Editorial
It's 30˚C as I sit down to read this, I don't
know what that is old money, but it's only 7˚C off my body temperature and that
makes me very uncomfortable indeed. When I pull back the curtain though
that's keeping the sun out of the study I do like what I see, a very green
garden, apples hanging off the branches, purple plums readying themselves for
tomorrows harvesting sessions by the family and sons friends - we gave up
picking them and putting in baskets a couple of years ago, they now get eaten
off the tree, the best way. Most of all though everything is just so verdant and
lush, the intermittent rain of the last few weeks has come at just the right
sort of time so even the lawn is healthy and not a straw-coloured rough carpet
like it can sometimes become.
The only sign of impending autumn at the moment,
besides the fruit, is Vitis coignetiae, the Crimson Glory Vine where the leaves
are starting to turn yellow in between the veins.
We went to my brother-in-laws a couple of weeks
ago for a barbeque, we'd just recently returned from holiday somewhere
ridiculously hot and parched. As we sat under his tall trees in the shade and I
looked up at the shafts of sunlight shining through, each one with its own group
of midges dancing about, I thought it was almost the very essence of an English
summer. Those dancing (harmless) insects in the sunbeams in late afternoon are
one of my strongest summer memories from childhood, calming, hugely atmospheric
and yet some indication that even the very last of the sun's rays were being
used to benefit.
I'm currently really looking forwards to
September, it's the next best gardening month of the year after May.
It makes it all the more poignant that there are
people in and around New Orleans at the moment who are experiencing a very
different kind of nature to the kindly climate that we take for granted in
England. There are many subscribers to this website and newsletter who live in
the USA, please stay safe and take care.
Do you remember to enjoy your garden? In the
sitting and relaxing way I mean? A few weeks ago, I was sitting inside
reading when my wife suggested I go and sit out instead (in the Adirondack chair
and stool I'd made from teak planks for the purpose) as it was so lovely. Sure
enough, it was "so lovely" and I settled to read, then felt a drink would be
nice, on the wide chair arm, specifically designed for the purpose. Drink
acquired and a couple of pages were read, then I saw.... so one thing led to
another and 20 minutes later I received the admonishment "You just can't do it
can you?". I had secateurs in hand, trowel at my feet and a tub for clipping
with me, I was also at least 30 feet from the chair, so a last minute dash
wasn't going to be convincing.
Funny thing is though, I find it very easy to
relax in other peoples gardens, even though I can see dozens of little jobs that
would be beneficial, maybe it's because there's some-one with me and so my mind
doesn't wander. I've decided I just enjoy my own garden in a different way, and
my family enjoy it in a different way to me, so I reckon alls well that ends
well.
Garden Futures by Roger Noakes
All forecasts turn out wrong. Despite that here
are some thoughts on the future of gardens and gardening.
Science and technology: The lawn mower
was invented in the 1840s since when we have had electric and petrol driven
mowers, hover mowers and most recently robotic mowers. Pretty soon you will
be able to contact your computer house control system to instruct it to
activate the watering system, mower and open/close the greenhouse windows.
With genetically modified plants we might have blue roses and black tulips –
or slug killing Hostas.
Green and conservation: These
attitudes are being taken up by increasing numbers of people and this trend
will continue. So there will be more home composting, wider use of peat free
composts, reduced use of chemical fertilisers and insecticides more, greater
use of organic methods, perhaps more people growing their own fruit and veg.
An ageing population: People will be
looking for easy maintenance gardens and labour saving solutions. Demand for
garden maintenance services will increase. Garden product and service
suppliers will increasingly target the “grey” market.
Smaller gardens: We have a housing
shortage and the government has plans for large scale housing development
particularly in the south east. This probably means higher density housing
(i.e. smaller houses and gardens) so people will have to find ways of making
the best use of the space they have. There will probably be more housing
developments with communal gardens.
Life styles: Many people now have busy
lives and this is likely to continue. The number of single households and
single parent households is likely to continue. The demand will be for low
maintenance gardens and socialising gardens.
But what do I know?
Smaller
gardens - now that's a trend I've seen more and more of recently. There's
two new housing developments being built near to where I live (within about 5
miles) and both have houses and apartments going up to three storeys with the
largest gardens being small and many houses/flats having none at all. The one
that gets my vote for the worst ever is near to Hinchingbrooke Country Park on
the outskirts of Huntingdon, maybe the builders think that having a country park
on the doorstep is compensation for building Dickensian street scenes in the
countryside. The worst part of it all though that takes it to a next level is
the communal garages / parking spaces (no garden, many flats, no driveways)
where there are armies of wheelie bins lined up in serried ranks like an
Abominable Terracotta Army. Huntingdon likes wheelie bins - we've got three - 2
too many and I never use the green one as I'm a compost fanatic - if you have no
garden, you end up putting them where everyone else does and it looks horrible.
Rant over.
I've always said that this is a good time of
the year to look for garden bargains. The phenomenon seems to be increasing.
Unsold every-growing plants have always been a good bet, but recently I've been
spotting one and two-offs of lawnmowers, shredders, containers etc. at bargain
prices. I bought a new lawnmower this year for instance, it cost me £289 and
very pleased with it I am too (Honda
IZY) but I saw another model that was about £400, for about £200
instead last week. Old stock being cleared out for next year, and who buys a
lawn mower now? If yours in on its last legs, you'll be hoping it manages this
year and get a new one in the spring, but if you can bear the unseasonal
expense, it's a really great time for bargains. The down side? - like I said
just one and two-offs end of lines in the garden centres.
Jobs / Tips
Tidy the garden. This
helps to reduce the amount of hiding places and food that slugs and snails in particular
will have to tide them over the winter, which is good news for you next year. Don't
be too enthusiastic though, some plant seed heads can look good through the winter,
particularly of ornamental grasses.
If your plants have been affected by disease or
pest pay particular attention to tidy-up hygiene so as not to give them
(the diseases and pests) a head start
next year. Diseased leaves should be burnt or taken out of the garden and disposed
of, likewise fruit that is damaged by apple scab, plum sawfly or anything similar.
The pest or disease needs the host tree and they do what they can to make sure they
hang around it through the winter to feed on it again next year.
Just time to
prune any plum trees you have as soon as possible. The problem with plums
(and all the Prunus) is that you're supposed to prune them in the
summer, any other time means they're at risk from developing "silver leaf" a fungal
infection that can easily kill the whole tree. If you do prune in summer then you
lose the fruit on your pruned branches, not to mention what you would knock off
adjacent branches as the pruned wood fell. A good compromise is to prune immediately
the years crop has been picked, not quite high summer, but enough to keep the tree
reasonably safe.
Scour the retail outlets for summer plant bargains.
The end of the year is the best time for new plantings,
the soil is still warm and there's time for plants to get established before the
winter. At the same time drought and being baked by the sun is much less likely
so new introductions don't need the fussing over that they may do at other times
of the year. Come the spring they're all ready in place and ready to perform as
best they can with minimal intervention from you.
Shrubs
and perennials that have sat in nurseries and garden centres all summer have been
growing strongly in good conditions and are now large and vigorous. They pose a
problem for the retailer in that they will need potting on to ensure they remain
healthy, in the main, if the plants are not sold they will end up on the compost
heap or in the skip. So this becomes an extra special time of year to buy and plant
new introductions to the garden.
What
stops people doing it? - the thought that things are now going to wind down and
there won't be any reward seen until next spring from their efforts. Not a problem
for the real gardener though - go on fill those gaps before you start pulling the
purse strings tighter in time for Christmas.
Sow hardy annuals for early flowering next spring.
Calendulas, Larkspur, Nigella (love in a mist) Shirley
poppies and my favourite blue cornflowers all do well if sown in rows in a sheltered
position. Don't bother with the "broadcast" method of sowing as often advised for
hardy annuals, the additional individual attention of short rows drawn in the soil
with a stick, seed sown thinly and then covered properly and watered in is much
more successful. The rows don't need to be straight or aligned, as long as the seeds
aren't left so much to their own devices.
Plant spring flowering bulbs for next year.
Spring flowering
bulbs and shrubs Plant hyacinths in tall containers for the best results indoors
(not shallow bowls, the more the roots reach down, the more the flowers reach up
so it seems). Lily flowered tulips are extravagant, but fantastic and only very
rarely found as potted bulbs in the way that Hyacinths and Daffodils are.
Detach strawberry runners and plant them out in
well dug over and manured soil. You can get huge amounts
of free plants if you've grown any strawberries. If you're not ready to plant them
out, then place each little plantlet in a space of its own in a small pot or several
in a seed tray and they'll soon root and be ready to plant out later. It's also
a good way of getting extra plants to give away to friends and neighbours which
is always one of the nice things about gardening.
A good time to make a new lawn using seed or turf.
if you've put it off over the summer (or for even longer). The cooler but still
reasonable temperatures and more reliable rainfall at this time of year mean that
it is one of the best times to do this.
If you have any half hardy plants such as fuchsias
or Pelargoniums watch out for cold weather and frosts that may kill them off,
they need to over-winter in frost free conditions if they
are to survive the winter. It's a good idea to take cuttings in a protected place
as an insurance policy.
Sow
the seeds of any perennials or shrubs as soon as they're ripe.
If you collect your own seed
from existing plants, then sow them when nature intended them to be sown. They might
not always germinate straight away, so keep them somewhere sheltered from too much
rain and sun and they will do in time.
In
the 19th Century, Devon girls would go "crabbing for husbands". Crab apples,
gathered on 29th September (Michaelmas Day) would be arranged in the shape of the
prospective lover’s initials. Those best preserved on Old Michaelmas Day (10th October),
were thought to indicate the best prospects.
Still to do from last months list
Still time to sow seeds of winter flowering pansies and violas, under cover if at
all possible, in the space made by under cover crops coming to the end of their
season. Pansies and violas are among the easiest plants to grow from seed and if
started off now will be good strong plants by late autumn and so able to flower
throughout the winter period finishing off with a final flourish in the spring.
Strictly speaking they are perennials and can be kept going after the first season,
but they are never again as good as they were in the first year, so are best discarded
and replaced. One of the main reasons I grow from seed rather than buying them as
plants (as well as the satisfaction of growing from seed) is that you can get a
bed or group of all your favourite shades and colours.
A good time to take cuttings of shrubs, preferably with some protection. Cut
a piece of new stem about 6 inches long and remove all flower buds and all but the
end 3 or 4 leaves. Place several of these around the rim of a small plant pot filled
with a mixture of sand and compost. Water and place in a shaded place, don't allow
to dry out. Check the bottom of the pot after a month or so and pot up individual
cuttings when you see roots sticking through the drainage holes. It's worth trying
with almost anything, maybe I shouldn't say that but even when I read up how to
propagate a plant I usually try this method as well anyway as it's so simple and
will work with lots of plants in many cases.
