September Gardening News
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of Summer and look for an Indian one? It has been a very odd journey and the weather in August has been ever changing, making life really tough for event organisers, holidaymakers and gardeners. It has though been very entertaining watching animated presenters wave their arms over maps, in the hope that by some mystical animation they might get the forecast somewhere close to accurate. The warm and wet has made things grow and most vegetable crops are looking reasonable, one or two things unnoticed by pigeons and caterpillars. Our beans, especially the French ones have been fantastic. The mildness must encourage thoughts for an extended season. With that confidence I am going to do some late seed sowing. Spring Cabbage,Kale, Spinach and Chard together with lettuce will all catch up and there must be some worth popping in a pinch of root salads too. If you want to stick with convention, then winter onion sets and shallots will be available this month. Traditionally September marks a turning point in the flower borders and bulbs are around in plentiful supply, with a good selection on offer to the early bird. As usual there are some magnificent new tulips to check out and of course all of the old favourites like crocus, snowdrops and daffodils. As summer bedding folds, the autumn plants are there too, with winter pansies and violas filling garden centre benches. Most centres will be offering bulging pots of autumn chrysanths, which can bring great colour for the coming months, but autumn is their time so don’t hold your breathe for winter colour, unless your plants are in good shelter. As always there is plenty of tidying up to do, with dead heading and feeding still worth the trouble if you want to extend summer containers for a few more weeks. September is a great month for lawn seed sowing, so if you are planning to extend the lawn or repair the existing one, seed will germinate quickly allowing young roots to take good hold ahead of winter. And finally, keep harvesting and be prepared to strip softer vegetables if there is a suggestion of colder weather. Green tomatoes, will ripen on a window sill, small squashes, marrows and cucumbers will be perfectly edible and softer herbs can be potted onto a kitchen window sill. Early frosts don’t take prisoners. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
August Gardening News
And then it was August. July was a strange mish mash and thank fully a bit of rain arrived and settled our spring planting. For several weeks we struggled to get anything moving, leaves were falling, lawns browned and there was a sadness to the garden. A splash of rain and everything perked up. Nothing comes for free though and the winds have been testing, our hollyhocks and sunflowers reclining at forty-five degrees after one particularly rough night. Of course, the weather hasn’t deterred the pests and the cabbage white butterflies have been busy, peppering the leaves of any exposed brassica with yellow clumps of eggs, reinforcing the caterpillars, the product of previous laying. The pigeons have been a nightmare too. Overnight our site is a canopy of netting. I suspect the pigeons watch us close down each evening with keen eyes seeking anything that we might have missed. If they find your crop, they are relentless. Well wrapped netting can keep of pigeons and butterflies. The battle is only just beginning both of these pests are in for the long haul and caterpillars will be with us into September, so be vigilant. There are of course chemical options for these pests and the company Grazers do some interesting repellent’s which I have used and found effective. Wet weather reduces the strength of the product and so repeat spraying may be needed. As we move through the month our journey is very much about harvest and maintenance. Feeding, watering, dead heading and harvesting are the key tasks. You don’t want plants wasting energy on seed production. Leaving flower heads on, or allowing vegetables to go past their best is wasteful. Ok, big cucumbers and courgettes are impressive, but will compromise further productivity if left attached to the parent. Salad needs using or it will run quickly to seed. Tough beans are horrible. Flowers will go on for weeks if kept dead headed. If you have gaps in the borders or plots have a go with some green manuring. This is the process of covering ground with fast growing seed, digging in the matured plants after a couple of months in the knowledge that in their composting they are replenishing nutrient levels in the ground. At this time of the year Phacelia is the most satisfying, delivering drifts of blue flowers through the autumn. And finally direct sow to the ground some Cherianthus. A delight for next year. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
July Gardening News
June, the month that slipped under the radar, unnoticed as we scrambled to keep gardens alive. There was a bit of frantic maintenance needed as the sun took away all traces of moisture and the hard work of recent weeks was fried. The sun was fierce and such rain as we saw was presented in torrential bursts. One day it seemed just rolled into another and many things just stood still. Many lawns took a thump too. It has all been about feeding and watering and in July these tasks remain a top priority. Be gentle with the lawn as it tries to recover and regular trimming with the blade set high will be sensible. In spite of the punishment, we still have expectations of a later performance. Tomatoes and cucumbers are showing movement and rather bizarrely green stuff seems to have loved it, I have some very leafy cabbage. This month continue to find space for pinches of salad, there are plants available, but seed will germinate quite quickly. As these plants move towards readiness, get harvesting, if the weather stays dry, they will have a short shelf life and will run to seed quickly (I have thrown out lettuce and radish this week, both in flower). The over wintered bedding and perennials all did rather well. Restore now, cutting back delphinium and iris and pulling out sweet William. The seed on sweet William is viable, so do shake the lifted plants well and within a few weeks next year’s seedlings will become obvious in your border. With the autumn now just two months away, you can be planning your sowing of winter pansies, wallflowers and other over wintering biennials like Brompton stocks and forget me nots. Spring Cabbage and Perpetual Spinach also need sowing soon. All these things are easier to manage in pots and trays initially. Wallflowers (being tap rooted) should be broadcast into larger pots to make autumn transplanting easier. On the shopping list this month are autumn bulbs, most notably autumn crocus. Available in several shades and most popularly in blue, these showy plants will flower this autumn, delivering traditional (but large) crocus trumpets on naked stems, with foliage only appearing later. And finally watch the hedgerows, the season has encouraged a proliferation of umbelliferous plants the most notable of which is the Cow Parsley, but it has been joined by heady showings of Hemlock and Hogweed (both of which are interesting but poisonous). Happy Gardening Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
June Gardening News
Well, after the eager anticipation of better days, May was quite a disappointment. It just didn’t turn out to be the kind of month when you really felt fired up to be at it. The weather was all over the place and whilst overnight temperatures in the main were not too damaging they still stayed low and many plants just sulked. The highlight of May really was the magical moment when suddenly across the land the leaves appeared, sticks just came to life and the canopy of lime green reminded us that the summer was on its way. Sadly, the rejuvenation offered confirmation of our fears about winter casualties, with life not returning to so many plants. My Pittosporum is dead, my Salvias and Hebes are gone, and hardy Fuchsias are not as the name implies. In the days ahead I will set about the arduous task of removing the lost. June though brings hope, and we can set about refilling spaces, safe in the knowledge that most subjects want to grow and the weather hopefully will be supportive. Bedding plants and herbaceous are in plentiful supply and garden centres are offering more planted containers and quite mature seasonal plants to deliver instant effect. I think that feeding will be a key issue this year, with many modern composts not retaining sustaining nutrients. If you are considering container or basket planting then introducing a sprinkling of slow-release fertiliser, it will make a difference. The same confidence can extend to vegetable planting too. You should be able to plant anything now, so if you held back with tomatoes, cucumbers, marrows, or any of the soft vegetables then get planting. As with the bedding, be ready to supplementary feed, plants are greedy and will respond to your kindness. Watering is also a key consideration as we move forward. Whilst plants are settling and after an initial soaking, water plants with a circular sweep away from the base. You are trying to encourage the roots to spread out, you want them to search for water. Constantly delivering to the base of a plant makes it lazy and you a slave. In open ground I water in this fashion in an arc some six to eight inches out from the plant itself. And finally, Keep your lawn in order, in wet weather it will grow quickly and in dry lift your blades to avoid scorch. Happy Gardening Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
May Gardening News
Hooray for the old fashioned, the fondly remembered April of my childhood. A delightful mish mash of sharp showers, blustery days and chilly nights, dusted with the blossom of cherry trees and heralded by the splendid trumpets of Magnolias. The blossom has been very special, indeed there has been a gallery of ideas for anyone considering a new tree in their garden. I have cascades of cherry blossom of every colour, in my own garden Prunus Ukon, bulging with creamy globes whilst just along the road Prunus Shogetsu has delivered a pure white avalanche and Prunus Amanogawa a towering colour of pink. The winter has left gaps and these joyous plants are a real fillip. Across the days ahead I will be making spaces, as I set about acknowledging that the winter was as destructive as suspected. Thankfully May is a busy month and there are plenty of distractions. There are some wonderful pots of herbaceous plants around and at sensible prices and of course the bedding plant season is upon us. Garden Centres and nurseries have plenty on offer and with the days of massive bedding schemes left behind I must encourage you to be selective and play. I do delight at the wizardry of plant breeders who continue to bring new plants to the table and this year there is much to look out for. The Verbena and Petunia market continues to expand and modern forms of each are both prolific and weather tolerant. The Showboat Verbena that I saw trialled last year were fantastic and the new ‘Petchoa’ ( a cross between a traditional petunia and a Callibrachoa) are the next big thing for me, I loved them. Look out too for Sparkle Impatiens. Anyway, bedding plant time is here, shop around. If that hasn’t got you started, then the vegetable opportunities will. Across the month we can be planting the lot, so all of the greens can go in including the first of our winter rotation, so summer and winter cabbage, kale, sprouts et al. We can continue to put out salad crops and plan in repeat sowing of these to keep a succession. Salads all tend to germinate quite quickly, so modest regular sowing is sensible. And finally. Leave the planting out of the more tender vegetables (Marrow, courgette, cucumber, tomatoes and beans) until later in the month, unless you can offer protection. Happy Gardening Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
April Gardening News
Just when you thought that there was a hint of spring to enjoy, March caved in. The vanity of early sown seed was compromised, and things stood still. Those that lifted their heads were soon sulking. Bizarrely the early cherries defiantly just got on with it and I have had a glorious pink haze at the centre of the garden. The bulbs too have managed, and the daffs put on a good show for race week. The jury is still out on the fate of winter damaged shrubs, I’ll give them another month. With the change of the clocks and extended evenings, we will have the chance to play catch up in April and in recent years the month has been quite balmy. So, as we move forward, we can get the rest of the potatoes in (and don’t fret if you haven’t any chitted, they will get underway quickly now, so just pop them in). If you are playing catch up, then you will still get away with planting, onion sets, shallots and garlic. There are vegetable plants around too and certainly green stuffs like summer cabbage, cauli and calabrese are fit. You can be sowing seeds of course and not just the aforementioned, but salad as well. They all grow quite quickly, so don’t overdo it, instead try to set up some succession planting every couple of weeks. Hang back of course with marrows, cucumbers until May, but if you have a cold greenhouse or a well sheltered spot, I always think a couple of tomato plants are worth a gamble. Look for something upright rather than a bush or a trailer this early. In May you can extend your play. This year I am going to be growing a trailer called Cherry Falls. It’s trialled really well and is recorded has having cascades of fruit that can run down 3 feet. The first of the bedding plants are around now, but be cautious, April is not the month for Begonias, Busy Lizzies or Marigolds and I get very frustrated by those that promote them in the doorways of the big outlets. Pansies,Violas,Snapdragons, Sweet Williams and Dianthus will all be fine to start with. And finally, the lawn will need attention if you haven’t yet given it a trim. The ground is terribly wet and a few days ahead of your mowing try a bit of aeration with a garden fork. Happy Gardening Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
March Gardening News
We have bumped our way through another messy month, with the weather at its treacherous best, if it were to figure in a Shakespeare play, it would be cast as the villain and carry a knife. Each evening I have ventured onto the site, checked doors and boilers and smelled the air as my father and grandfather did before me, in anticipation of a temperature change or the arrival of a storm. The chill of winter has never been faraway. Know though I can see the light, the days lengthen and there is a hint of spring. In just a few weeks the clocks will move forward. Who knows we may even get to trim the lawn (though if you do, keep the blades up for the first cut to prevent the bleaching of your newly mown space). Hopefully we can get a bit of proper gardening done this month, there is of course still tidying up to do, but we can get some seed started. If you haven’t any heated space then initially restrict sowing vegetables and flowers to hardy subjects. If you have heat then you can play with begonias and busy lizzies. Out on the plot, you can continue with the planting of onion sets, shallots and garlic and towards the end of the month start putting potatoes into the ground. I tend to get them in in one hit and have never seen great worth in staggering earlies, second earlies and maincrop varieties. The determination of their grouping is just to do with the length of time they take to grow. So even planted on the same day, an early potato a maincrop variety will not be fit for harvest on the same date. With buds fattening and the sap starting to rise this is a great time to be introducing new trees and shrubs to the garden and it’s the last call for bare root plants. You will still find bare root hedging and raspberries, but get a move on, or hold off until late autumn. The warming of the ground will also prompt the emergence of new growth and suddenly a feast will be offered to slugs and snails. The delphinium and Hosta shoots and those of many other perennials will need protecting. The marauding molluscs await the feast. Don’t say you were not warned. And finally, as a nod to an octogenarian friend who is a fantastic rose grower, ‘prune you roses in March’ Happy Gardening Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org IF A SMALL SPACE CAN BE FOUND ANYWHERE COULD I ASK FOR HELP IN PROMOTING THE FOLLOWING.
February Gardening News
We’re under starters orders and still pondering over what the weather is going to throw next. Is it possible, that I am already scribbling notes for the February gardener? January has been weird, in the main cold and very wet. It is amazing how in just a few months we have gone from scorched to saturated. As expected, December’s cold weather has been destructive, with all sorts of things just melting. Lots of peas and beans have rotted and even spring cabbage plants have been wiped out. We can still manage a bit of repair work. Pea and Bean seed can be replaced, though ideally with later varieties, Aquadulce Broad Beans can still be used, but are likely to be slow. If you still seek a bit of spring cabbage, then run in a bit of seed. April is a good, small hearted cabbage. It grows quite quickly (though doesn’t tend to bolt) and can be harvested early as a leaf green. It doesn’t take much space either. In the borders I have spotted several shrubs that are unhappy with their lot, most notably in my garden a beautiful evergreen Pittosporum that has dropped every leaf. I will resist the temptation to cut back or dig it out until late March. Trees and shrubs may recover but nothing will happen until the ground warms and the sap starts to rise. Although the ground is wet, you can still consider planting and certainly deciduous trees and shrubs can be newly planted or relocated in the next few weeks. This month you can set out garlic, onions and rhubarb in the ground and if you have shelter or a windowsill you can start playing with seed. Many annuals and vegetables can be started in the month ahead. If you have a greenhouse, then you can even get a pinch of Tomato seed underway. We used to grow plants cold from early April under glass, so started on a windowsill now, they will be ready. And finally I do enjoy the diversity of bulbs.For many years I have been looking for some Acidanthera, a spectacular member of the gladioli family. It carries large pure white star shaped flowers up meter long stems with each flower carrying a bold red blotch at it’s heart. The bulbs can be planted in a border or clumped in a generous pot. This year I have found some and will plant them very soon. Happy Gardening Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
January Gardening News
Well that was a tricky few days wasn’t it. A good fall of snow with no advance notice and a period of bitter cold, with silly low temperatures which just blocked any hopes for a quick thaw. Nature is the greatest leveller, and it was actually quite special to get a smell of winter before Christmas. Even if it was a little frustrating to be wrestling with retail Christmas. The gardens took a bit of a thumping and it was amazing the tree damage caused by the weight of snow. I have had some heavy pruning to do and one or two shrubs look very sorry for themselves, there was just no warning and everything had been growing on quite luxuriantly. A good deal of damage probably will not be seen until the spring and who knows what the next bit will bring. In fine gardening tradition we just have to get on, the days will race by. New seed is on the shelf, seed potatoes are in as are onions and shallots and I am perusing the on-offer dahlias having had a most successful show from tubers in 2022. So start thinking about what you what you want to grow and get planning. I will be starting a few bits of seed this month on a windowsill. Only a pinch of this and that to pave the way. Lettuce, cabbage and spinach are all easy and not too demanding and I may get some hardy annuals off as well. Antirrhinums are not complicated. Old fashioned they may be, but they are great value for money. They will not require great heat and are best sown on the surface of a pot or tray, which should be covered with black polythene after watering for about a week. Cool growing is a very sensible practice and was the key to all of our commercial production through my father and grandfathers’ time. If the weather is fair and you have the energy, then get your digging finished. Frost delivers fine cultivation and heavy ground turned this month will drop to dust in the coming weeks. This is also a good time to be pruning and particularly top fruit, apples and pears brought to order now will be easier to manage later. Prune to create shape and space. And finally. Stick your spade through rhubarb crowns, they propagate easily by division and just drop the split pieces where you want them. Happy Gardening Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
December Gardening News
Each month’s musings begin as the last, a confounded outpouring as once again the shape of seasons is disrupted. Once upon a time, we would catch a couple of big frosts at the end of September and would set about repairing and replanting, removing bedding plants that had performed all summer long. Today those bedding plants are still holding on. I have busy lizzies and geraniums under my porch still showing good colour. In sharp contrast, many summer vegetables surrendered early. I think that Runner beans had the shortest run ever, with the dry summer really knocking them about. Of all the vegetables the cherry tomatoes have been my most successful. A name to note for next year is the variety Romello, which has been both prolific and tasty. The return of a drop of rain served to revive and boost some things and certainly under the protective canopy of netting the autumn and winter greens all like fleshy and promising. As we move on into December, there are still a few bits to tackle. Bulbs can still go in and the firm bulbs like crocus and tulips will certainly deliver for next spring. Broad bean seeds will still germinate for over wintering and if you have a bit of protected (though not necessarily heated) space, then winter lettuce is worth the trouble. If you can find them, then a few plants will give you a head start, or alternatively kick off a bit seed on a windowsill. Arctic King and Winter Density are both quite reliable. This month you can continue to plant bare root plants too, with raspberry canes and bare root hedging still in plentiful supply. With plants having moved into dormancy, this is not a bad month for pruning. The guidance is to prune modestly, with the intention of restoring order, so vigorous plants like climbing roses and wisteria can be brought to heel, as can many shrubs. Try to keep on top of the fallen leaves, rake them off from lawns and borders, either putting to the compost heap or bagging to gently break down. I have just tipped a barrow full into the bottom of two planters. The leaf mould will be greatly enjoyed by my spring planting. And finally, explore the seed catalogues and plant lists for 2023. As always, new adventures await and there some real delights to be discovered. Happy Gardening Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org