begins. I always like to go into the winter with weed free soil. A lesson from history. Hand weeding frosted flower beds in Dawson Park in winter 1960 was not an awful lot of fun. A passing lady walking her dog in the park was overheard telling her friend, “the patients do a marvellous job “

This is also a good time to spread a mulch of rotted compost on those borders planted with bulbs. Once the bulbs begin to emerge it is too late to put any compost on without doing some damage.

Garden tables and chairs can now be brought inside to protect them from winter weather, as opportunity for an outdoor coffee break is only reserved for the hardiest of patients.

Renovate lawns

Lawns may be purely functional as a place for the dog and kids to play on, or it may be a surface of excellence maintained to the highest level. The mower usually determines the standard, ie. use a rotary for the normal suburban lawn, but a cylinder with grass box for the perfect lawn with stripes. To keep the high standard of surface, autumn renovation work is an essential routine. Any broad leaved weeds will have been removed during the growing season, but moss can be a problem in autumn. Spreading lawn sand is the normal practise, but it may contain a fast acting nitrogenous fertiliser, so I prefer to use its active ingredient sulphate of iron alone. This needs careful diluting in a watering can, then test a small patch before you water the whole lawn. It can be very strong so care is needed, but it is very effective. I also use it on any mossy path areas. The moss turns black in two days.

Scarifying the surface with a springbok rake will also remove moss and any build up of thatch.

To improve surface drainage use the garden fork to put small holes about two to three inches deep into the surface at about six to nine inch spacings. Then spread on an autumn lawn compost dressing which will have an organic slow acting fertiliser in it  This should have a higher ratio of potassium and phosphates and be low in nitrogen. Brush the compost into the holes.

End