Our Parish Magazine Garden Notes for November were squeezed out by some dire warnings about the liver. Very timely, perhaps. For those who would have liked to read them, here are the Notes, on the topical theme of preparing for winter.
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By the time you are reading this, frosts
will be close by. November is a busy
month in the garden to tidy up and to prepare less tender plants for the cold
weather. Heated greenhouses require a
deep purse, but there are ways of saving tender plants unless temperatures sink
impossibly low. By November we will have bubble-wrapped the greenhouse to add
protection – large sheets with big bubbles, easily available and reusable year
after year. One or two vulnerable plants will become houseplants, such as the
white bougainvillea. We have
experimented with both lifting dahlias, and leaving them in the ground under a
deep mulch. Both seem to work equally well. If leaving them in, react quickly
after the first frost, cut the dahlia down and pile the mulch (an old compost
heap perhaps) over the stump. Old bits of carpet (preferably without rubber
backing) can also serve. On non-hardy fuchsias, we generally buy new in spring
rather than spend money on preserving the old, although it is worth experimenting
with lifting and storing. My grandfather rarely lost a fuchsia, but is no
longer around to ask, alas. My simple recommendation is to grow more hardy
fuchsias, such as Fuchsia magelanica (red/purple and pink/white), Hawkshead (white), Display (pink), Garden News (pink), Madame Corelissan (red
& white), Delta’s Sarah (blue & white), Genii and many others. Some may
lose their leaves in hard winters, but never panic. We always leave our potted
agapanthus outside, sheltered by a house wall. Succulents such as aeoniums will
need protection, but sedums are relatively hardy.
November is a time of tidying and
preparation. Normally shrubs and climbers are pruned after flowering to provide
maximum growing time for next year’s flowers. However we had to delay a hard
prune of the rose ‘Rambling Rector’ and the white wisteria as they provided a
safe nesting site for a whole range of birds. Hard pruning it now will probably
sacrifice full flowering next summer, but it has to be done. Getting beds clean
of weeds is an autumn job if you want a good start in spring. Bindweed and
ground elder is our bane, both of which need weedkiller even if you, like us,
try to minimise garden chemicals. Parts of our garden has not been ‘fed’ for
years, so digging in farmyard mature will help the soil retain moisture even in
drought. Parts of our garden have clay soil, so have sharp sand sprinkled
liberally when digging. This gradually breaks up the clay and makes the soil
more friable.
Some plants are best moved in winter when
in or near dormancy. We have a young Victoria plum which needs moving, and a
young apple. Roses also must be moved in dormancy. We have just moved a dwarf
Japanese prunus (flowering cherry) which judging by the lack of effective roots
will need a great deal of TLC.
October-November is the time to put in
bulbs. We are mixing daffodils and tulips – a refurbished bed with white
multi-headed ‘Thalia’ dafs will mix with black tulips, ‘Queen of the Night’.
Later in the season, penstemons and astrantias have been planted for summer
colour. We prefer to have blocks of same cultivars rather than mixing. Some
areas are right for dwarf types, and other beds for full size flowers. There is
a considerable choice today – yellow, white, even pink, mixed, with trumpets
and without, with single or double flowers. To thrive, daffodils need
reasonable light and need to be in a position where the leaves can remain on to
feed the bulb for next year. Planting in a lawn means that the patch cannot be
mown until June. Paths can be cut through the ‘meadow’ but this can be a bit of
an eyesore that you must tolerate. It helps to remove dandelions. In beds the
task is simpler, planning a succession where other flowering plants are
scarcely visible at daffodil time but fill out to hide the daffodil leaves later.
Our favourites for this is golden spirea and peonies. Another idea is to grow
the dafs in large pots, two or three layers of bulbs for a dense show. Include
slow release fertiliser in the soil mix.
After flowering feed with liquid fertiliser and as the leaves shrivel
store the pots in an invisible area of the garden, or place planks over the top
and stand pots of trailing plants on this new ‘shelf’. Then they are cleared
out next November, remove the plants and let the daffodils sprout again. I
find, if I remove the bulbs and store them, they never get planted next year.
One final point. If you divide a plant,
don’t throw away plant material that could be found a good home. Be a good
neighbour.
Stephen
and Jean Bigger. 2014
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