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Gardening Tip Week Ending 9th October 2014. Hello Everybody
We have had some really lovely Apples this year on our own
small trees. We only have a little, modern garden, but make full use of all the fences and walls, by growing some fruit trees against them as Espaliers to take up less space. Apple trees can be very productive though on a Dwarfing Rootstock
as well and a 4 foot high tree doesn’t take up much room either. Apple trees need to have Grease Bands put on about now to prevent grubs getting into the next years fruit buds and spoiling next years apples. When putting Grease Bands on trees you will probably get some of the grease on your hands and it can be very difficult to remove, but Alan has found an easy way to remove it. Simply dusting your
Runner Beans will have just about finished by now, so cut all the tops off leaving the roots in as the nodules that form on them contain nitrogen that is good for the soil. It is better to roughly chop up the old stems before adding them to your compost heap, so they will rot down quicker and as long as you used soft green string, or natural twine to tie them in, there is no need to remove this as it will rot as well. Gardening Tips Week Ending 4rth October 2013. Gardening Tips Week Ending October
5th 2012. Gardening Tips For Week Ending October 7th 2011 Hello Folks Gardening
Tips Week Ending 8th October 2010
Everyone seems to have done well with fruit
this year. The weather men forecast an early frost a couple of weeks back, so we went out and picked all our Runner Beans, but of course we didn’t get a frost that night! Consequently, we have taken our Runner Beans down now even though there were a few flowers left on. The bees seem to have all gone anyway, so they wouldn’t have been pollinated. When taking Runner Beans down do not dig their roots up and only cut the tops off down to soil level as the nodules left on the roots are full of nitrogen goodness for the soil and are best left to rot in the ground. When the weather men forecast the early frost we also panicked about our Tomatillo plants that are outside against the house wall as they are quite tender. We picked about another pound of fruit that was developed, but still green and left the smaller fruits to take their chances. Of course the frost didn’t take those plants either which means we should get lots more fruit that may even ripen before we have to pick them later on.
There is still a wide selection of Sedums and Heucheras about which are very good for dry parts in the garden if you still have them, or they can be grown in bowls and troughs, but if you do you should add grit to the compost for drainage. Prepared Hyacinths can be potted now for Xmas flowering and it is better to keep to one colour in each pot as mixed colours don’t flower at the same time. Do remember to wear gloves when you handle them though as the chemicals they are treated with can cause itching. After potting, keep the pots of bulbs in the dark until the flower shoots are well up. If you kept Poinsettias from last year you can try putting them in the dark now to get them coloured up and when watering keep them damp, but not too wet. Winter flowering Pansies, that are also about, will flower until the coldest weather comes and then they will have a little rest. As soon as it warms up a little they will burst into flower again. Polyanths and Primroses can be planted out now, as well, ready for Spring. There are some very nice pots of bulbs about which will make lovely Christmas presents. They are croc pots with a pattern round and contain compost, as well as the bulbs that need to be kept cool to prevent them from drying out or shooting. I have just put some in the garage on a shelf away from mice. Then, at the last minute, just before Christmas, gift-wrap them. Well
that’s all for now
Gardening
Article Week Ending October 2nd 2009
The gardens are looking bright with The later planting of Gladiola that I made are now showing colour, but I won’t cut the leaves off the early ones, that have finished flowering, as they will feed the corms for next year. It is said that the name came many years ago from some Galdiators, who found them growing wild by the road-side, and called them Gladiolus. They had very small flowers then, but have been improved over the years and hybridised to produce the beautiful colours and large flowers that we now have. The same thing has happened to most of our flowering plants with them being bred from wild specimens that originally did not look very special. This is especially true of things like Sweet Pea and Chrysanthemums to name but two. If you want winter colour there are
lots of Pansies in flower and on sale now, but if you want them to last
into next year only buy the Winter flowering or Universal types. It
should say on the labels what they are. I still have some Universal
Pansies in flower from last year. I have had mixed success with my vegetables this year and although the Tomatoes seem to be finishing early I think I have done better than most. Many people seem to have had trouble with blight and mildew, especially outside, because of the dull, wet weather. I put some Butternut Squash in, but the plants I gave a friend did much better than mine. The Squashes will keep if they are cut off the plants and stored in a cool but frost-free place. My son and I had some slices roasted round the meat today with Courgette sliced, but with the peel left on. I added a tiny sprinkle of spice and a spot of oil and they only took about 10 – 15 minutes in the oven. There are some pretty coloured
Heathers about now, but if you are tempted to buy them don’t be fooled
if the foliage comes green next year. This is because many of them have
been dyed as they grew this year to give them their colour.
Gardening
Tips Week Ending October 11th 2008 Hello Folks
Autumn is here with heavy dews at night and misty mornings, but
these have sometimes been followed by a few nice days. Now the leaves
are falling they should be cleared off lawns Rhubarb
can be lifted and divided any time now in preparation for the new growth
next year. You should discard the old centre pieces and keep the new
crowns. It doesn’t matter if the crowns gets frosted before replanting
as it won’t hurt them. Winter pansies are about now and will look even
lovelier next Spring if you inter mingle them with dwarf tulips or dwarf
daffodils when planting them. There are some very pretty coloured
Heathers about too, but beware as they have been artificially coloured
and they will keep their colour as long as they last, but after the
Winter if they survive, they will be the normal colour again next year. Cuttings
of Geraniums can still be taken before they go over, but none flowering
shoots are best if you can find any. Cuttings about 2 to 3 inches long
are ideal. You should strip off all the lower leaves and any very large
ones, then put several cuttings to a pot, and round the edge of a clay
pot is best as the clay will breathe, unlike plastic, which may make
them sweat. Some
crops have done well this year and some are very poor due to the wet.
For a few weeks the Raspberries cropped heavily, but suffered with mould
on the berries. Rowan trees seem to be covered with berries this year
and if you pick them they make lovely jelly with apples. I grew some
baby Sweet Corn putting three or four plants to a very large pot. It was
an experiment really, but they have done quite well. Experiment with
different things and try anything within reason, that’s what I say. Well
all for now. 8/10/
Gardening
Hints And Tips Hi
folks it's me again. I
am afraid summer is coming to an end and it is getting dark earlier, but
a colourful winter can still be had as there is a wide range of If
you saved Poinsettia plants from last year and they are growing well they
must be put in complete dark now or they will not colour up for Xmas.
Runner Beans will probably have finished now so cut them down to ground
level but do not dig the roots out as the nodules that grow on the roots
will put Nitrogen back in the soil as they rot. Late
fruiting raspberries are still ripening so do not cut them down till
February. Wallflowers are of course ready for planting now. If you don't
like planting each year there are some perennial ones that are a bit
more expensive as they are single plants in pots. After flowering cut
down fairly low then they will stay bushy. Check
on any Hyacinths that you have growing in the dark to see if they want a
little water. Don't bring them in the light until the flower bud is
about 2-3 inches tall or the flower will come out shorter than the
leaves. Cheerio
For Now Frances
Hartley.
Gardening
Tips October 12th
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Even though Autumn is upon us there are still lots of flowers about. Alan has been cutting armfuls of Chrysanthemums, both from the garden and allotment. They are well worth growing and will last a lot longer than many of the imported flowers. Our own Nurseries put a lot of hours into growing plants and flowers like Chrysanth’s for us with a lot of work done outside in all sorts of weather, but so many of us still buy imported flowers. We really ought to
use our own home-grown flowers. You can keep chrysanthemum plants from one year to the next by keeping them fairly dry in your cold greenhouse over Winter. Alternatively keep them outside in the ground with a piece of Horticultural Fleece pegged down over the top to stop the snow lying on them. They really don’t like to be too wet over winter, or indeed at any time.
hands with talcum Powder before washing with ordinary soap and water will remove it like magic. We do use Grease Bands and non toxic Slug Pellets in the Greenhouse, but otherwise don’t believe in using harmful sprays, or
chemicals and none are used in our garden at all. Instead we encourage the birds who do a pretty good job of keeping our plants clear of all aphids and slugs.
Today for pudding we had a fruit crumble made with some windfall apples that had had the bad bits all cut out of them, some frozen Strawberries that had been harvested from Alan’s allotment earlier and some wild Damsons picked by Alan at Oak Tree Farm yesterday. I had done my best to stone the Damsons and that meant that they had all been mashed about a bit, but that didn’t matter as you didn’t know when they were cooked. For our main course we had some little sausages from a part pack that was left, a part pack of left over bacon, a part tin of Sweet Corn, some split tomatoes from Alan’s greenhouse, half a large onion and a thick slice of squash, chopped up, that had come from Alan’s allotment, a little tomato puree and a few left over baked beans. They all went into a dish in the oven to make a lovely, tasty casserole. Some of the pieces of Squash cooked down to thicken the sauce and the Tomatoes floated on the top to make it look fancy. Nothing is ever wasted here. I also did some runner Beans and potatoes that also came from Alan’s allotments. How about that for a cheap and tasty meal?
growth before flowering again.
Farmers
say they have had the best apple crop for years, so we have no reason to
buy imported apples and for once we can buy English. It has been said
that the branches of apple and pear trees are so heavy that some can’t
carry the weight and even the Rowan trees are covered in so many berries
that the branches are bending under the weight of them! Our Fig tree
normally produces about 40 – 50 ripe fruits each year, but this year
we have picked over 160, ripe, fat, juicy, figs.
Although
we didn’t get an early frost in the middle of last month, some of the
leaves on the trees started to turn early with some Horse Chestnuts
amongst the first to change colour. It has been very wet at times and
they say that means we should get plenty of colour as the leaves dry out
and get ready to drop.
annuals
still flowering in the tubs and baskets, but I have some larger
flowering Rudbeckias in my borders that are also out now. They are
lovely for cutting as they last well in water and flower later in the
season. You never see them in the shops as cut flowers, which is a pity
as all our cut flowers seem to be imported and we have some good
nurseries which should be encouraged to grow flowers like this. Most of
the flowers of my Rudbeckias are about 5 inches across with bright
orangey/yellow outer petals and dark brown mahogany centres. As with
many flowering plants the more flowers you cut the more you get. If you
want to grow some Rudbeckias they are easy from seed, but be aware that
some are annuals and some of the garden centres sell hardy
herbaceous varieties that you will be able to over-winter.
and ground cover plants.
Leaves will make good compost, but take a lot longer than other plant
material to rot so are best put separately, over Winter, into a
polythene sack with holes in to allow excess water to escape. It is most
important to clear all the leaves and any other debris from pools and
ponds as well because this will rot over the winter, pollute the pond
and may kill the fish.
winter
flowering Pansies, prices do vary though. There are also some very
pretty little Violas. Miniature Cyclamen are often sold as outdoor
plants but they do need protection from cold winds and frost.
Hello folks
There
are plenty of Winter veg’ plants about now such as Cabbage, Sprouts,
Chinese Greens, and Winter Lettuce ready for planting to give you fresh
greens straight from the garden, or you could grow a few in large pots if
you only have a yard.