October Gardening News
Here we are into October again, the journey through September interesting with early morning dew rolling off chilly nights. How quickly the evenings shrank too, night time squeezing away daylight by seven and we are still four weeks away from putting the clocks back. Whilst the autumn colours are only just showing, the gardens do look beaten up. Many things just never got started either, some of the bedding has been terribly disappointing with many people already replanted for the next season. The Pansy and Viola trade has been very boisterous and whilst the warmth is still in the ground planting can continue. Many will plant over the next few weeks and bulbs need to go in as do all of the autumn bedding subjects. There the chance for a final push on the vegetable plot, I still have onion sets, garlic and shallots to try and get in and I may even try my luck with a few late cabbage. Some of the cabbage is very hardy and will stand the winter and put on a final spurt in the new year in readiness for spring harvest. Do save a little space though, at the close of the month we can be setting out our over wintering broad Beans. Aquadulce are still the variety by most for over wintering, but any Seville variety should work just as well. You can also pop in a few peas to make the same journey, making some root before Christmas. This month is also the month that the keen sweet pea grower will be setting up some seed. We always used to start a few pots off. We used to use a bit of old fashioned John Innes compost and allow the pots to stand inside or out. The autumn start guarantees some robust early Sweet Peas, often showing colour in June. As the season turns, we are back on the maintenance duties. I shall be trying to apply a bit of time to spiking the lawn. It gets well compacted across the season and the damp retained in the top is already encouraging the moss. Just getting a bit of air into the ground with the fork will make a difference. And finally, the question on everyone’s lips………..yes, you’ve guessed it. When do I need to use bulb fibre ? Well, most of the time you don’t. Bulb fibre should be used when bulbs are being planted in a container with no drainage holes. The fibre will contain oyster shell, charcoal and some other element that keeps soggy compost fresh. If you are planting in open ground or in a drained container, you don’t need it. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
July Gardening News
And still the breeze continues. The last month has been fair and planting has continued throughout, but so has the watering, indeed it has been essential to the settling of every new plant. The breeze has been so drying. Our pond dried out in the middle of the month. As we move forward there is a hope for settled days, but that watering will probably need to continue. The dry weather planting has resulted in poor rooting so many plants will need help. Just keep moving the water away from the base of your plants to encourage them to search. Constant watering will also leach away the nutrients, so a bit of supplementary feed will be worth the trouble. A balanced liquid will be ideal, avoid loads of Nitrogen (N on the back of the bottle). Keep it modest, you are not looking to create a jungle. Do keep picking too, all of our plants give huge energy to seed production, so dead heading will make for an extended season and food harvesting will encourage more produce. If you have a bit of sheltered space, there is still some worth in continuing to sow salad stuff and you are not too late to sprinkle in a line of Wallflowers. With some thinning out in a month, you can get some cracking plants for over wintering. Although it is a long journey, Wallflowers are worth the trouble and they have been magnificent this year. You are going to see a few autumn flowering wallflowers about this year. They are quite interesting, but a bit puny, the jury is still out. Within days we shall be back to the Winter Pansy season and then the bulbs will be in. The Pansy market has changed and our industry does seem to be launching ever more varieties. Be aware that some are tougher than others and if in doubt ask about the variety and if it over winters well. If you find any, you can still put out Spring Cabbage plants and late Savoys. Keep a watch on the pest and disease issues, Pigeons have been a pain again and there is a bit of mildew around. If you have roses (aren’t they great this year ?), it is worth giving them a splash with a fungicide. And finally enjoy. However the space looking, take it from me it is still pretty special. Pristine or full of weeds, immaculate or chewed to nothing it still remains a celebration of nature and our attempts at taming. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org