ORNAMENTAL STEMS AND BARK

ORNAMENTAL STEMS AND BARK

It is during the long cold winter months when there is a distinct lack of flowers that we can appreciate other forms of colour in our gardens. There is a wide range of plants grown for winter attraction because of their coloured stems and ornamental bark. These are best displayed in a large group or drift to give impact. Choose a spot that will catch the winter sun and make sure it is well drained, but not dry. Cultivate the soil, adding plenty of garden compost or other organic material to improve the soil structure and add humus. My winter garden is based on heathers, coloured stemmed trees and shrubs, winter flowering shrubs and climbers such as Jasmine, and a carpet of aconite and snowdrop bulbs to add and extend the interest well beyond the winter. Daffodils and tulips can also be used to add colour in spring, then tall oriental scented lilies in summer.

In autumn the show begins when the tree and shrubs lose their leaves to reveal the brilliant red  stems of Cornus sibirica Westonbirt and Mid-winter Fire, bright green stems of Kerria japonica and Leycesteria Formosa and the dazzling orange stemmed willow, Salix britzensis emerging from the ground cover of the black grass, Ophiopogon planiscapus nigrescens. This grass is quite black forming dense ground hugging clumps that give a perfect background to both the bright stems and also a drift of snowdrops. Now white on black; that’s different.

I did have a black stemmed Cornus kesselringii but I am afraid it was a curiosity, not quite a thing of beauty, so it has been relegated to the shade border.

If you wish to try some grey stems look out a Rubus giraldianus, but treat it carefully as it has vicious thorns making it perfect for any vandal prone areas. Another excellent tall shrub is the violet willow, Salix daphnoides which has a beautiful grey bloom on its stems.

As well as shrubs with coloured stems the heather garden is often at its best in winter. It can be enhanced with a magnificent specimen birch tree Betula jaquemontia with pure white bark in a central position within a drift of gold and crimson heather, Calluna vulgaris Beoley Gold and Beoley Crimson. All of these plants are enhanced with the first cold evenings and a bit of frost.

For those in a more frivolous mood in need of the perfect small specimen tree, I recommend the Japanese maple Acer palmatum Sangokaku and although it is not cheap, it will not disappoint. After the dazzling red autumn leaves fall off the bright wine red stems are brilliant in sunshine.

Maintenance

At the end of March the shrubs will start to grow, so now is the time to prune them back to a stool just above ground level to encourage the growth of strong young stems that have the brightest colour. However I do not prune back the Kerria or Leycesteria. These get a light pruning after flowering by removing some older shoots back to decent fresh young growth.

Although the coloured stems have been pruned and the early spring bulbs are finished, it is still possible to use this border for a further show of summer flowering scented lilies. These are quite tall and grow through the shrubs into the light to flower.

In autumn apply a mulch of compost after all the leaves have fallen off.

Wee jobs to do this week

As potatoes arrive place them in a warm light place to allow them to start chitting. A favourite is an old egg container with the potatoes placed rose end up.

Place a mulch of rotted compost or manure around fruit bushes to conserve moisture in dry spells in summer and keep weeds down.

This is the latest time to complete grape vine pruning. They are normally grown in greenhouses as upright rods spaced about 12 to 18 inches apart with all growth pruned back to one bud.

There is still time to take hardwood cuttings of many deciduous hardwood shrubs and fruit bushes such as blackcurrants and gooseberries about nine inches long and lined out in a row spaced about four to six inches apart. They will be fine in open ground or a cold frame.

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PLANT AN APPLE TREE

PLANT AN APPLE TREE

There is an apple tree suitable for almost every garden today, no matter how small your garden is. Life keeps evolving and modern housing no longer caters for those wishing a large garden. Most people don’t need a garden to grow their fruit and vegetables as supermarkets can provide everything you want. However when it comes to full flavour and health benefits you are better to grow your own produce. Supermarkets require produce to be blemish free, evenly sized, good appearance and have a long shelf life. None of that is relevant to home grown produce, and we may well also find the odd caterpillar and greenfly, but that won’t put us off if the taste is fantastic and the apple is soft sweet and juicy.

Fruit tree breeders have been encouraged to rethink their strategy in light of the fact that there has been a movement to go back to growing the older heritage varieties that can still be found in old derelict orchards. Most of these older types are not commercial by today’s standards, so where they find outlets is likely to be your local green grocer or farmers markets. The goodness has not been bred out of them in favour of size and cropping potential. These older varieties still have a real apple taste and soft texture. Apart from Cox, there are too many apple varieties available with thick skin and hard tasteless flesh. So when looking for that special apple tree that you know your kids will be happy to eat make sure you get one with flavour and that will grow in your area.

A good heritage or even modern variety in the south of England may not be any good here. We are too far north for a good Cox, but we can grow Discovery, Falstaff, Scrumptious, Katy, Fiesta, Red Devil and for my first early in August a few Arbroath Pippins (The Oslin) are just fine. It does not keep and is prone to brown rot, but has a flavour to die for.

The best cooking apple in my opinion is still Bramley which keeps a long time in store.

Many garden centres hold apple open days where numerous varieties are available to sample usually in early October so you can decide which one to go for.

The next consideration will be how much space is available for a tree. Breeders and nurserymen have helped out the gardener with limited space by producing types aimed at those with limited space. All apples are grafted onto a root stock whose vigour determines its ultimate size.

The latest most dwarfing type is M27 used for columnar shapes, dwarf pyramids and stepover trees.

Then M9 is an old dwarfing type used for cordons, dwarf bush and spindle trees.

Apples grafted on this and M27 require permanent staking.

M26 and MM106 are still dwarfing but will give a bigger tree than the previous ones, growing up to ten to twelve feet. However for standard trees if you have the space look for trees grafted onto MM111 or M25, but they can grow up to fifteen feet tall.

The best forms of tree for limited space is cordons, fans and espaliers which can be grown against a wall or fence and spur pruned so they take up minimal space. In open areas stepover trees are very popular. These are like a single espalier branch trained a couple of feet above the ground and again spur pruned in summer by reducing growth to a few buds. Most apple varieties can be trained in these forms, but a new type becoming popular is the single stemmed columnar Starline range. There are five varieties, but as these are new only time will tell if they will be good up north. For me the orange red Firedance type looks good. These should all be summer pruned to keep shoots short (three buds) and will need permanent staking. They are said to be resistant to scab and mildew.

Wee Jobs to do this week

Check insulation of outdoor water taps and those in unheated greenhouses.

Continue with outstanding winter digging, incorporating manure and compost, but still leaving the soil surface rough to allow weathering.

Spike lawns with a garden fork to improve drainage, then brush in a lawn top dressing to improve the fertility and health of the sward.

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ALLOTMENT ROTATION

ALLOTMENT ROTATION

Crop rotation is an essential practice when growing a range of vegetables in the garden or on an allotment. This helps to prevent the build up of diseases such as clubroot on brassicas and white rot on onions. Different crops require different amounts of manure or compost so rotating crops allows all parts of the ground to receive organic manuring over time. The brassica crops also grow best on land that has a high pH value so it gets limed a couple of months before planting so the winter snow and rain can wash the lime down into the soil. A higher pH value also helps to discourage clubroot disease. Although we can grow some clubroot resistant plants, the breeders have not yet produced a wide enough range to give us year round protection, and many salad crops such as radish and mustard can be affected. Wallflower plants that are grown from seed can also be seriously affected.

A four year rotation is the best practise so that the land that was limed for the brassicas one year will be perfect for the next crops of heavy feeders or salads the next year. Then in year four, acidity is returning and it is now perfect for the potatoes and other root crops. Potatoes are liable to scab infection if there is lime in the soil, or if the land is poor.

Planning the basics of the rotation is always best ahead of the winter digging so you know how to distribute the manures and garden compost according to subsequent crop needs. This gives it time to rot down releasing its feeding values just when the new crops need it.

Starting with the heaviest feeders I allocate ample compost for my pumpkins and courgettes, followed by the onions, leeks, peas, beans, sweet corn. Finally I make sure the potato patch gets a fair amount of compost before digging in, though it is a good practice to add some compost to the bottom of the drill at planting time. Land selected for salads only needs a light dressing of compost and areas where my root crops are to be grown get nothing otherwise the incidence of root splitting will be too high.

If you grow strawberries these can be added into the rotation once their fruiting life has ended. They are normally grown for three cropping years then dug in and new strawberry runners planted on fresh soil that has not previously had strawberries. However since the old strawberry patch has not been manured or cultivated for several years it will need a lot of compost and deep digging.

Intercropping and catch crops

Soil deteriorates if left bare without plants grown on it, but many plants such as the courgettes, pumpkins, dwarf French beans, runner beans and sweet corn are not frost hardy so planting is delayed till the end of May or early June. This is where a catch crop of a fast maturing salad can be grown such as radish, lettuce, spring onion and baby beetroot. To make sure these have enough time to produce a worthwhile crop they can be started early in cellular trays in the greenhouse. Similarly where ever crops have finished early such as early potatoes, broad beans, spring cabbage, over wintered cauliflower, onions and sweet corn, there is still time for more quick maturing salads, rocket, autumn salad leaves, beetroot and more spring onions. If you have enough salads then use the ground for a green manure crop such as clover to enrich the soil for the next crop.

Intercropping is very useful to use spare land for salads grown in between widely spaced plants such as brussels sprouts, sweet corn and freshly planted strawberries. Similar crops can also be grown around newly planted fruit trees and bushes before they need all the allocated space.

Wee jobs to do this week

Tidy up the allotment plot. Straighten up fences, and path edges which get disturbed with cultivations over the growing season. Replace old carpets, lining the paths as they deteriorate over time getting dangerously slippy. I use wood shreddings in a layer about two inches deep.

Top dress flower borders with a light fertiliser dusting and add some compost where bulbs have been planted as they are now emerging and soon it will be too late when the leaves develop.
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A FEW WINTER FLOWERS

A FEW WINTER FLOWERS

January is the dark winter month when we are reluctant to venture into the garden as it is usually cold and frosty, or snow covered with an icy wind howling and the days are very short. However jobs still need attention so we just put on layers of warm clothes and hope for a wee bit of sunshine to keep us cheery. It does help though if we catch site of a few flowers bravely pushing up through the ground. I have one south facing sheltered border where a drift of snowdrops will be in flower every January. This winter has been so mild early on that they started to flower in December.

Aconites are also on the move and one or two flowers appear whenever we get a few sunny days together, though the main display is normally in mid February.

The yellow flowered climbing Jasminum nudiflorum has been in flower from November and will continue till the end of February. It is really tough and even covered in snow the flowers are still determined to open up. Crocus is another tough winter flower that starts to appear in late January in sunny sheltered borders and is often seen to emerge as the snow melts.

Roses are another odd plant that we rely on for our summer flower display, but then they continue to send up more flowers at every opportunity right into winter. Although most of my bushes have now been pruned I have a few that the secateurs have not reached including my very vigorous climber Mme Alfred Carrier. We have had quite a few frosts this winter but still these roses have attractive flowers on them.

Flower tubs planted with polyanthus have also decided to join in the flower display, and although the best is still to come it is great to see all these flowers in the garden in January.

Flowers are very welcome in winter but outdoors there are many other attractive plants. Up at City Road allotments my bright red Swiss chard looks terrific though we keep spoiling the display by eating the young leaves in our stir fries. Sometimes you just can’t win.

Numerous types of Cotoneaster are still full of berries including horizontalis, simmonsii and frigidus. The latter makes a small tree and can keep birds in food for months.

Back in the house there is always some plant with a bit of colour on the windowsill. The Zygocactus finished flowering in December, but was then replaced with some cyclamen. The last of these finished early January, but now Impatiens (Busy Lizzie) cuttings taken in autumn have matured and started to flower. These will continue to flower all winter as long as the sun shines, but go a bit quieter during dull days.

The poinsettia bought in just before Christmas for a festive display is still at its best and is a real show stopper. I keep mine on a sunny windowsill, but take it in at night and keep the compost moist, but never waterlogged. It should be fine till spring when it will want to start to grow and lose its coloured bracts.

Another good festive plant is the winter cherry, Solanum capsicastrum, bought in when fully formed with cherries. Treat it like the poinsettias and it should retain the fruit for a few weeks.

However our best festive fruiting bush is our orange tree now full of young oranges. They are edible, but are not very sweet as we just don’t get enough sun or warmth to ripen up the fruit.

Wee jobs around the garden

Check tree ties and stakes on ornamental and fruit trees and renew or adjust them. Keep the top of the stake well away from the stem to prevent bark damage in winds.

Tie in summer raspberry canes with a running knot. Allow about four inches between each cane.

Dig in any green manure crops such as clover that have died after a severe frost. The foliage should be trampled down to make it easier to completely bury it when digging it in, and leave the soil surface as rough as possible to expose a large surface area to weathering by frost.

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LOOKING FORWARD TO 2015

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2015

Last week we had a look back over the 2014 gardening year reviewing the successes and failures. Armed with this knowledge we can now plan our gardening calendar for 2015 in the hope that our unpredictable weather doesn’t have too many shocks in store for us. Looking at weather trends to try and assess what could be ahead for 2015, the only half reliable factor appears to be that every year is different from the previous year. So if last winter was very mild, following the devastating December gales, this winter is likely to be colder with snow and severe frost. Last year we got a long cool spring so maybe this spring will be short but warm, then summer will be the Scottish normal (you don’t need me to remind you that means three consecutive dry sunny days and up to five in an exceptional summer) since last year it was excellent. Since August last year was cold and wet it just has to be a total heatwave this year so I will not be on holiday abroad as I don’t want to miss it. Anyway time will be needed on the allotment for watering the crops in this dry spell. Autumn 2014 lacked warmth and sunshine resulting in a poor harvest of grapes and apples,

so maybe autumn this year will be very warm with long sunny days ensuring a bumper harvest of sweet ripe fruit. You have to dream positive thoughts.

Now we’ve got the weather sorted out what does this mean for our plans for the garden.

We will still persevere with peaches, pears, cherries and apples in the hope that the bees will return on time in spring to pollinate the flowers which are bound to be numerous as there was no heavy crop last year to weaken the trees.

Clubroot was a major problem last year as the soil was too wet too often so this year I will be concentrating on resistant varieties of cabbage (Kilaton) cauliflower (Clapton) sprouts (Crispus) and Swedes (Gowrie, Invitation or Marian)

I will continue with my outdoor grape experiments, but will have to find a warm spot free from phytophthora root rot. The variety Phoenix seems to have survived, produced several small bunches and put on ample growth, even though it is on land known to have had root rot.

This year should give me my first decent crop of Big Ben blackcurrants when I can judge their size and increased sweetness for the fresh fruit market rather than just for jam, compote and wine.

New raspberry plants of Autumn Treasure and Polka should fruit this year so I can see if they really are so much better than Autumn Bliss.

A new planting of Bramble Reuben will extend my bramble picking season into autumn as my six year old bramble Helen fruits in August.

Green manure experiments have favoured clover as the superior crop. It does not grow as tall as mustard, but more vigorous than tares, so I will use it at every opportunity in 2015.

I will again plant tomatoes direct into border soil in my new greenhouse, after adding fresh compost and fertiliser, as I feel it should be good for two years before I go back to growbags.

New landscape works are planned after the removal of three huge conifers and a massive eucalyptus which has been threatening to drop branches on my new greenhouse, as it reaches into the sky and spreads wider. This will be permanent planting to maintain an attractive area but be easy to maintain. More on this later after I peruse the plant brochures and select a few special plants.

Most of the branches will be chipped on site and added and mixed into my compost heap.

Some chippings will be used to surface my paths on the allotment. This should last a couple of years before it rots down and needs replacing.

Painting plans for 2015

The short gardening days in winter allows me more time at the easel to concentrate on my latest art project. This will be a series of about twenty paintings in oil and acrylic showing ladies in white sun hats, sarongs and other holiday fashions enjoying our Scottish beaches including Sandwood Bay in Sutherland, the Coral Beach and Talisker Beach in Skye. Other beaches include Otters Wick Bay and Cata Sands in Orkney, Silver Sands of Morar and of course Broughty Ferry Beach in Dundee.

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LOOK BACK OVER THE YEAR

LOOK BACK OVER THE YEAR

Every year has its own stories to tell, and they are never the same. No matter what skill level we possess or how much knowledge we have, the success of the garden still depends on the weather and how we learn to work with it. This year started off with a mild but very wet and stormy winter, then ends up with good weather, so I completed all my winter digging in before Christmas.

It all started to go wrong, when last year’s December gales blew my greenhouse down. It took me three months to sort out a new one strong enough to withstand the next gales sure to blow up the Tay estuary and rattle the glass. I spent three days picking up shards of broken glass from both my garden and my neighbours. The new greenhouse base was strengthened and raised so I imported good top soil for the borders. Growbags intended for my tomato crop got opened up and the compost forked into the borders. Tomatoes went into this prepared soil and could not have been happier as some reached the eighth truss instead of the normal four to five.

The year started very wet and an almost total lack of snow and frost. Snowdrops were in flower in January, and other plants were at least two to three weeks ahead of normal. However the wet ground prevented winter digging which did not get completed till March, delaying any early sowing and planting. This was followed by a very cool spring which was fine for the flowers which lasted a long time, but not so good for fruit trees. There was plenty of blossom on all the trees, but it was too cool for pollinating bees which were noticeably absent. Fruit set was zero on the pears and very poor on the cherry. The peach tree only managed one fruit even though I did daily hand pollination with a soft sable brush. Apples and plums flowered later so the crops were better but not as good as the previous year.

Then spring gave way to a brilliant summer, but August appeared and spoilt the show. It was cold, wet and the sun disappeared for a few weeks.

Outdoor fuchsias which, prior to August had put on a fantastic display, lost all their flowers, but then in September they reappeared and decided to keep flowering till the end of the year.

Another plant that seemed to thrive was my fig tree. Young embryonic fruit buds that normally fall off in winter, survived to produce my heaviest crop ever. Ripe figs all summer long was a major attraction. My small tree growing outdoors on my allotment plot produced nearly eighty ripe figs over two months.

The warm sunny dry summer (excluding August) suited all the soft fruit giving bumper harvests of currants, gooseberries, raspberries and strawberries. However that cold August really spoiled the grape harvest when the bunches were desperate for dry hot weather to ripen up and increase the sugar content. All grape wines had to have sugar added to give a decent alcohol level while they fermented in my demijohns.

The wet winter also gave rise to several disease epidemics. Clubroot which spreads in soil moisture devastated most brassicas that had not been bred for resistance,

as well as radish and wallflower. Phytophthora root rot introduced several years ago on infected raspberries, continues to affect woody perennials. Three new grape vines died out as well as my five year old goji which must have been old enough to give me my first berries. This disease is also spread in soil moisture. There are about ninety strains of phytophthora some of which are quite specific affecting raspberries as well as potatoes (blight), but some strains can affect a wide range of plants.

Rose blackspot was another problem after the wet August, but at least roses gave a great show in mid summer, then well into winter.

My mature Victoria plum tree, well over thirty years old became infected with silver leaf disease and will need to be removed, as there is no cure and the tree will die or produce no more plums.

Plant of the week

Tradescantia zebrina, the wandering Jew is a popular house plant. It likes a warm room with good light, but out of any direct sunlight. Water it sparingly in winter but freely in summer with an occasional feed.
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FESTIVE THOUGHTS

FESTIVE THOUGHTS

Winter has truly arrived with snow frost and the December gales, but this year my new greenhouse is much stronger than the previous one, so I am confident it will be just fine. Under glass winter lettuce is still plentiful and my boxed up chrysanthemum stools all have short sturdy green shoots which will provide cuttings next March. Greenhouse temperatures have only just gone below freezing which is quite healthy. The Black Hamburg vines have now all lost their leaves so will get pruned within the next few weeks taking all growths back to one or two buds from the main rods.

Down on the allotment the digging has been held up by the wet weather though good progress was made every dry day when there was a wee bit of sun. One third of the plot has been turned over, but I still have a lot of land occupied with winter vegetables, permanent fruit bushes and my flower border. Other sections are down to a clover green manure which I will dig over in late winter.

Back home the garden was totally weeded in autumn, and leaves collected as they fell. Numerous spring bulbs are pushing through the soil surface with snowdrops showing the first flower buds just itching to open up on a sunny day. They don’t seem to mind whether it’s just December with most of the winter still to come.

Shrub pruning is still ongoing and roses usually get done on a sunny day in the heart of winter, when I have the urge to get outdoors but the ground may still be frozen over. However some roses are still flowering in competition with both hardy fuchsias and other fuchsias. One City Road plot holder has a row of Fuchsia Swingtime (or a hardy version of this variety) still in full bloom. An amazing sight as I would have expected the recent frosts to knock it back into dormancy.

As we head into the festive period, I suppose the allotment and garden will be fine without my attention for a couple of weeks, though I will still have to dig up a few swedes, a cabbage, some sprouts and leeks and parsnips and hope that my row of earthed up beetroot is just fine. Then there is still some winter rocket and other salad leaves to pick as well as kale and chard. There should be plenty of fresh veg. for Anna’s Christmas table, and I have ample bottles of home brew wine just waiting to be sampled. This year’s best ones are the gooseberry, aronia and apple, followed by the Saskatoon and red currant, though I still have to sample the Brant outdoor grape wine brewed just over two years ago. Wine making is an ongoing activity related to time of harvesting crops as well as availability of demijohns. Thus my 2014 apple crop is only now fermenting in the demijohns, but the blackcurrants, now in the freezer, won’t get brewed till late winter when I have some spare demijohns.

Outdoor gardening activities over may be curtailed over Christmas and New Year, but there is going to be some new landscape works in front of the house so time will be spent browsing through catalogues sorting out appropriate plants to buy in. Every year I buy in several new plants to try, most often fruit varieties, grapes or flowering shrubs, but then struggle to find a spare piece of land for them. I have to be ruthless and discard any plant that fails to impress. Many shrub roses had to be removed when they proved to be very prone to blackspot, however the very old variety Ispahan is quite tough and flowers profusely every year. Another old but very reliable rose is the white scented climber Mme Alfred Carrier. However its strength will have to be curtailed as my medium sized garden is struggling at it reaches beyond sixteen feet tall and sprawls a similar length in all directions.

 

Plant of the week

Holly (Ilex aquifolium) has been used as a festive decoration for hundreds of years even going back to the time of the Druids who used holly wreaths on their heads in winter celebrations. The holly tree, leaves and berries can be quite toxic, and birds normally leave them alone till they have had some frosts to soften the berries, though the City Road allotments resident blackbirds have had no trouble eating our plentiful supply of fresh grown holly berries.

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PREPARE FOR WINTER

PREPARE FOR WINTER

A lot of people are under the impression that, as the days get shorter and colder with frequent frosty mornings, it is now time to forget about the garden till next spring. Unfortunately, the dormant season is a time to catch up on numerous tasks that seem to keep us outdoors on most sunny days and even those days when the ground is frozen or covered in snow.

The dormant season from November to March was traditionally the time to do all the new planting of trees, shrubs, roses, and many other plants that came as bare root plants. Today most plants are in pots so planting can be done just about all year round. However this time of year is best for soil cultivations incorporating manure or compost ahead of planting. This will also give the new planting a better chance of establishment as weeds will have been removed or dug in, then a mulch applied to retain moisture and prevent weeds from growing.

This is about the latest time for planting fresh strawberry runners for cropping next year.

I have always chosen a frosty day when the ground was frozen to carry out some tree, shrub and rose pruning. It never seems to do any harm. With bush roses I remove most wood except the strongest young shoots which get pruned by about half their length. Shrub roses just get straggling untidy shoots removed. Climbing roses get removal of all weak shoots, and some older wood and any shoots growing away from the wall or fences. Other shoots are lightly tipped and tied in.

With apple trees I try a bit of crown reduction on my mature trees to reduce the height so I don’t have to climb so high at harvesting time, as Anna’s nerves just can’t take it any more. I keep telling her good gardeners, well trained in fruit growing just don’t fall out of trees.

Well at least not very often. I only do a modest amount of spur pruning in winter as I prefer to regulate the balance of growth to fruiting wood, by removing the occasional large branch provided I can replace it with another younger shoot to take up its place.

Up on the allotment the autumn rasps and brambles have been pruned as well as my outdoor vine Phoenix, Solaris, Polo Muscat and Muscat Bleu. Prune greenhouse grapes in December to January.

Digging in compost continues as I try to complete all my soil cultivations by the end of this month.

Next year’s rotation plan is now completed, so I know where all the main crops will be going. That way I can add compost as digging proceeds according to the needs of each crop.

Land allocated for late planted crops such as sweet corn, courgettes, French beans and pumpkins will get sown down with a clover green manure crop in March, then dug in before planting.

I keep an eye on the weather forecast as my last row of beetroot is still perfect outdoors after getting some earthing up,

but if any severe frost threatens then I will lift them and store them indoors.

Outdoor water supplies have been turned off and drained and the pipes lagged for frost protection.

Keep a watch over stored apples and potatoes. Remove any apples going bad and keep shoots off stored potatoes. Gladioli and begonias should now be quite dry so they can be cleaned up and stored in some dry sand or soil in a frost free place till spring.

Now is a good time to complete taking of hardwood cuttings of shrubs and fruit bushes. They can be lined out in a prepared bed in a cold frame or in pots of well drained compost.

Put out bird feeders now, as once they have devoured all our berried trees and shrubs and the ground starts to freeze up their food source gets a wee bit restricted.

Plant of the week

Salix britzensis is a favourite willow for the coloured stem winter garden, where it is grown as a stooled bush. It has bright orange red stems all winter from leaf fall till the following March. It will start to grow then, but to keep it a bush it gets cut back to ground level. It will grow up to about eight foot tall. After cutting back in March I use the tall stems on the allotment to support my rows of peas.

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PLANT SOME SHRUBS

PLANT SOME SHRUBS

Garden shrubs are just as essential to the landscape as is a lawn, trees, patio and paths. Everyone who has a garden no matter how small or large will at some time be considering  a bit of landscape planting for many different reasons, and when we move house to a new property or an established one we still want to create our own wee patch of heaven.

If the new garden is already well established by a previous owner, we need to assess what is there and what we want. Most often you will find several plants that are well worth retaining, so do not be in a rush to clear the site. However on a new built plot just vacated by the builders we will have a blank canvas to create our personal landscape to our own needs. There are many factors to consider so take plenty of time and work things out on paper before buying in the plants.

There are always your own personal “must have” shrubs to find a spot for. My personal choice includes the rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias, plus heathers for ground cover. Viburnums and honeysuckle gave me the scents and clematis and climbing roses gave me colour for tall fences.

I know of many impressive very small gardens who may only have one decent specimen shrub, but when it is in full bloom that garden comes alive even if only for a couple of weeks. For the bigger garden with room to grow a magnolia or philadelphus unpruned and allowed to mature it can make a fantastic specimen, but unfortunately too many people get nervous as it reaches ten feet or more and out comes the loppers.

Different parts of the garden will be sunny or shaded, sheltered or flat and in the open or adjacent to walls and fences so each area’s needs will be quite different. I always use all my south facing walls and fences for the more tender or exotic plants such as my outdoor grape vines, cherries and figs.

Shrubs can be used for screening along boundaries or around the compost heap and if an

impenetrable barrier is needed then use a pyracantha, rubus (mentioned below) or some of the very thorny shrub roses. Patio areas have their own needs for shelter from winds, privacy for sun bathing in summer and if possible use scented plants to create a pleasant environment.

Steep banks that are difficult to maintain can be planted with ground cover such as ivies, cotoneasters, hostas or heathers and if the ground is sunny and dry then use senecios, ceanothus, brooms, pinks, and cistus or rosemary and lavender. Some ground cover such as hypericum can also be underplanted with bulbs such as the stronger Darwin Hybrid tulips which will give a spring display of colour.

It is also a good idea to try and create strong impact in a range of places at different times by grouping those plants together that flower at the same time. Cistus flowering in early summer looks great with a background of the taller deep blue ceanothus.

Plants with good autumn colour can also be combined together to give an autumn display before all the leaves fall off. Deciduous azaleas, cotinus, the smoke bush, and dwarf maples will combine to brighten up the autumn display.

Similarly berried plants such as the cotoneasters, pyracanthas, pernettyas and berberis will provide food for small birds as well as being attractive in early winter.

Then for interest right through winter give thought to the coloured stemmed shrubs such as cornus, willow, kerria, rubus and some maples. They make an eye catching display right through to the end of March, when they then get pruned back to ground level. However the show can continue as they are quite happy to share the ground with spring flowering bulbs such as snowdrops, aconites, crocus, daffodils and tulips.

Shrubs can be planted from now right through till next March.

Plant of the week

Rubus cockburnianus is a very prickly white stemmed bramble growing to about six feet tall. It makes quite an impact in the winter garden growing alongside cornus, kerrias and salix. To maximise on the white stems it should be cut down to the ground at the end of March every year.

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A COLD DAY ON THE PLOT

A COLD DAY ON THE PLOT

As autumn gives way to early winter we expect to find a few frosty mornings and maybe even the threat of some snow, but at this moment damp cold days predominate. It would be nice to crack on with the winter digging but the soil is often too wet to work on. However every time we get a dry sunny day there is always some job to tackle.

This year has been brilliant for beetroot and I have one complete row ready for picking, but we may get yet another mild winter, so I will leave the roots in the ground and just pick as I need them. The roots have been earthed up with some soil to protect them just in case we get any frost.

Autumn salad leaves and winter lettuce sown several weeks ago outdoors are now ready for cutting, but will last for months, hopefully. The greenhouse has also been planted with winter lettuce after removing the old tomato plants. The lettuce was planted at about nine inches apart and I have been using alternate plants for salads to give the remainder more room.

Back on the plot the winter vegetables are ready in abundance. Brussels sprout Crispin, a clubroot resistant variety is ready for picking, as is the swede Marion and winter cabbage Tundra. Leek Musselburgh and Parsnip White Gem add to the variety. However summer cabbage Kilaton, also clubroot resistant is still available and looks like it could last for another couple of months. It is quite difficult to use so much fresh produce when the freezer is still bursting with summer harvested fruit and vegetables. Kale is also at its best just now, and just perfect for soups and stir fries. Swiss chard is also a favourite for stir fries and other dishes.

When the soil surface is dry enough to walk on we can get on with the pruning of the autumn raspberries, the fig tree, outdoor grape vines, roses and the brambles. Other fruit was pruned in summer after fruiting as I wanted to gather as much pruning together as possible. We shred all our wood at City Road allotments then add the shreddings to the compost heap.

Next years seeds have been ordered as I need to plan the rotation. This allows me to know which areas to add compost to for digging in. The lions share goes to the heavy feeders such as peas, beans onions, leeks, sweet corn, courgettes, pumpkins and potatoes. Brassicas get a light cover of compost, but I can forget about the salads and root crops as long as they go on land that was well composted the previous year.

Digging is progressing on every dry day after spreading out the compost. I leave the soil as rough as possible to get weathered by frost, assuming we are to get some winter weather. Areas where clover and tares green manures are growing will be the last to get dug over. There is no rush to dig them in as the longer they grow the more the land will benefit from being broken up by the extensive roots. Nutrients will also not get leached out by winter rains and melting snow as the plant will absorb goodness from the soil as well as nitrogen from the atmosphere which is fixed into the root nodules. This is released back into the soil after digging the crop in and the plant rots down. These nutrients are then available for the next crop.

Sometime in mid winter on those areas where the brassicas are to be grown I spread lime to increase the soil alkalinity. Brassicas prefer a soil pH of about 7 or 7.5 to discourage the clubroot fungus. However do not lime freshly dug soil which has been manured or composted as it will react with the manure or compost and release nitrogen to the atmosphere.

Plant of the week

 

Cornus Westonbirt is one of the brightest red stemmed dogwoods. Grow it as a bush pruned every year at the end of March cut right down to ground level. My bushes grow up to four foot tall without any feeding or even mulching, but they would respond to this with taller shoots. Mix Cornus with other coloured stemmed plants such as Rubus cockburnianus, Salix britzensis and Kerria japonica to create a winter garden to brighten up the colder months. Underplant the bushes with spring flowering bulbs such as snowdrops and crocus to extend to colour into spring.

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