Gardening November & December

Get outside and do it now......

November has now past and we are getting well into the festive season, I hope you managed to do your gardening chores!?

You will notice a chilly nip in the air in November which acts as a reminder to get the garden tidy-up underway before the weather turns too cold. Make a few forays into the garden and you'll be set up for a blooming spring.

Get your greenhouse gleaming to make the most of the winter light. Put in a good bit of elbow grease to clean off grime and algae that have accumulated on the glass over the summer. It helps if you have a high pressure jet wash, but be careful! Also clean garden pots and containers.

Pot up fuschias and other tender plants that you'll be wintering in your greenhouse and water sparingly. If you are still lucky to have bedding plants in flower, protect them overnight with a fleece. Whip this off in the morning, this way you can enjoy your cheery blooms for a while longer :)

If you have a good crop of apples, store them wrapped in newspaper in the garden shed, that way they won't rot so easily and you'll have supplies for months.

There's still time to plant out spring-flowering bulbs in containers and borders. Group tulips and daffodils together and plant snowdrops and lily of the valley (first signs of spring) around trees or in window boxes.

December Gardening

Robins not only provide a pretty diversion in your garden, but will carry out essential pest patrol. They scoff up soil grubs and take away caterpillars and a host of other nuisances. To attract birds into your garden this winter, give them a free lunch. They are partial to seeds, peanuts and fat. Serve them on a bird table as this is high enough off the ground from any predators - such as my cats! They will also require a clean supply of water to drink or use as a bath. It also helps if you have a supply of shrubs with berries and plants that provide seed heads for them to eat.

Use a fleece to cover plants susceptible to frost, but if you are blessed with borders of evergreens, you're in for a real treat and they look wonderful with a light covering of frost.

Plant A Tree
If your garden is looking bare, now's the ideal time to plant a tree so its roots can establish before spring. You won't have leaves on it in winter, but it will still provide colour, height and interest.

1) Cut a circle of turf from your lawn, making the centre. Dig a hole deep enough for the root section and break up the hard soil around so the roots can work their way into it more easily and establish.
2) Hammer in a stout wooden stake to the base of the hole. Position the tree next to it and sprinkle in granular fertiliser. Cover with soil and water well.
3) Attach the tree to the stake with a tree tie so it is well supported. Lastly spread a layer of mulch around it to stop weeds competing for water and nutrients.

Autumn Gardening

Hello all, Gill here,

There is so much to do in the garden in the autumn, it makes you wonder where we all find the time. At this time of the year the main thing is clearing up and pulling up. If like me you like your plants growing naturally anywhere, when you pull, shake, there may be some seeds still left in the heads.

Love them or hate them, you cannot fail to notice the striking colours of the dahlias. They come into their own at this time of year, in my opinion there is nothing to rival them. They come in every height from 6inches to a about 5foot, the flowers heads are from a teaspoon size to a dinner plate and there are some with zillions of petals and some with single petals so I find it hard for someone to say that they hate all dahlias!

Most people don´t think of autumn as being a busy time for planting but it can be for both flowers, fruit and vegetables. Plant all you currants now, black red and white and raspberries oooo yummy, gooseberries yuk and the like, all cane type plants.

Also your herbaceous perenials, cottage flowers such as echinacea should go in now.
I have already mentioned fruit trees in a previous blog, you can still plant those for a couple of months, but preferably September and October.

Broad beans are best planted now because they are less prone to black fly than when planted in the spring.

Get down to the garden centre now if you want shrubs and get digging!!!! I think they take better in the autumn than spring, they certainly get a head start next year being planted now, such as euonymous, berberis, choisya and hebe. Most garden centres do these at very reasonable prices in bulk. I think in Avenue nurseries, Lasham they have 6 small shrubs for £8, thats fantastic. They are small but dont take long to grow. Get two sets, one thats all green plants and one reds and yellows, when they grow all mixed up together they can look stunning at this time of the year.

These can be put in tubs or hanging baskets with winter cyclamen and pansies, an ivy and heather, don´t forget to pop in some spring bulbs so that when the pansies are dying off, up come these little surprises of bulbs to make you smile :).

I have noticed that the birds are eating a lot more suet balls, so please don´t forget them, they are such lovely creatures, they brighten up my day, I can´t imagine a world without birds.

I am rushed off my feet at the moment packing boxes to move. I cannot believe I have got so much rubbish!!! Car boot here I come.

Make the most of this lovely autumn sunshine and get cracking in the garden instead of reading this lol.

Catch you all next week when I get time, take care all, Gill x