DARK AND DAMP DECEMBER DAYS

DARK AND DAMP DECEMBER DAYS

Garden activities have been a bit curtailed not only by the short days but also by too much rain. Temperatures are just fine for this time of year, but you should resist walking over the soil if it is wet. However some activities such as pruning my raspberries, currants, saskatoons and gooseberries can be done as the soil is firm and I can always add a mulch of compost to protect the surface.

As the festive season approaches priorities change as the needs of the Christmas tree for decorations takes precedent over the need to get my compost spread and dug in, at least as long as it is still wet outdoors.

It took me nearly three hours to find and clear up all the broken glass from my greenhouse, after the last gales in early December twisted the structure and shattered over a dozen panes of glass, spreading shards all over the garden. I will now need a dry fortnight as I will have to remove all the glass so I can bend the aluminium structure back into shape to allow the glass to fit in. I think my grape vines will be fine as recent frosty weather was just cold enough to harden the stems off without causing any injury. The greenhouse base will also need more strengthening as it came away from the breeze block base pulling out all my bolts. I have no chance of getting bored over Christmas and New Year as someone has got a wee reconstruction job to do. I don’t think Santa Clause will be bringing me a new greenhouse.

Dry weather is also necessary to allow me to spray my peach tree with fungicide to prevent peach leaf curl. Previous sprays of Bordeaux mixture last spring together with a warm dry summer really helped to keep peach leaf curl at bay, but if wet weather continues it is very ready to reappear.

Anna has been busy in the kitchen making a festive spiced pumpkin soup with one of our confused pumpkin courgette hybrids. Saving your own seeds from that huge perfect pumpkin is not always a bright idea if it just happens to be growing next to some really good courgettes. However the flesh has been great with not so many seeds, but the outer skin was a bit tougher than normal.

The resultant soup was delicious.

Allotment life

Not much happening up at City Road other than finishing off the pruning and tying in the raspberries, (with a running knot) and tying the bramble Helen back onto my shed wall.

Digging continues as long as it is dry enough or the soil surface has some frost on it.

Mild days in late autumn and early winter has allowed a lot of leafy vegetables to keep growing. I have any amount of salads still very tender and as yet unaffected by cold weather. To pick a tender outdoor lettuce in December is quite a feat. Other leafy vegetables such as Swiss chard and kale for stir frying are also plentiful, and cauliflowers for hearting up next spring are really quite big. Spring cabbage April has started to heart up and some could be used now, but we have not even started on the January Kings as we are trying to finish off the autumn cabbage.

Brassicas have been very successful this year as I mostly grew clubroot resistant varieties.

Flowers

Care had to be taken when clearing up leaves in the flower borders as most bulbs have started growing and many have young tips showing above soil surface level. As soon as all the leaves are off my coloured stem winter border it will get a compost mulch before the bulbs put on any more growth. The garden is still surprising us with flowers still unaffected by winter weather. Climbing rose Iceberg had some brilliant flowers out in mid December, and Irish bell heather Daboecia is a mass of small white tubular flowers. However I still wait on my Jasmine and Hellebore to show a bit of flower. My three year old Amaryllis which I fed and watered all summer before drying it off to ripen up the bulbs has now burst into growth and is showing four flower spikes. I have kept it very pot bound and it seems to have worked. Hopefully the flowers will open in January.

 

Plant of the week

Irish Bell Heather, Daboecia cantabrica comes in pink and white colours. The tubular flowers open in summer and autumn, but this year they have continued well into winter. This heather is evergreen and grows in all soils but prefers full sun for flowering. This low growing heather is quite dense so makes a terrific ground cover plant for the low maintenance garden. I grow mine in a mixed drift heather garden next to azaleas and a specimen white stemmed birch in the middle for effect.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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