November Gardening News
Who switched the lights off? Suddenly the season has turned, spurred over the line by the tweaking of time and the disappearance of daylight by 5.00pm. The smells have changed too, there is a damp mustiness as fallen leaves moulder. The livestock still skips about, rats, mice and squirrels all foraging, gathering and storing in readiness for winter. The squirrels have been a particular nuisance this year, grubbing up bulbs and seeds then turning over new plantings to bury their booty. I have replanted so many pansies and a few days ago witnessed extraordinary acrobatics, as two squirrels set about scaling our sunflowers to gnaw off the heads which they duly carted off. I suspect there will be a few surprises in the compost heap next spring. Whilst the day has shortened, when the mood and the moment suit, there are jobs to be done. You can still be planting, certainly for a week or two more over wintering bedding. Wherever possible pick up decent sized plants. It is late in the season and the ground is cooling, so bargain packs of small plug plants are almost a waste of money now. Look out for plants in pots or packs of 6 or 9 and check the underside of units to look for roots (if there are none put the plants back). You will still get away with bulb planting too. I love tulips, but will be planting more daffodils this time as they are less attractive to my marauding squirrels. Around the borders carry on cleaning up, cut back old herbaceous plants and consider whether you have space for anymore trees or shrubs which can be dropped in. In the vegetable plot you can be planting onion sets, shallots and garlic and this is perfect timing for over wintering broad bean seed. They will all stand quite comfortably in the open across the winter. There are still a few vegetable plants to be had with spring cabbage and winter lettuce both on sale. If you are putting green vegetables out, or indeed already have, then do make sure that you have some netting available. The pigeons will find every leaf left in the open, they are merciless and will strip plants completely if given the chance. And finally this month you will find bare root hedging and soft fruit plants become available. So if you need a new hedge or want to create a fruit garden this is the time to go for it. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
October Gardening News
And there it was gone, the summer just upped and left, making way for autumn. By early September many plants looked close to surrender as the dry weather thumped them and there was a fair amount of early leaf fall. The gardens have been reasonably productive, even without the rain. The beans have been ok, the French in particular have been amazing, but everything has needed to be kept tightly picked. My real joy this year has been with Aubergines, which have been fantastic and tomatoes which have been so flavoursome. I don’t do too much feeding, so the plants really have to work on finding what’s there. I really believe that taste can be compromised by too much feed. Most mornings I have had tomatoes on toast for breakfast. If you are chasing bigger crops then feeding is important, but I am talking about my domestic needs and I need flavour. This month, we will be pulling out the stops to get the bulbs in and pad the borders and containers with the next offering of bedding plants. Pansies and violas to bring some winter colour and wallflowers and biennials as an investment for the spring. There are plenty of bulbs about and with careful management of the flowering times, very extended shows can be achieved, with selected varieties offering colour from early February into May. There are bulbs for every setting, statuesque sentinels for open space, with a little protection and dwarf forms for the breezy spots. In the vegetable area, you can be planting out onions, garlic and shallots as well as spring cabbage plants and by the end of the month broad bean seed for over wintering. As always there is some tidying up to do, a good final cut of the lawn and a repairing prune of overgrown trees and shrubs to lessen the risk of winter damage through rough weather. This is also a month for new planting or relocation of trees and shrubs as they move into dormancy. The disruption will be minimal, many items not even noticing they’ve moved. You can also consider propagation by division, putting the spade through perennial favourites to expand stock, a clean slice through a clump will make you to extend displays. Such division can also be used on rhubarb crowns to increase the crop. And finally, lift and shift dahlia tubers and other tender plants moving them into some shelter, early frosts can be brutal. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
September Gardening News
September is upon us. What delights will this one hold? Traditionally it’s the month that marks the turn of the season, but the muddle of the last month has had me wondering which season we are changing. August was a mish mash of a month, delivering all that meteorology has to offer. We had some blistering heat, some torrential storms, some cool nights and winds to take your head off. Things kept growing, but there were casualties, half of my underdeveloped Bramley apples are on the floor and (because I neglected to put up a trap in April), the Plum moth has wrecked what plums were there. They look as though they have peppered by a shotgun, the exit route of escaping maggots apparent on every fruit. I am also waging war against the Cabbage White Butterfly. A female can, in a short time lay around two hundred eggs and these she will spread about in clusters of twenty or so . Within two weeks the caterpillars are out and voraciously chomping through all available brassicas (that’s the cabbage family including sprouts and kale). We have been netting and spraying with Grazers (a spray that works as a good deterrent…until we get heavy rain). On dry days we see some very sulky butterflies struggling to find a place for their brood. Spraying hasn’t deterred the snails, who have also brought chaos and have messed up my beans. For all of that it has been fun and some of the flowers have been wonderful. I have a fantastic display of mixed sunflowers and modern varieties offer great colours. I have also had success with Mirabilis Jalapa (grown from seed). It is actually regarded as a perennial, forming a tuber at the end of it’s first season. It flowers in the year of sowing and displays flat trumpet like flowers in a range of jazzy colours. Check it out, it’s a bed filler and very jolly. September sees garden centres full of bulbs and winter pansies, together with wallflowers and autumn chrysanthemums. As spaces appear, fill your gaps. There is no rush, stock will be around for at least another eight weeks, but earlier planting will allow good root development and should ensure some winter colour. And finally, if you have space in the vegetable garden, onion sets and shallots will all be available soon. Don’t rush for Broad Beans though, it’s too early! Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
April Gardening News
The darkness shrank and the light swept back across the land. A new spring has arrived and nature unperturbed by the turbulence of an interesting year, just moves forward. Buds have filled and are poised for the new start. Hazel catkins flicked lazily in the breeze above daffodils, snowdrops and crocus which all performed well, leaving the stage to the imminent tulip and bluebell festival. The weather continued to test delivering a challenging mix of hot and cold, the spiteful wind testing the fashion choice on an hourly basis. Meanwhile the early cherries perform, naked stems festooned in droplets of colour. It has been cold but so uplifting. The early sowing has germinated, more seed is sown and the first round of transplanting is done. Things are wanting to grow, I have lettuce and cabbage ready to go out and sweet peas standing proud in the ground already. Broad beans are surging ahead and I will plant more together with some peas in the coming days. This is a good month for seed sowing and germinated this month you will have good plants ready for May. You can get all of your potatoes in the ground now if you haven’t already done so and there is still time for Onions, garlic and shallots. April is also a good month for summer bulbs, so Dahlias, Gladioli and Lilies can be popped straight in, they do come in a range of sizes, so don’t allow limited space to deny you the chance to play. Be aware that there some very interesting, lesser known bulbs that are worth a space too. Freesia, Montbretia and ranunculus are available and if you fancy something different then take a look at Tigridia and Eucomis, both of which bring a sense of the exotic. I have already earmarked some for my own garden. Tigridia brings a carnival of colour to the border, whilst Eucomis, more muted in its colour is very regal. Do check them out. And finally, if nothing else consider the lawn. Most have had a very tough journey and the wet and warm has large swathes colonised by carpeting moss. I am not a big chemical treatment person, but there are products available to slow the moss if you want them. For my part I will be aerating (pronging) the ground with a fork to allow air in and then will deliver some feed later in the month. If nothing else get cutting. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
February Gardening News
And so to business! The distraction of COVID had disguised the advance of another month and there is a gentle easement on daylight. Nature teases and whispers of better days ahead. There is evidence of buds filling and bulb shoots are spearing out of the ground. In just two months we will be tweaking the clocks all over again. I think spurred by the successes and the distraction of last year’s garden, the populus are already looking to get gardening. It’s there to do and there’s plenty of variety. I am pruning and redefining a tired hedge at the moment, cutting away rubbish and slipping in bits of bare root hedging to fill gaps. My plan is to move on this month to finish pruning. I have some fruit to tidy up and towards the end of the month will cut back a couple of roses. I have a rambler that has gone mad. Whilst any regular roses can be cut back hard, I will be more modest with the rambler. With the sap on the rise, I don’t want the plant producing masses of new vegetation, so will just restore some order. I am going to get some onion sets and shallots out, indeed most bulbous vegetables are available this month including Garlic and Artichokes. Asparagus and rhubarb can also be considered. Rhubarb is a great plant to have around. It’s easy, prolific, edible and it looks good even in a border. Don’t rush to harvest it in the first season and with care you can have a crop that harvests for years. This month I will be seed sowing. Make a start on a few bits and pieces, it’s so uplifting. Vegetable seed sowing should be modest and regular, creating a succession of cropping. Everybody gets carried away, just sow a pinch at the time, nobody wants 100 lettuce in one go. Try running rows of different items across a seed tray on a window sill. Just fill a tray with some good compost and then create five or six lines across the width, depressing the line with your finger tips to create a shallow channel. Then spill a few different seeds along each line, lightly sweeping the compost back and firming over the seed. The method is great for lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and spinach. Lightly watered, you’ll see new growth within a fortnight. The journey has begun. And finally, remember, it’s just a game, sometimes we may lose, but when we win, what joy. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
November Gardening News
The month of October offered prelude to the changing season and now autumn is upon us. Already the air carries the scent of aging decline, tumbled leaves litter the garden and there is a dampness to everything. I have already spent a good amount of time cleaning up. I think that the warmth and wet of the early season made for some luxuriant growth as I can’t really see where the leaves have come from. The month ahead is going to be busy. Apart from the cleaning up, November is a good planting month, especially if you need bare root items. There will hedging about shortly and in a state of near dormancy it will transplant smoothly. Formal and informal stock is about, with everything from native field plants, like hawthorn and maple to beech, and laurel. Soft fruit is about too, with I suspect many looking for raspberries, which generally have performed well again this year. And blueberries, which seem to have had big television exposure. Modern varieties do very well actually and can be grown in containers. Blueberries will prefer a slightly acidic condition, so consider using some ericaceous compost or in season a suitable feed. Roses too are about now and for many centres, offered for the first time since the lockdown. In the vegetable garden you can still be planting onions, garlic and shallots as well as rhubarb crowns. The shallots enjoy the cold, which encourages early division, delivering good clumps of bulbs in the spring. If you have not put in some overwintering broad beans, your hesitation has delivered you to the perfect moment. For the purposes of overwintering broad beans are best sown between the last week of October and the second week of November. Sown earlier you can end up with stalky plants before Christmas which will not enjoy cold weather. If you can offer some shelter then winter lettuce and oriental vegetables are also worth a go. On the flower front, get cracking and lift any bedding that you may wish to over winter, Pelargoniums, Begonias and Dahlias are salvageable ahead of the frost. They can be allowed to dry and then will need storing in a shed, garage or greenhouse. Or can be potted to bring late colour inside. And finally there is still time to pop in some over wintering bedding and bulbs, but you need to get a move on. Buy big plants in pots or 6 packs to ensure winter resilience. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
October Gardening News
That was the summer then and whilst the heat still lingers lightly, there is a real smell of autumn now. The night is sweeping in early and every day there is rubbish to clean up in the garden. The summer has been great for the gardener, with strong performances from so many things. The bedding has been stunning, and most vegetables have performed. Nature has of course repeatedly demonstrated it’s might, and we have had to wrestle with blackfly, caterpillars and a good raft of fungal issues, but on balance I thought things were good. The winter vegetables look promising too, with Sprouts and Purple Sprouting well on and Kale already being harvested. Where spaces appear in the vegetable plot we can be popping in over wintering onions and shallots, as well as garlic. Then towards the end of the month Aquadulce broad beans can be direct sown. They are worth the trouble and will bring an early crop to the table. If you have potted any potatoes for Christmas, bring them in against the side of the house. They will enjoy the shelter and the longer they grow the better the result. In the coming days there will be plenty of green waste, so tidy up your compost heap and if you feel particularly energetic strip it down to harvest this year’s compost and start again. Any recent garden waste can be introduced to the restart. The raking out of freshly made compost is very special and the material is perfect for digging into borders to give them a lift. The clearing and cleaning will also be happening in your flower borders too. Perennials want cutting back, tired bedding wants removing and overgrown plants can tied or tidied. Then you can commit to replanting. The winter bedding can all go in, so pansies, violas, wallflowers as well as sweet Williams, forget-me-nots and bellis daisies can all be planted. Make sure of some bulbs as well. There are some good bulbs to be found and as well as the usual daffodils and tulips, take a look at things like Alliums. The ornamental representatives of the onion family are very showy, offering border displays punctuated by bright drumstick heads of flower. And finally, as part of the big clean up, check fruit trees and consider greasing their stems to deter over wintering pests. Top fruit (apples, pears and plums) have all attracted the attention of pests this year and grease is the first step towards managing the 2021 visitor. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
April Gardening News
April and the extended day makes the prospect of gardening more appealing. It has been a long and soggy journey and the ground is still wet, but somehow the extra light and the arrival of leaf lifts us and there is a desire to get on. The sudden lime green flash in hedgerows, almost overnight was like the flicking of a switch. Those with gardening in their veins have prepared and behind the scenes nurseries have plants ready to go. We need to get going and there is plenty to do. I will finish setting out potatoes in the coming days and know that onion sets and shallots will catch up quickly. There are Brassica plants about, Cabbage, Cauliflower and Summer sprouting can all be put out. As indeed can lettuce. If you can find a bit of light ground, then salad roots and carrots can all be run in from seed. If there isn’t a drier space anywhere than try growing your roots in deep pots. Radish, spring onion, beetroot and carrots can all perform well in pots and with a bit of planning you can create succession by sowing more in a fortnight. You can bring your vegetables right up to the back door. If the mood takes you can be sowing annuals now and some straight into the ground. Old fashioned cottage garden annuals like Candytuft, Nigella and cornflowers are a doddle. Scratch the ground with a rake and sprinkle the seed. Then just press the soil back. I am going to try broadcasting Cosmos in the same way. It is also time to be thinking of summer bulbs and tubers. I have a space prepared for Dahlias and the tubers can go into the ground towards the middle of the month. They are easy and prolific, though they will need some slug protection through the early weeks. Once you have them up they are a joy, delivering a bunch of cheer every day throughout the summer, up to the first frost. Every year I try to pop in one of the less used summer bulbs, last year setting out Tigridia (which were stunning), this year it’s the turn of Sparaxis. Known as the Harlequin flower, it shoots up quickly and delivers a palette of strong colours. Best of all it seems to cope with the wet. And finally, the green jungle that is your lawn, bays for your attention. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
February Gardening News
Soggy, soggy, soggy, what a frustrating few weeks to start our new year. The ground has been so difficult to get on, even the lawn has squelched like a laden sponge and whilst there hasn’t been a huge amount to plant, the ground has been almost unworkable. I did however manage to get my bare root hedging planted (though not the raspberries which I will set out next week) and the pinch of lettuce I sowed on the windowsill is almost fit for pricking out. In the days ahead I am hoping to set out a few onion sets and shallots. There is plenty of time, but I had high hopes of getting some of them out in January. If the weather continues to tease, I am going to be doing some pruning and grubbing up. I have ivy growing invasively and blackberry seedlings everywhere. Courtesy of the blackbird I suspect, delivering seed around the place to germinate and colonise in the middle of established shrubs. They need culling now or they will run riot in the spring. I am also going to get my apple tree pruned this month. It wants doing whilst the trees are dormant, and pruning can be brutal if necessary. Prune to a manageable open shape, knocking out dead, diseased, crossing or crowded growth. Mine hasn’t been done for a couple of years, so there is some work to do. Soft fruit can be tidied up too at this time and if you have late fruiting raspberries a good trim to remove old canes will encourage new growth for this autumns production. You have also a bit of time to relocate established plants, if you have the energy. We are deceived by the label describing our purchases as ‘small’ and all too regularly plants defy the information and do extraordinary things. Reshaping the garden to make things fit is good practice. As you toil to wrestle plants from the ground, celebrate the bounteous generosity of the triffid. If the outdoors isn’t calling then get prepared for the season approaches quickly. Consider your planting plans for the spring and get seed organised, select bulbs, get your compost bought and put under cover and select seed potatoes setting them in a cool but frost free place to start them chitting. And finally, if you have any rhubarb in the ground, drop a large pot, bucket or even redundant water butt or compost bin over the crown to force some early growth. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
January Gardening News
Hooray, the elections done, and we are all excited at the prospect of a new and bright beginning, well those of us who garden are anyway. I love packing up the old year and preparing for new adventures. The tidying up is taking forever though, the weather having been a tad challenging. The wet has been one issue, but the wind has been the real beast for me, it just cuts you in half. Anyway, progress has been made and a blank canvas awaits my attention. I have made something of a start, having planted some very late tulips, (that I picked out of a dump bin in a supermarket). They were cheap and will give a show in April. I am hoping to get in some bare root hedging in the coming days too. I’ve a strip of about 20 feet to close in. It awaited my attention throughout December. I will plant a staggered double row of mixed field hedging and will probably spend less than £20. Plants are dormant, so they will not mind the disturbance and as the temperature lifts and leaf appears, they will quickly look the part. Having had a fairly dull December, I am keen to stir new life and am getting some early sowing done, Antirrhinums and Pansies as well as carnations and sweet William will all germinate on a window sill at quite low temperatures, indeed my grandfather would have started them just under cold glass every January. These old varieties are great value, can be set out at the end of March and will perform for weeks. Some early vegetables can be started at the same time, a pinch of lettuce and summer cabbage will perform. All of these things will need transplanting to pots trays, when they have two leaves (after about two weeks) but their liberation as they are given space will see them romp. Kept cool they will reward. When time permits, you can be getting in the shopping in readiness, scouring seed racks, poring over seed potatoes and planting out onion sets and shallots. The nights are extending. And finally, as society becomes evermore focused on technology and gadgetry, make it your mission in 2020 to introduce a child to the mysticism that is the remarkable journey of a seed. As a kid I was spellbound by the wizardry of my elders. The extraordinary, under our noses and I was introduced at the age of 9. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org