Hampshire Country Gardener October 2022

Gardeners cuttings in Hampshire

Pumpkin bonanza at Sunnyfields Farm

Saturday, October 1st sees the start of a month of pumpkin celebrations at Sunnyfields Farm in Totton where visitors can enjoy the huge display of pumpkins and take pictures. There will be thousands of pumpkins and squash to put into a wheelbarrow and then take home.

Tickets need to be bought in advance. Dogs on leads welcome.

Sunnyfields Farm, Jacobs Gutter Lane, Totton, Southampton SO40 9FX

…AND AT FORDINGBRIDGE

Pumpkin Picking Patch at Fordingbrige is open on several dates in October to allow visitors to enjoy pumpkins as a background to a trip out. There are ten acres of pumpkins being grown with 20 varieties. The patch is open on 8th, 9th, 15th, 16th, 21st and 22nd October 9.30am to 4pm. Salisbury Rd, Bickton, Fordingbridge SP6 2HA

The Garden Show is set to return to Broadlands

The three day weekend Garden Show will be held at The Broadlands Estate from Friday, 30th September until Sunday, 2nd October.

There will be more than 160 stands showcasing the latest specialist plants, garden and home accessories, art, design, sculpture, fashion, toys and foods and wines in the Country Food marquee.

Apart from the extensive selection of retail companies at the show, there are many other attractions. Expert advice daily from ‘The Environmentalists’, Jules and Lance, who apart from helping gardens thrive will be specifically providing the solution to any pruning

BACKDOORSHOES

READY FOR AUTUMN ACTION

Backdoorshoes have introduced more designs to their range of waterproof, lightweight garden clogs to include Bees, Green Camo and a Slate design.

Perfect footwear to slip on/off and nip outdoors to tend to the garden, walk the dog and even put out the bins! Prices start from £32.95 including free standard delivery. Sizes available from UK 3-14.

There are a range of flip flops featuring their unique prints to include Poppies, Meadow, Grass and Camo. However, as the weather is changing all the time there are a wide variety of Ultralight Wellies or Chelsea boots to choose from. Footwear for all weather.

Proud to be British designed. For the full range please visit www.backdoorshoes.co.uk or call 01202 232357

confusion plus holding a daily walk and talk on ‘The Hidden Life of Trees’.

On 30th September, Dr Ian Bedford, entomologist, will be running the ‘Pest Clinic’ and can identify any bug samples brought along and how to rid your garden of them and he will ready to discuss ‘Britain’s Nature Recovery Plan’.

The show welcomes Ben Cross, from Crosslands Nursery, who on, 2nd October, will be discussing the ‘British Cut Flower Industry’. The show runs from 10am to 5pm. Adults £10 (£8.50 pre booked): Concessions £8 (£6.80) prebooked: Children £4 (£3.40).

Growing your own veg can save £690 a year

A LOOK AT NEWS, EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS IN YOUR AREA

Gardening club events and meetings in Hampshire

September

28TH

Warsash Horticultural Society

‘THE ROSE’ - JOHN WOOD www.warsashhorticultural society.chessck.co.uk

October

3RD

Ferndown and District Horticultural Association

‘STOURHEAD TO STANPIT’

- RON TAYLOR

Details on 07790 089889

The Highcliffe & District Horticultural Society ‘ECHINACEA AND RUDBECKIA’ - MARTIN YOUNG

Details on 01425 274537

6TH

Romsey Organic Gardeners

‘AN OVERVIEW OF THE HILLIER GARDENS’ - DAVID JEWELL email johnv61@btinternet.com

11TH

Broadstone Horticultural Society

‘CALL MY BLUFF’- MORGAN ANTELL

Details on 01202 695873

Lymington Gardeners Club

‘SOME UNUSUAL PRENNIALS’ - BRYAN MADDERS

Details on 01590 672909

17TH

St Alban’s Garden Club

‘BOURNEMOUTH IN BLOOM’ - REV. CHRIS COLLEGE

19TH

Milford Gardeners’ Club ‘NATURE’S GARDEN’ - DAVID BOAG

Details on 01425 612287

26TH

Warsash Horticultural Society

’THE ROSE’ - JOHN WOOD www.warsashhorticultural society.chessck.co.uk

29TH

Downton Horticultural Society

YOU AND YOUR GARDEN IN CLIMATE CHANGE

Details on 01725 510656

‘Time Off’ set to return

If your gardening club or association is back in full swing after the restrictions of the past couple of years be sure to let Country Gardener know. Send your club meetings and details to timeoff@countrygardner.co.uk

New research which was carried out interviewing allotment holders in Hampshire and surrounding counties has found that growing your own vegetables could save you as much as £690 from your shopping bill. Eating homegrown produce including fruits, vegetables, and herbs is not only beneficial for the environment, but also for your health and even your finances. In fact, Admiral Home Insurance revealed that households can save as much as £150 per year on their shopping simply by growing beetroots and peas at home. While it may take time and patience, the financial advantages of planting and harvesting your own fresh produce are unbeatable and could claw back as much as £690 per year from your shopping list.

The cost of growing common fruits and vegetables has skyrocketed this year as a result of inflation and the war in Ukraine.

According to the British Retail Consortium, food producers have been forced to pass on the increased cost of fertiliser, wheat, and vegetable oils - large amounts of which are produced in Ukraine and Russia, in order to continue farming and producing items. While growing your own produce may seem like a long-winded solution to avoid rising costs, the financial returns are more than worth it if you’re working on a tight budget. Most of these money-saving vegetables don’t take long to grow either, with several seasonal varieties guaranteed to start paying off in as little as two weeks after planting them.

Gardener

www.countrygardener.co.uk

New investment in Borde Hill Gardens

RHS partner garden Borde Hill near Haywards Heath, has been awarded a £231,000 grant from the National Heritage Lottery Fund. The money will be used to develop its ‘Re-inventing Borde Hill’ project in the South Park. A new cycle and pedestrian route will create car free access to the garden direct from Haywards Heath train Station and an Eco Lodge will serve as a visitor and community hub with learning and wellbeing facilities.

Friday, 28th October

A FAMILY RUN NURSERY FOR THE EXPERIENCED AND NOVICE GARDENER

Large Selection of Perennials (Cottage Garden Plants),Trees, Shrubs, Herbs, Alpines and Vegetable Plants. Plus large selection of Ornamental Trees, Fruit Trees and Climbers.

Good range of OUTDOOR POTS - all frost proof

GREAT OFFERS ON COMPOST (all compost we supply we use ourselves, so we can recommend it)

DAHLIAS

Now taking orders for young dahlia plants for spring 2023 delivery

“Picked up a copy of your Septemberissue yesterday. I have to say that it waseasily the best free magazine of its typeI have ever read. Congratulations on sucha great publication.”

Large traditional family-run nursery Wide selection of trees, shrubs, perennials & fruit bushes 4-acre woodland garden & Tea Rooms Many unusual plants

Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-5pm Sun & Bank Holidays 10am-5pm MACPENNY’S NURSERIES BRANSGORE Burley Rd, Bransgore, Nr Christchurch BH23 8DB Tel: 01425 672348 www.macpennys.co.uk

If you would like to

Hampshire

please contact ava@countrygardener.co.uk Tel: 01278 786139

“I had the opportunity of reading it from cover to cover. It’s a real gem and I look forward to every issue. Thanks to all your team for their input and what must be one of the best magazines around.”

Lane,

Christchurch Garden Centre,

01425

Broomhill Garden Centre, God’s

Tel: 01202

Abbey Garden Centre, Mill Lane, Titchfield, Fareham, PO15

Tel: 01329 842225

AUTUMN DAYS OUT in Hampshire

GIVEN SOME DRY AND WARM WEATHER, EARLY OCTOBER PRESENTS ITSELF WITH SOME WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITIES FOR NATIONAL TRUST DAYS OUT THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY. HERE ARE OUR SUGGESTIONS:

1. AUTUMN COLOUR WALKS

This is number one .Seeing our woods turn a kaleidoscope of yellows, bronze and burnt orange is a beautiful gift of nature before winter draws in. Two of the best places to see autumn colour in Hampshire are:

HINTON AMPNER (nr Alresford) - the four-mile waymarked Dutton Estate Walk starts just beyond the gardens and takes you across farmland and country lanes into towering beech woods. Here you can stroll along wide rides under a ‘roof’ of copper and yellow foliage. There are fine views too over this 1,600 acre estate, and if you take a detour into the parkland on the way back you can walk beneath the buttery canopies of ancient chestnuts and oaks (some over 500 years old), interspersed by the rich red and purple of Norway maple trees.

MOTTISFONT (nr Romsey) – although you’re starting this six-mile walk at Spearywell car park a few minutes’ drive from the gardens, the route takes you close to the grounds on the way back, so you can pop in for refreshments if you want to. The walk takes in part of the Test Way and showcases some of the best of Hampshire countryside – you’ll cross historic farmland where hedges replanted for wildlife are full of birds in autumn, and wetland meadows. Paths wind through old woodlands too - of chestnut, oak and beech in full autumn colour, and areas of hazel coppice that are actively managed to create habitats for animals including dormice.

3. LEAF SWISHING

This is entirely different to autumn colour. Autumn colour is visual, something to notice while you’re doing something else, like going for a walk. Leaf swishing on the other hand, is a truly immersive activity. You need to commit, body and soul. Whether it’s the high-kick to watch the leaves tumble, or the flat-footed swish-swish to enjoy the rhythmic crackle and whoosh of the dry leaves, there are no half measures.

The best places for leaf swishing are: The BEECH WOODS at SELBORNE COMMON, which can be accessed via the zig-zag path leading up from the high street (an easier climb than it looks). Good for crunchy leaf wading.

THE VYNE’S ANCIENT WOODLAND, just a few minutes’ walk from the gardens. Mature beeches, oaks, sweet and horse chestnuts mingle with smaller lime, cherry and whitebeam to produce a leafy carpet of multiple colours.

BROOM WOOD at HINTON AMPNER – the last section of woodland on the four mile estate trail, and filled with towering beech trees which create a thick leaf fall.

4. TRY SOMETHING NEW

WINCHESTER CITY MILL - Willow frame basket workshop, 17 October, 10am - 4.30pm, £75 per person, book at https://fieldfarmproject.com/project/nt-willow-frame-baskets-workshop/ Making simple and rustic baskets are a great way to start your weaving journey. Using a mix of different coloured willows and hazel for the structure you’ll make your own durable basket suitable for all sorts of uses, from collecting cut flowers and garden produce, to general shopping.

5. CONKERS

Autumn walks can be both beautiful, atmospheric and memorable

2. HARVEST

The wheat and barley have been gathered in and the blackberries have been early this year but there’s plenty more harvest in our walled gardens and orchards to enjoy.

HINTON AMPNER – in this pretty walled garden from mid-October you’ll find beautiful pumpkin displays, overseen by a resident scarecrow and his little dog. Look out for giant onions, blushing apples, and vibrant companion planting. The front door of the house is decorated with a beautiful harvest-style wreath of dried botanicals and fresh long-lasting flowers including dahlias and hydrangeas. Note: house closed until 26 November

Apple days (29 & 30 October): hosted by SPARSHOLT AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, this is an opportunity to find out more about heritage apple varieties, with tastings and growing advice.

THE VYNE (nr Basingstoke) – from the walled garden you can stroll up to the house through an orchard full of heritage fruit varieties – a traditional mix of apple, pear, and plum cultivars with some fabulous names such as apples Beauty of Hampshire, Frogmore Prolific and Catshead. If you’re lucky, you’ll find fruit available to take home too (for a small donation).

Conkers deserve a category of their own. There’s something very satisfying about popping a perfect shiny brown conker from its fleshy casing. They’re so wonderfully collectible, and great for that muchloved traditional autumn game of course. You could try propagating a new tree too!

If you’re an inveterate conkercollector, you’ll find horse chestnut trees at:

MOTTISFONT – stately horse chestnuts can be found following the main path through the gardens from the car park.

HINTON AMPNER – there’s a big tree on the south lawn close to the house, renowned good conker crops.

THE VYNE – you should find your treasure from the moment you get to the woods –easy to access along broad paths from the garden.

AN ELM TREE OF LEGENDS

Mark Hinsley finds that an impulse purchase made in a bric-a brac shop leads to the unveiling of the history of an ancient elm tree

When you find a thread and give it a pull you never know where it will lead.

Whilst browsing around an antiques and bric-a-brac emporium on the Isle of Wight, I came across an etching of a great elm tree. I knew nothing about it, but it was such a striking picture and so reasonably priced I bought it on a whim.

On my return home I set to finding out a bit more about my impulse purchase. The internet confirmed the engraving was by a Jacob George Strutt.

Jacob George Strutt compiled his book Sylva Britannica, or Portraits of Forest Trees, Distinguished for their Antiquity, Magnitude, or Beauty (London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1830) between 1822 and 1830.

The book contains etchings and descriptions of magnificent trees in the British landscape all visited and recorded by the author.

Many of the plates in the book were also available as stand-

alone etchings and my picture of the elm in Crawley, Sussex was one of them.

Looking for further information regarding the elm, I happened upon the following entry in The King’s England, Sussex by Arthur Mee first printed in 1937, “The ancient elm appears to be coming to life again after its 600 years”.

I then found an absolute gem of a book called The Tree 103 High Street, Crawley, West Sussex written by Nâdine Hygate and published in 2017 by Formara Ltd., Southend-on-Sea and on sale online from Crawley Town Museum.

My first thought was that The Tree must be about the tree. However, it turns out that ‘The Tree’ became the name by which a house built alongside the Great Elm became known, evolving from Elm Tree Cottage before it became 103 High Street, Crawley and part of Crawley Town Museum. Whilst the tree is gone, the house remains.

The Crawley Elm tree has some literary connections: in the novel Rodney Stone about, in part, bare knuckle fighting published 1896, Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle makes the following reference: The night before they had lain with their wheels interlocking and their shafts under each other's bodies, as thick as they could fit, from the old church to the Crawley Elm, spanning the road five-deep for a good half-mile in length.

On the wall of 103 High Street Crawley is a blue plaque announcing that John Leech, a cartoonist for Punch Magazine who later was the illustrator for the publication of Charles Dickins A Christmas Carol, lived in the house under the tree.

Nâdine Hygate reports that villagers used to gather under the tree to hold their ‘parliaments’ – a risk under an elm, the species being notorious for dropping branches unexpectedly. A trait which generated the sinister rhyme:

'The elm man hateth

And waiteth.'

Nâdine Hygate records that the tree was measured in 1880 and had a girth of 57ft with its hollow interior being 12ft in diameter. She further reports that a brick floor was put in and a bench installed around the interior which could seat 12 persons and was used by elderly residents for convivial gatherings.

Given the chances of the elm shedding a limb, it was safer to sit inside the tree than outside it!

In September 1883, a Great Storm caused the elm to break off at 10 ft, which perhaps explains why E. V. Lucas in Highways and Byways of Sussex published in 1928 makes no mention of it.

Yet this remnant survived and recovered to be seen by the researcher for Arthur Mee in 1937 and was apparently still around as late as the 1950s.

All I did was buy a picture!

Mark Hinsley runs Arboricultural Consultants Ltd which offers a wide range of tree consultancy services. www.treeadvice.info

The engraving by Jacob George Strutt

Container class

Dramatic, colourful, easy to grow and available year after year tulips in containers are a wonderful option for gardens big and small

Once treated as a form of currency and coveted like precious stones, tulips are amongst the most magnificent, colourful and rewarding bulbs gardeners have at their disposal.

There are 15 different groups, divided according to flowering time or flower form, available in a rainbow of colours with a multitude of petal shapes and sizes. They lend themselves particularly to providing drama and interest for any early summer container.

In fact, container planting for tulips is hugely popular and not just with those with smaller gardens. The ability to pot them up and link together the contains can provide a thrilling natural display.

Successful potting

For pots use well-draining compost (tulips hate sitting in wet soggy conditions), and being generous with the amounts of bulbs you use.

Fill your pots two thirds full with compost, and lay the bulbs point up cheek by jowl. If you are putting a mix of tulips in, mix them up in a bucket first, and then put them in the pot, the effect is more random and natural-looking.

If you are using other flowering bulbs, layer them according to their bulb size, largest first in, then up to the top of the space in the pot with the smallest ones –for example Muscari can be put in last, and just poked in below the surface of the finished pot. Top dress your containers with gravel, this helps with the drainage and provides a layer of protection before they emerge.

Tulip ‘Queen of Marvel’, a double early, with cherry-pink scented blooms, teamed with the sugar pink of Triumph tulip ‘Mistress’ and the slightly later-flowering Darwin Hybrid tulip ‘Ollioules’, is a great three-bulb combination. This will give you beautiful flowering covering many weeks.

Tulips make good bedfellows for other early flowering bulbs to provide a visual impact. Tulip ‘Exotic Emperor’, a Fosteriana white-tinged green tulip, flowers from early April onwards, and heralds from the mountainous regions of Uzbekistan. Teamed with the snowy white hyacinth ‘Carnegie’, they smell and look great. To finish off the display, try putting the coloured stems of Cornus or willow into the pot (pictured below) to provide height and interest through the winter, only removing them as the bulbs emerge.

The fringe tulip ‘Valery Gergiev’, a gorgeous primary red with tasselled petals, provides a statement planting in a container alone, but teamed with Muscari aucheri ‘Dark Eyes’, it is a bold doorstep combination.

Tulips Q&A

Q. DO TULIPS DO WELL IN POTS?

A. Tulips grow very well in pots. Half fill the container with peat-free, multipurpose compost and plant the bulbs at three times their depth, with a few centimetres between each one. Top up with compost.

Q. CAN YOU LEAVE BULBS IN POTS ALL YEAR ROUND?

A. You may keep the bulbs in pots after flowering, but it is a good idea to introduce some new soil with all its nutrients and fertilize again. You may also remove the bulbs, let them air dry, and put them in a paper bag in a location with the proper chilling requirements until you are ready to force them again.

Q. WHAT DO YOU DO WITH TULIPS IN POTS AFTER FLOWERING?

A. After flowering, remove the bulbs and plant into the ground before the summer. Leave the foliage intact, but remove any dead flowers so the tulip doesn't waste energy trying to make seed

Q. HOW MANY YEARS DO TULIPS COME BACK?

A. Tulips are naturally perennials coming back year-after-year. However, in some circumstances when they do return they are smaller and don't blossom as well in their second or third years. This happens sometimes when they are grown outside their natural climate.

Q. DO TULIPS BULBS MULTIPLY?

A. Species tulips not only return year after year, but they multiply and form clumps that grow bigger each year, a process called naturalizing. That process happens when bulblets formed by the mother bulb get big enough and split off to produce their own flowers,

Q. HOW MANY TULIPS WILL ONE BULB PRODUCE?

A. Usually just one. Some species may have more than one flower bud in the bulb, or over time multiple, or side bulbs may form, but usually with tulips, one flower per bulb.

Q. CAN YOU PLANT TWO TULIP BULBS TOGETHER?

A. It is best not to overcrowd tulips when planting their bulbs, so you should not put more than one bulb in each hole you dig. According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, it is best to space the bulbs between 4 and 6 inches apart, so it is essential to pick an area with plenty of room.

Q. IS FEBRUARY TOO LATE TO PLANT TULIP BULBS?

A. As long as the ground is workable, you can plant bulbs! This means that you can plant bulbs as late as January – if you can dig a hole deep enough to plant. Plant tulips and daffodils as late as the end of January! This way, they'll develop roots through the spring, and bloom later than usual.

One swallow may make a summer

Diana Redfern is concerned that the number of swallows sharing our summers with us is on the decline

It seems so sad that the number of swallows that migrate to us in summer is declining so drastically.

Flies of all kinds, beetles, moths and aphids are just a few of the enormous variety of flying insects that a swallow is catching as it skims, turns and dives with breathtaking agility over pastures, hedges and mature trees.

All the better if there are sheep, cattle or horses grazing. They attract even more insects.

An

1,000 visits needed over 21 days

The swallow whilst in flight, can somehow tightly pack a mixture of insects held together with saliva. Such a bolus would typically include 11 large and up to 40 smaller items which are fed to the young. A pair of swallows is likely to make between ten and 25 visits to the nest every 30 minutes, depending on the time of day, availability of insects and needs of the young. Bringing up three youngsters from hatching to fledging needs approximately 1,000 visits to the nest over 21 days.

Exhausting work.

An awful lot of insects are needed. However evidence shows without question that insect numbers are decliningperhaps because of the intensification of farming with more monocultures and fewer ponds, orchards and meadows plus the routine use of pesticides. New housing takes up former farmland. Each leads inevitably to the loss of habitats and food sources for many, including the swallow family.

Swallows seem doubly threatened. Their traditional association with humans means that swallows have a particular liking for buildings – barns, porches and stables in which there are ledges or solid rafters on which they can secure their nests. These are made of individual pellets of mud cemented together with grasses into a beautifully symmetrical cup shape. Such a nest takes about ten days to construct and another day to line with feathers. Once built it is likely to remain as a permanent home for future generations of that family, unless, of course, it is removed. It is astonishing that nests are destroyed because of the mess created over the breeding season.

The modern trend for barn conversions means eviction for many swallows. How shocking that after a huge migratory journey (6,000 miles approximately) back home, the swallow finds no home. Added to this is our penchant for tidiness, and security, meaning that once open garages, roof spaces lofts and barns are now sealed against all intruders including swallows, swifts and bats.

Throughout the UK swallow nests are legally protected if they have eggs or young but nests not being used are not. However, swallows always return to the same nest so this does not help the swallow.The state of the insect is equally hard to address without changes in the type of grasses sown and with the return of more sheep and cattle grazing out of doors. The increase of horse keeping and provision of stables seems a positive step for the entire swallow family.

Gardeners can play a huge part too. Creating a variety of habitats will encourage biodiversity including an increase in insect species, whilst cutting a swallow-sized hole in a shed/garage door will give access to a bird but not to an intruder (not even a cat or squirrel).

Swallows are birds evocative of summer days. It would be terrible to take them so much for granted that we miss the stresses from which they may well already be suffering.

My turn!

Friends of mine love their swallows so much that they hang umbrellas beneath each nest to catch baby birds that fall out and then they can be returned to the nest!

Let’s look forward to the return of more swallows in years to come and perhaps we can do our bit by encouraging insects and providing and keeping traditional nest sites.

...and why perhaps they are arriving late

There are two reasons for the lateness of the swallows in recent years. Unlike many other migrants, which fatten themselves up before they depart, these species feed as they travel, replenishing lost energy by catching flying insects. For that reason, they are especially vulnerable to bad weather en route. And the weather in southern Europe this spring – notably in southern Spain, which these birds cross after leaving Africa –was very unsettled, with heavy rainfall, strong winds and even falls of snow across parts of Andalucía.

The second reason is that in Britain, although the weather has been mainly dry, there have been persistent easterly and north-easterly winds, which slow down the birds’ progress as they head north.

How might this affect these global travellers in the longer term? Songbird migrants usually live for only one or two years, so they need to get down to raising a family as soon as they return. This means that delays of even a week or two can lower their chances of breeding successfully.

Swallows, which usually start nesting in early April, may only be able to raise a single brood rather than two (or even three).

Since Aristotle noted that ‘one swallow does not a summer make’ – a sentiment echoed by Shakespeare and many others – millions have celebrated their annual return as the true sign of spring. There is an increasing fear the numbers may continue to decline.

It’s time to plant

YOU CAN PLANT PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING IN THE AUTUMN. IT’S THE BEST TIME OF YEAR FOR PLANTING AS THE SOIL IS WARM AND WET

If you are never certain about the best time to plant trees there’s a clear answer.

It’s right now, in the often-beautiful days of autumn when there’s a distinct nip in the air.

Plants are dormant, and weather and soil conditions are at their best to give your trees or shrubs the time they need to establish without stressing out.

There are some obvious (and some less obvious) reasons for this. The autumn sees lower temperatures which means there is less loss of water from foliage and so less call from water from the roots. Falling temperatures mean that the enzymes that drive biochemical reactions slow right down. The combination of this with shorter days mean that trees refocus their energy into their roots rather than their leaves. Since you want your trees to establish from their roots up, all this works in your favour and makes autumn a great time to plant or indeed to move or transplant.

Secondly, there is still some warmth in the soil. Tree roots continue to grow a little during dormancy and especially so when the soil retains a little warmth, as in autumn. The consequent root growth means that in spring a tree’s progress is more advanced because it is better placed to take up water and nutrients.

Thirdly, autumn is often wet, with less need for watering once you have planted.

This all applies to pot grown, rootballed and evergreen trees which should ideally be planted in October and into November. It makes less of a difference to deciduous trees but they do also benefit from early planting although for them that means November as a general rule. It is important to wait until the tree has drawn down all of the nutrients it can from its leaves. It is the transfer of nutrient to the root that is important here, not the shedding of leaves. Some trees, such as beech for example, hold their leaves for months after they have dried and become (nutritionally) useless.

Bare root trees ready for your garden at Perrie Hale Nursery

Autumn and winter are the optimal months for planting trees and hedges. Many species of trees can be planted bare-root, most of

COIR SOLVES SO MANY PEAT FREE PLANTING PROBLEMS

CoirProducts.co.uk of Salike Limited offers an exciting range of products for gardeners and growers that are natural, biodegradable, and peat-free. They are ethically produced and sourced, with minimal harm on the environment.

Coir products are ideal for planting a variety bulbs and perennials. CoirProducts coir potting mix is easy to use and comes in a variety of sizes of blocks, bricks, and discs.

If growing perennials in containers, CoirProducts coir pots are a perfect alternative to plastics. Roots can grow through the coir pot as plants grow bigger and the pots can be easily repositioned with no transplanting shock when repotting. CoirProducts mulch mats help block sunlight and stop unwanted weeds from growing and destroying your plants, while CoirProducts grow poles are a useful support for plants that grow vertically. Coir also retains water and moisture well, benefitting plant growth.

Visit their website www.coirproducts.co.uk for further details or shop online.

BARTHELEMY & CO - THE JAPANESE MAPLES SPECIALISTS

Barthelemy & Co near Wimborne in Dorset was established by a French nurseryman almost a century ago and the Skinner family now specialise in propagating and growing Acer palmatum – or Japanese maples as they’re known.

the natives such as hawthorn, dog rose, field maple, oak, poplars and willow and some more ornamental varieties such as flowering cherries, rowan and crab apple.

Throughout spring, summer and autumn the delicate foliage of the acer presents exquisite shadings of Mother Nature’s gold, pink, purple, green, yellow, orange and red. Acers are a delightful addition to anyone’s garden, giving an aura of peace and tranquillity. The ten acre nursery at Stapehill has a huge collection of Japanese maples to choose from and expert staff are on hand to help select the right variety and to offer advice about caring for the trees in future. Over 100,000 acers are produced at Barthelemy and Co every year approximately 15,000 - 20,000 of them are grafted named palmatum varieties, as one of the largest specialist growers of their kind.

Pot grown ornamental trees will do best planted in autumn along with pot grown fruit trees. Bareroot fruit trees can be planted from December/ January. Perrie Hale have a wide range of apples, pears, plums and apricots and more unusual varieties such as quince and medlar.

Perrie Hale Nursery is primarily a wholesale nursery which also sells to the public. The nursery welcomes visitors but bear in mind it is a working nursery and there may be tractors moving about and you might need to bring your wellies!

You can download a catalogue or look at what is available on their website www.perriehale.co.uk or email faye@perriehale.co.uk

Empathy can kick start your spring bulbs with healthy root growth

To get your spring bulbs off to the best start possible use Empathy Bulb Starter at planting time. Bulb starter contains vermiculite to improve drainage and reduce the risk of your bulbs rotting off. Use Rootgrow mycorrhizal fungi to colonise your bulbs and add a secondary fungal root system, and seaweed meal which helps to increase root growth and enhances the growth of the mycorrhizal fungi. Bulbs are particularly dependent on mycorrhizal fungi which is why snowdrops establish better ‘in the Green’ rather than as dried bulbs as they have these beneficial fungi on the roots.

www.rootgrow.co.uk

Barthelemy & Co, 262 Wimborne Road West, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 2DZ Tel: 01202 874283 www.barthelemymaples.co.uk

LET ADAM’S APPLES SOLVE YOUR FRUIT TREE NEEDS

Now is the time to think about ordering your bare root fruit trees.

Adam’s Apples nursery in East Devon grows the largest range of fruit trees in the west country.

This includes over 200 apple varieties, plums, gage, pears, cherries, damson, quince and medlar, all on a range of root stocks. They also sell bare rooted soft fruit plants.

Adam’s Apples are passionate and award-winning cider makers too, and grow and sell some of the best traditional cider apple trees from Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Herefordshire.

All the trees and bushes are sold bare rooted, available from late autumn through to spring.

Bare rooted trees are cheaper to purchase and easier to transport than potted trees and are the quickest way for trees to establish and thrive.

They are always happy to offer advice and recommendations for your garden, small holding, farm or community orchard and can deliver trees throughout the UK

Adam’s Apples Nursery, Dulford, Cullompton EX15 2GA

Tel: 07521 648502 sales@adamsappletrees.co.uk www.adamsappletrees.co.uk

Bare root trees ready to plant in early autumn

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cient solution transforms your conservatory into a comfortable year round living space. Exclusive to Conservatory Insulations, the UK market leader, this Conservaheat layered foil quilt system comprises technology developed by NASA for the Space Shuttle programme

The outer foil of our quilt incorporates a unique True Aluminium Foil, speci

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cient solution transforms your conservatory into a comfortable year round living space. Exclusive to Conservatory Insulations, the UK market leader, this Conservaheat layered foil quilt system comprises technology developed by NASA for the Space Shuttle programme

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cally designed for conservatories. The bene

ective solution which insulates your conservatory for a fraction of the cost of a new tiled roof

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cally designed for conservatories. The bene

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t for you is it helps maximise heat retention Suitable for all roof styles, it is a cost-e

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Harvest time and storing fruit and veg

A. You can still get the tomatoes to ripen indoors. Contrary to what we might think, green tomatoes do not need sunlight to ripen. It is better to keep them in a dark place with little light. Placing a ripe banana or apple in with some green tomatoes in an enclosed space helps to speed up the ripening process. Don’t be tempted to wash them before getting them to ripen – this can encourage mould to develop. You should, of course, wash them before eating, though. You can dice and cook them to make chutney.

Q. WHICH CROPS WILL STORE FOR LONGEST?

A. Unless the ground is needed for other crops, most root vegetables on well-drained soil can be left in the soil over winter. However, this does leave them vulnerable to cold damage and is not recommended on wet soils.

Pumpkins and squash, all root vegetables including potatoes and carrots , apples and pears will all store for long periods.

Leafy crops have a much higher water content and are therefore not good to keep. Carrots for example can be left in the ground until needed. To make digging up easier, cover the ground with a 15cm layer of straw, cardboard or bracken held down with netting or horticultural fleece. These will keep until March if necessary.

Q. WHICH FOODS SPOIL THE QUICKEST

A. There’s a significant list of vegetables which you will have to take fairly quick action on. Green beans, kale and the like will not keep, tomatoes and all berries will need to be frozen for later.

Q. HOW LONG WILL MY GLUT OF POTATOES KEEP FOR?

A. Potatoes and sweet potatoes will keep for weeks at room temperature, but in a cool, dark, dry, and ventilated space, they’ll last far longer—a month or so for sweet potatoes and up to three months for white potatoes. Store potatoes unpeeled and loose. They need airflow to prevent the accumulation of moisture, which can lead to spoilage. The best way to allow free circulation of air is to store them in an open bowl or paper bag. Do not store them in a sealed container without ventilation.

Q. I HAVE TRIED FOR SEVERAL YEARS TO STORE APPLES THROUGHOUT THE WINTER BUT I ALWAYS SEEM TO LOSE AT LEAST 50 PER-CENT OF THEM.

A. This isn’t a job to be rushed, Apples can be stored in the fridge for a week but if you are looking to store them over the winter wrap each one in a single sheet of newspaper and place them in single layers on a tray, preferably with the stem on. Check the apples periodically and remove any that are spoiling. Use the large ones first because they tend to get soft before the smaller ones. Apples continue to ripen in storage, so place each variety on its own tray because they ripen at different rates.

Q. HOW CAN I PREVENT A GLUT OF VEGETABLES?

A. If you have more vegetables than you need from your garden then you need to gear up for a proper storing strategy. Storing for later is sensible and economic.

Many fruit and vegetable crops can be preserved in a range of different ways.

It’s really satisfying to see your shed, cupboards and freezer stocked up with home-grown produce, and it will also save you money, helping to feed the family through the leaner, colder months.

It’s important to pick all fruit and vegetables in their prime and discard any that are damaged in any way. Chill perishable crops, such as berries and stone fruits, if you can’t process them straight away.

Several root veg and top fruits can be stored in a cool, well-ventilated spot, such as a shed or garage. Don’t store root crops in a very dry place, or they will shrivel. Use within six months.

Dry potatoes in the sun to harden the skins, then store them in hessian sacks in a dark place. Regularly check for signs of rot.

Wrap unbruised apples in newspaper and store them in boxes in the shed.

Currants and raspberries: open-freeze currants on their stems and berries on trays before bagging.

Q. I HAVE A GLUT OF BEETROOT THIS SUMMER AND I’D LIKE TO BE ABLE TO STORE IT.

A. Beetroot will keep in the refrigerator for between one to three months. If there is no room in the refrigerator, they can also be packed in a container—a bucket or plastic storage box or cooler–in moist sand, moss or sawdust.

Remember you can freeze beetroot for up to 12 months. You can freeze it both raw (but blanched) and fully cooked, depending on how you plan to use it .

Q. HOW DO YOU STORE PEARS LONG TERM?

A. Simply place the whole pears in a perforated plastic bag or a paper bag and put them in your refrigerator’s cooler drawer. They will last up to two months in cold storage, while unripe summer pears may last up to a week in the fridge. Two varieties of pear, ‘Conference’ and ‘Doyenne du Comice’, just happen to be the best for storing. They need to be picked hard, green and under ripe. Do not wrap the fruit, but lay them out in dimple cardboard trays, so they are easy to inspect. Since pears can deteriorate very quickly, it is essential that you regularly check them and remove any that are showing signs of deterioration. A few days before you want to eat the pears, bring them into a warm room indoors and place them on the fruit bowl to ripen.

Pears stored in ideal conditions should last for up to four months.

AUTUMN OFTEN BRINGS WITH IT A GLUT OF CERTAIN FRUITS AND RAISES THE PROBLEMS OF HOW TO STORE FRUIT AND VEG. HERE ARE SOME OF THE MOST COMMON QUERIES.

Q. I STILL HAVE LOTS OF TOMATOES WHICH I DON’T THINK WILL RIPEN NOW. WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?

Celebrating great tasting apples

Devon apple expert Simon Cadd shares his 30 years growing experience by putting taste at the top of the list as he urges us all to grow more apples in our gardens

I am always being asked what apple tree gardeners should opt for. We all know the choice is bewildering with thousands of varieties in front of us.

I encourage everyone to grow more apple trees and this autumn is no different.

Which one depends on if you want to support local varieties, what sort of apple you want but most important what taste do you prefer.

Planting a new apple tree is a long-term investment. It will take at least two years before your new tree produces fruit and up to ten years to reach full size. So, I urge anyone thinking of adding a new apple tree to spend some time choosing the right variety for your needs and circumstances.

There is a quick list to check.

• What will be the taste of the apple you are planning. Don’t grow apples you will not enjoy.

• Do you have the pollination right to allow the fruit to set.

• How big will the tree be when it reaches maturity.

Some of the best flavoured apples are notoriously difficult to grow for beginners. I am thinking of Cox’s Orange Pippin! Widely regarded as one of the finest tasting apples, it is very susceptible to scab and canker, giving poor results.

This can be frustrating if it is your first foray into growing your own.

Another factor to think about is harvesting time.

Different varieties ripen at various times: some early varieties are ready in late August and some lates into early November. This is of special importance in school orchards where varieties need to be selected that will be ready for picking in school term time.

We often see school orchards that are at their peak during the summer holidays and fruit must be cleared away by grumbling caretakers, never reaching the children’s hands or mouths.

You also need to consider use and keeping time. Some apples don’t develop their taste fully for a couple of

months after they have been picked so are more suitable for storage, while others need to be eaten straight away.

There are thousands of known apple varieties, how do you narrow it down to such a condensed list? Because taking into account the above qualities discounts the huge majority of them! It’s no use having a ‘perfect’ growing variety that never gets disease and gives you tons of fruit every year but tastes like chewing on a lump of plywood thus you never use most of them… and on the reverse side of the coin it might sound great to have some long-forgotten timeless treasure with a to-die-for flavour but which only gives you three scab-ridden apples every now and again, when it feels like it!

Combining all those virtues may be almost impossible to find in any variety and of course many cultivars will

continue to be cultivated on specific merits. But the ten I’m about to give you go as far as it’s possible in attaining the title ‘perfect garden apple’.

Flavour is usually the most important consideration for most gardeners. Organised autumn ‘apple tasting’ events are a useful way to determine favourites.

Unfortunately imported cultivars sold in supermarkets are from warmer countries, and have a different flavour when grown in Britain, even if they grow well, which is often not the case.

The majority of fruit cultivars are developed by crossing two known parents and this allows the offspring to inherit certain flavour characteristics. If you know the parentage, you can get an idea of the flavour.

Types of apples - basic principles

If you are planning your own orchard, or just a few trees in the garden, you need to decide what to plant.

The most reliable trees from the cropping point of view are apples. Secondly, which apple variety suits you best? You may want a variety. You may not want the apples to ripen at the same time. The choice all comes down to a few elementary principles.

1. All apples, picked when mature, will become sweet. Some are by nature sweet when it is harvest time. Others have a degree of sharpness at harvest time and will retain their sharpness longer. Therefore if you plant more than one tree, it is best to choose different varieties. In that way your fruit will not all ripen at the same time. At harvest time, all apples are crisp. However the late maturing apples keep their crispness the longest.

2. All apples will cook. However some apples are better suited than others. The same applies to baking and apples used for slicing. Some apples will retain their shape when baked, others go to mush.

3. The best apples for keeping are the late maturing apples, picked in October, some even in November, particularly the smaller sized apples. However, always keep them in a dark place, which should be the coolest possible.

Growing for success

• Go for natural disease resistant varieties where possible.

• Plant two apple trees from the same pollination group to improve cropping or grow self fertile varieties.

• Thin the fruitlets in July leaving the healthiest apples on the branches - you’ll get fewer fruits but they’ll be top quality.

• Keep an area of soil free from weeds to boost growth and reduce competition.

• Feed trees every spring with slow-release fertiliser.

1. ‘Chivers Delight’

This is a late flowerer and cropper referred to as a ‘Cox Plus’.

It has as much flavour (if not more) than ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’ and better acidity, which it keeps in storage. Cox famously go woolly quickly in storage, whereas the flesh of ‘Chivers Delight’ remains firm and nutty. This fell out of commercial favour because of its colour irregularity. If the sun is on it, the fruit goes red, but it will not colour up on the shady side. This does not affect the flavour but makes them difficult to sell.

2. ‘Spartan’

Nothing has the same richness of colour as ‘Spartan’, a lovely deep plum red, with almost bright white, contrasting flesh. It’s a beautiful apple, which stays late on the tree and makes a fabulous eater with very juicy fruit. It’s a good storer, is widely available late in the year.

3. ‘Blenheim Orange’

A fabulously aromatic, peppery, almost spicy apple with a softer nuttiness than you get with the similar-flavoured ‘Egremont Russet’. This variety is a bit prone to scab, so is best grown on its own and certainly away from very scab-prone varieties such as ‘Crispin’.

4. ‘Egremont Russet’

A famous apple with a wonderful nutty, woody texture and a very characteristic taste, floral and heady, so you can almost smell the blossom. It stores well, with the flavour deepening to honey.

5. ‘Pitmaston Pine Apple’

This is a very unusual apple, difficult to find but well worth the effort. It eats like a ‘Greensleeves’ early on, but you can store it until April when the flavour morphs into pineapple.

6. ‘Greensleeves’

A light, crispy, full-of-flavour apple, lovely and crunchy straight off the tree. This is the one ‘Golden Delicious’ aspires to be, with excellent flavour in a beautiful pale yellow fruit.

7. ‘Worcester Pearmain’

A rich, creamy apple with a strong flavour, one of the original varieties brought over by the Normans. It’s just about surviving in the UK, but you don’t see it often, apart from in the Wye Valley where it’s usually pressed into juice.

8. ‘Howgate Wonder’

A great all-rounder apple – a good cooker early on, it also presses well and mellows the later you leave it, with the acidity dropping away, so it can be eaten as a dessert apple from the store or tree. It’s one of the few varieties where you can leave the fruit on the tree, start harvesting in August and carry on until the end of October at least. It performs well whatever the weather.

9 ‘Herefordshire Russet’

Is a true russet – it has a fine rough golden skin with just a few cinnamon red patches developing here and there. Flavourwise it combines that distinct nutty russet taste with an added depth, an added slightly sharp aromatic quality – a bit like a Cox crossed with a russet. The reason this new[ish] variety outranks others is that it flowers later, thus avoiding early frosts, the fruits are larger, and the flavour even better, and it’s also self fertile – the only russet that is. ‘Herefordshire Russet’ is already appearing on our best sellers list, and rightly so.

10. ‘Discovery’

There’s definitely a reason why it has risen to become the foremost early in the UK for well over 50 years now. Discovery is an Essex raised variety and it first became known in the 1930s. The fruits are flat-oval in shape and predominantly red over a pale green/yellow ground. The flavour is superb, refreshing and slightly sharp but not offputtingly so. In common with all earlies it should be eaten straight from the tree to enjoy it at it’s best; when kept after picking it quickly loses it’s sparkle. Season August to early September. Does well grown with all systems and cultivation methods.

Can you plant just one apple tree?

One tree is not enough. To set fruit, most apple trees require a different variety grown nearby for pollination. While some apple varieties are self-pollinating, even they produce more fruit with another variety nearby.

How do you prepare soil for apple trees?

First, you will need to dig a hole three times the width of the size of the pot, and just as deep as the root ball. The dirt that you have taken out of the hole should be well mixed 50/50 with aged mushroom compost, rotten pine bark, aged manure or compost.

What are the best late fruiting apples say into November?

There are a few that will fruit into November but none into December. The season just catches up on them. Laxton Superb is an apple known for its late fruiting.

Should new trees be pruned in the first year?

Maiden trees do need some attention after planting and before they come into leaf. Reducing the growth by 30 cms to a bud will encourage cropping branches lower down the tree.

The leaves on the young shoots of my apple tree are curled and sticky. What has caused this?

The shoots are infested by aphids. Several species can affect apple trees – some species leave the tree in summer to find other host plants, whereas others remain on the tree. The sticky substance is honeydew produced by the aphids, and this can lead to the growth of sooty moulds. The uncommon rosy leaf-curling apple aphid causes leaves to become distorted and red. Rosy apple aphid is a frequent pest and causes yellowish green curled leaves; it can also affect the fruit.

How do I encourage my apple tree to produce fruit?

An apple tree without fruit may not be getting enough sun or water. Poor fruit production can also be caused by over fertilising. Provide a three inch layer of mulch around the tree, but not touching the trunk, for protection and moisture retention.

Do apple trees need fertiliser?

All trees should be fertilised in spring, before June. Young apple trees -one to three should grow a foot or more per year. If they are growing less than that, increase the fertiliser in subsequent years by 50 per cent.

The delights of growing pears

Pears are a wonderful addition to a garden, versatile, easy to grow, the biggest problem is timing exactly when they are ripe and ready to eat

There is a story about a pear enthusiast who sat up all night for the delight of tasting a pear at the precise moment of perfect ripeness.

It isn’t an easy thing to achieve. Pears ripen from the inside out, so a fruit that is fully ripe on the outside may already be overripe near the core. Ideally you need to place them in a fruit bowl to ripen up for a week or so at room temperature, and check them daily for ripeness. They should yield slightly if you press gently on the stem end.

Growing pears is a particular delight in the garden. If you have a love for pears, it’s worth growing two or three. They make an excellent tree with beautiful blossom, or they can be trained against a wall or grown in containers.

European pears (Pyrus communis) fall into three categories: culinary, dessert, and perry pears. Many people believe it’s not worth growing pears that are meant specifically as cookers, because most dessert pears are really dual-purpose fruits that are just as good cooked as they are eaten raw.

Perry pears are ideal for making a dry pear cider, which was once regarded as equal to the finest of wines.

When planning your fruit garden, keep in mind that you’ll almost certainly need at least a pair of compatible pears for good pollination.

The earliest pear varieties fruit in summer, with mid-season varieties ripening in late summer. Most pears are ready to pick from early autumn, but they can be left on the tree until hard frosts are forecast, then ripened off the tree.

The ideal position for a pear tree is a sunny, sheltered site, well away from any frost pockets. Avoid poorly drained or shallow soils.

You will see pear trees for sale in two forms: bare root stock forms where the roots are exposed when you purchase them or in containers. Bare-root plants should be planted from late autumn onwards, containerised plants can be planted at any time of year, although winter is ideal.

Pears are hardy and will grow well in many areas, but they do need a little cossetting in cooler regions. The flowers appear early and are easily damaged by frost so it’s best to grow them somewhere sunny and sheltered, but not in a low-lying area that could become a frost pocket. If your garden is cold, try training them against a sun-facing wall where the radiated heat will help protect the blossoms if there’s a cold snap. Pear trees take well to being trained as cordons, espaliers or fans.

Pears will adapt to most soil conditions but they do prefer a rich, slightly acidic, loamy, well-drained but moisture-retentive soil.

Keep newly planted pears watered while they establish, and treat them to a mulch of organic matter such as compost, well-rotted manure or leaf mould once year. Give them a boost with poultry manure pellets every few years; an occasional liquid seaweed feed makes a good tonic too.

Planting in containers

If you want to grow a pear in a container you must choose one that has been specially grown for it. Pear trees are not grown on their own roots. The top of the tree is grafted onto different roots (called a rootstock), and the roots control the size of the tree. Therefore, when you are choosing a pear for a container you must make sure it is grafted onto a container rootstock. Look out for rootstocks called ‘Quince C’ for a container. Choose a container that is two feet in diameter. When planting, place some crocks (small pieces of broken concrete or clay) as drainage is essential.

Problems with pears

BROWN ROT is a fungal disease causing a brown, spreading rot in fruit, sometimes with white pustules of fungi on the surface. It is usually worse in wet summers. Remove all rotten fruit as soon as you see it and destroy, this will prevent the spread of the rot.

PEAR RUST is a disease causing bright orange spots on the upper surfaces of pear leaves in summer and early autumn.Remove all infected leaves as soon as you see them and destroy, as this will prevent the spread of the rust. There is no chemical control.

‘Doyenne du Commice’

‘Gorham’

‘Conference’

Pears ripen from the inside out

Bare root pear trees should be planted from October

TOP TEN FRUITS for a small garden

If you have a small outside space you may not often think about growing fruit but dwarf fruit, espalier trees and containers open up a whole range of fruits to grow

If you’re short on space, growing your own fruit may seem like a daunting task. However, armed with the right equipment, and the right selection of the top ten best fruit for small spaces, your ideas for small gardens can come to fruition and have you growing blueberries, blackberries, and everything in between.

Fruit is a wonderful great option for small gardens, patios and balconies. It provides you with homegrown pickings, looks attractive when it’s in flower and when the crop is ripening.

Fruit trees and bushes can be used to create a framework in your garden – their trunks and branches doing the same job as ornamental trees and shrubs, but with the added benefit of being productive each year.

Small gardens can accommodate an apple, pear or plum tree – all of which are clothed with beautiful blossom in the spring.

Walls and fences provide sheltered conditions for trained fruit trees and bushes, which can be pruned to restrict their size, create attractive shapes and most importantly, maximise the crop. Patio or dwarf fruit trees make good trees for pots or a border or kitchen garden and will remain compact.

1. Blueberries are perfect for small gardens as they need little space and thrive in sun or part shade and are easiest to grow in ericaceous compost, in large pots. The fruit ripens over a long period, from July to September. The fruit is ideal for large containers, where they flower and fruit freely, bearing delicious berries that can be eaten as they are, or saved for later use in recipes and when space is tight you can opt for smaller varieties such as ‘Bluetta’ and ‘Top Hat’.

6. Autumn raspberries - tolerate part shade and any soil, except soggy soil or chalk. They crop on the current season’s growth between August and October. Raspberries can be grown directly in the soil or in large pots. Autumn raspberries generally don’t need support, as they’re shorter than summer varieties and crop on the current season’s growth, making them an ideal and compact fruit for small gardens. Eat when ripe or save some for cooking and baking to really make the most out of your crop. Autumn varieties: ‘Joan J’, ‘Zeva’ and ‘Autumn Bliss’.

2.

Redcurrants and whitecurrants thrive in containers, meaning that they are perfect for smaller gardens and grow a lot of fruit and need little attention –making them perfect for the busy gardener. They are an excellent good option for a shady spot, although the flavour will be better in sun. Prune back new shoots in July to encourage fruit spurs. Most varieties ripen in July.Reliable varieties: ‘Junifer’, ‘Jonkheer van Tets’ and ‘Rovada’.

3. Apples-whilst you may imagine apple trees to be enormous, special dwarf rootstocks are now available and hugely popular. Tree size and how early it will produce fruit varies depending upon the rootstock, so shop around to find the perfect variety for your small garden. The apple tree care and pruning routine becomes more manageable with this smaller fruit tree, and you can also train apple trees against walls or fences.

4. Pears, like apples, are often grafted onto quince rootstocks, to prevent them growing too tall. The ‘Concorde’ variety of pear is particularly well suited to small gardens, and pears can offer a tasty and unusual addition to your garden. Whilst like apples, pears need more warmth and sunshine and are more susceptible to frosts, so make sure to protect them when needed.

7. Figs thrive in pots and will produce more fruit and less foliage if they are planted in containers. Planting in containers restricts root growth so that the tree does not grow over-large, and fig trees in containers are best grown as dwarf half-standards. Be sure to keep the pot well-watered, and each spring top-dress with fresh soil mixed with some slow-release general fertiliser to keep your figs going.

8. Japanese Wineberries can be easily restricted to grow in small spaces by training the stems along canes or looping them into figures of eight. Wineberries fruit on stems from the previous year, so you’ll have to wait a while before you can try your fruit. You’ll be rewarded for your patience: these unusual berries are small, but sweet and juicy.

5.

Rhubarb needs an open, sunny site with moist, but free-draining soil, as it dislikes being waterlogged in winter. However, it doesn’t need a lot of space and if you can find four or six feet of space that will be enough for two crowns. Avoid planting in sites that are particularly prone to late frosts, as the young stems may be damaged. Rhubarb can be grown from seed, but it’s more common to plant dormant crowns between autumn and spring. Allow to establish for a couple of years before pulling. Most varieties crop from April to June. Proven varieties: ‘Timperley Early’ and ‘The Sutton’.

9. Grapes are no longer exclusive to hot countries, with new modern varieties of grape available to grow in your small garden and varieties including ‘Dornfelder’ and ‘Regent’ being particularly well adapted for colder regions. Alternatively, grapes can be grown in a greenhouse or a warm, sheltered spot in the garden. These are great to train along a wall, but make sure to keep on top of the pruning.

10. Gooseberries can be very successful in pot or up against a sunny wall so again ideal for smaller spaces. They like sun for at least half the day. Improve thin, sandy soils with well-rotted compost. Leave to ripen for sweet flavour. Crops from June to July.Delicious varieties: ‘Leveller’, ‘Invicta’ and ‘Captivator’.

Remember for smaller gardens, apples, pears, gages, plums, damsons and cherries are all available as self-fertile Minarettes. These bear fruit on short spurs along the length of a vertical stem, and many can be grown in patio pots.

GOLDEN COLOURS OF DAYS OUT IN OCTOBER

The colours of autumn are a huge attraction and this year promise wonderful days out as gardens change their colours from the vivid summer hues to the browns and golds of October and November.

The South West has some wonderful gardens and arboretums which come into their own as the days shorten and get cooler. Batsford and Westonbirt Arboretums both have magnificent collections of trees producing vibrant reds, browns, and yellow, and perfect walking venues. There is still enough light in the days to get out and about for holidays and shopping trips as well as traditional garden visits before winter descends.

Autumn colour spectacular at Batsford Arboretum

Batsford Arboretum is famed for putting on a showstopping display of autumn colour, thanks to the magnificent collection of Japanese maples, sorbus, euonymus and cherries. Visitors can enjoy 56 acres of magical walks amongst a kaleidoscope of reds, pinks and golds against the backdrop of stunning Cotswolds countryside.

There’s also the opportunity to browse the selection of gardening essentials in the extended garden shop and the huge choice of quality plants in the walled garden plant centre before lunch or afternoon tea in the newly refurbished Garden Terrace Café.

Pre-booking is essential for arboretum visits in the autumn at www.batsarb.co.uk Tel: 01386 701441.

Batsford Arboretum & Garden Centre, near Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, GL56 9AT

SEASONS GREEN OFFERS GIFT WITH CLASS AND STYLE

Corfe Castle is one of the most iconic landmarks in Dorset, but did you know it’s surrounded by a pretty village with the same name?

From the castle you can see the village laid out like a map below, with its church, pubs, cafes, galleries and shops. A favourite of these is Seasons Green, full of gorgeous items inspired by plants, flowers and the English countryside. It is well known for the selection of unusual gifts, art, and crafts, and like the village itself is a chocolate-boxpretty shop full of character.

Autumn at Seasons Green - Velvet Pumpkins from £3.75, Foraging Fox Linens from £7, Pumpkin Bunting £7, Handmade Leaf Wreath £32, Pheasant cushion £49. www.seasonsgreen.co.uk Tel: 01929 477 228

BOSCREGE, A TRUE CORNISH EXPERIENCE

Boscrege Caravan and Touring park in Cornwall is a peaceful and picturesque park, set at the foot of Tregonning Hill, Godolphin National Trust and amongst a myriad of Cornish lanes in an area of outstanding natural beauty. The park, which is open all year through, is situated close to the wonderful Cornwall coast and only a few minutes drive to Praa Sands, one of Britain’s nicest beaches. St Ives, Penzance, Hayle and Lands End, So, if you are looking to take a luxury holiday (doggie friendly with dog friendly homes and on site designated fields for the dogs too) in Cornwall in a either a self catering caravan, lodges touring or even purchasing your very own holiday home then contact Boscrege Caravan and Touring Park. And new this year, an development of single/twin lodges available to buy with a 20 year site licence and two years free site fees. Come and see with a two night free stay available for genuine buyers.

Boscrege Caravan Park, Boscrege, Ashton, Cornwall TR13 9TG Tel: 01736 762231 www.caravanparkcornwall.com

Tranquillity, autumn colours and warming soups at Lukesland Gardens

Tucked away on the southern edge of Dartmoor, just north of Ivybridge, Lukesland is a wonderful place to enjoy autumn colour. The shelterbelt of beeches, planted by the Victorians to protect this 24-acre garden from Dartmoor winds, turns to gold, while more exotic species such as acers, cercidiphylum, cornus, enkianthus, ginkgo and swamp cypress reflect their autumn tints in the pools of the Addicombe Brook. Visitors often comment on how peaceful the garden is, with the gentle sound of the tumbling stream constantly in the background, as you wander on twisting paths through this woodland valley, with new views around every corner.

Openings are on Sundays and Wednesdays 11am to 5pm from 2nd October to 13th November. No prebooking is required. The tea room is open with a simple menu of homemade soup and cakes. Contactless payment is preferred in the tea room and at the gate. Dogs are welcome on a lead.

For more details about Lukesland phone 01752 691749 or go to www.lukesland.co.uk or www.facebook.com/ lukeslandgardens

Autumn, at Westonbirt Arboretum

Over 15,000 trees will soon be putting on one of the world’s most spectacular natural colour shows at Westonbirt, the National Arboretum this autumn. Visitors can see a dazzling display of vibrant reds, yellows, oranges and purples and experience nature’s very own firework display.

In October, you can explore the ‘Disappearing Trees’ trail. All of us appreciate trees, but how many of us know that some trees are threatened and in danger of disappearing?

Westonbirt currently has 100 threatened trees in its collection. This trail introduces 10 of them.Led by experienced and knowledgeable guides, you can also find the best seasonal features of the Old Arboretum. Westonbirt, The National Arboretum is managed by Forestry England and is renowned worldwide for its tree and shrub collection.

For all this and more information on the next event, Enchanted Christmas, see Forestryengland.uk/westonbirt

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JOBS IN THE October garden

Autumn is officially here, in all its golden glory. The ground is now wet with dew in the mornings and the garden starting to be covered in cobwebs, but some days into October will feel glorious and still warm. The hot dry summer means that leaves are falling early from the trees in abundance and a lot of summer crops came to a premature end.

Preparation for winter is in full swing – fruit and autumn veg are starting to be ready to be brought in and stored, and plants should be cut back, wrapped up or brought inside to help them survive the chilly winter temperatures.

Full of beans

2Sow broad beans now for an early crop next year. On some soils in particular if it has clay in it soil is hit and miss, but it is definitely worth sowing now if you have anything like well-drained soil.

You need hardy varieties such as ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ to make the most of over-wintering.

Mulch that bare soil

Large areas of bare soil start to appear in all parts of the garden. If left over winter, the soil will lose nutrients. Use organic mulches to protect it and give good structure for next year’s growing season. Best mulches are a thick layer of autumn leaves, wetted so that they don’t blow away,straw, grass clippings and autumn leaves mixed together, cutback plants such as sweet peas, peas or runner beans, chopped up sheets of newspaper, covered with damp grass clippings to weigh it all down.

1Still time to plant spring bulbs

You can continue to plant spring bulbs in the still-warm ground, to give them the longest possible growing time ahead of next year. Narcissi can be planted in pots or in borders underplanting dahlias etc or in lawns.

Alliums are best planted while the soil is still a little warm in early-mid Autumn, in contrast to tulips, which benefit from going into the ground when the temperature has dropped (when the diseases and fungus that they are prone to during the warmer months have died off).

Plant peonies this month as well, and established peony plants should be pruned shortly after the first frost. You can brighten up shady bits of your garden with springflowering, shade-tolerant bulbs. Go for snowdrops for January and February, followed by Anemone blanda ‘White Splendour’ and narcissi for March and April, finishing with bluebells in April and May.

Keep turning the compost heap

Turning the compost heap is important at this time of year. As the garden is tidied in preparation for winter, lots of material is generated for composting so don’t just load the new material on top of what has been decomposing during the summer. To encourage the whole bed to rot down quickly, turn the contents regularly to stir it up and allow in lots of air. In the colder weather, the rate of decomposition will naturally decrease, but it will soon speed up during warmer spells.

53Get plants ready for Christmas

Prepared hyacinth bulbs can still be planted now. Use bulb fibre or general-purpose compost but don’t be tempted to use ordinary soil which might contain worms. Bulbs should be close but not touching either each other or the sides of the pot. Fill with compost allowing the tips of the bulbs to show. Water, but don’t overwater, and place in a cool dark cellar, garage or somewhere similar. Check regularly, watering a little if necessary. You don’t want them to dry out. Once the shoots are a couple of inches high you can bring the pots indoors.

Give a little time to the wildflowers

Wildflowers only need to be cut down once a year. Wait until they have finished flowering and the seed heads have ripened, adjust the lawnmower wheels onto their highest setting, remove the grass collection box and run the mover over them, or if you fancy a lot of exercise, try a scythe. Leave the cuttings on the ground for a few days to allow any seed heads to dry and for the seeds to fall. Collect up the remaining stems and put them in the compost heap.

Time to revitalise or re-plant rhubarb

Revitalise your rhubarb. Dig up big old clumps and divide into pieces using a sharp spade, making sure that each division contains a piece of root and a shoot, then discard the old centre. This is also the time to buy and plant new rhubarb crowns.

Plant new crowns any time from now onwards through to the end of November. If the weather is reasonably dry and mild then you can plant through to the end of the year. Buy named cultivars, or choose a division from a strong, healthy-looking plant.

On wetter soils, planting with the buds just raised out of the soil may help prevent rotting of the plant. If planting more than one crown, space plants one metre apart, with one to two metres between rows.

With healthy, organically fed plants you should try for yields of 20 lbs per every three metre row.

For an even earlier harvest, lift some roots in November. Ideally leave the lifted roots outside for up to two weeks prior to potting to expose them to more cold - this is needed to overcome dormancy.

Cut back perennials that have died down

Perennials are not demanding plants, but trimming them after flowering finishes in autumn helps improve their appearance and flowering. However, you can leave some stems over winter to provide homes and food for wildlife, and then trim back in spring.

Cutting back herbaceous plants during autumn restores order and tidiness to the garden. However, this removes potential winter interest, in the form of height and structure, plus food and habitat sources for wildlife so think about delaying the cut back until spring.

Make the most of your fig tree

If you have a productive fig tree, take cuttings now. They should be about a foot long, this year’s growth, with the softer tip removed. Cut the tip-end at an angle so you know which end is up then insert cuttings into a trench of well-drained soil.

HOW TO GROW SEA HOLLIES

Sea Hollies or as they are known by their botanical name eryngiums are architectural, spiny, almost sculptural perennials, some looking superficially like thistles, but which can make a dramatic statement in a border.

You can let them rise above low-growing plants, or mingle them among roses and taller perennials to provide a contrast in form and texture.

Order garlic and onions

Garlic and overwintering onions are planted out from now till the end of October but get your order in as soon as possible or you will be picking over the spoils. Get used to regularly overwintering onions; try ‘Japanese Shensyu Yellow’, and ‘Radar’ for red onions. Garlic does best planted out as early as you can; ‘Solent Wight’ and ‘Cristo’ are both reliable and hardy. Onions need to be spaced 20cm apart each way; garlic is best at 18cm each way. Choose your sunniest spot.

11Be sensible with your lawn

This autumn lawns will need a bit more care. The intense heat of August has left many still recovering and they are much worse off that they normally are at this time of the year.

It’s important to rake your lawn regularly in October if you want to make sure that fallen leaves don’t stop light and air from getting to your grass. Without enough air and sunlight, your lawn will be more prone to disease. You can use fallen leaves to create leaf mould – an invaluable soil conditioner.

October is also a good time to give your lawn one last trim before frost really starts to take.

Ideally your grass will be about three inches long come the winter – not tall enough that it will invite snow mould (a fungus caused by frost or snow), and not too short that it will go hungry over the winter because it can’t optimise photosynthesis.

Cutting your grass too short could mean that it spends the spring time recovering from shock and trying to repair the damage that was caused over the winter, rather than bouncing back healthy and strong.

Time to get spring cabbage in the ground

It’s not too late to get your spring cabbage plants in the ground. ‘April’, ‘Durham Early’, ‘Offenham 2’, and ‘Spring Hero’ are varieties that you could try. Although they won’t grow much over the winter, they should flourish next spring.

You should space young cabbage plants as far as 18 inches apart, to give them plenty of space to grow.

They’ll also need a good amount of water when they’re first planted. Cabbage plants are quite hardy, so they should be perfectly fine during the winter, unless it’s exceptionally cold. In this case, you might find it helpful to use a cloche (a cover) to protect them.

One of the main issues that young cabbage plants face is that they risk damage from pigeons. To counteract this problem, you can stick a couple of feathers into a potato and hang it from a string over your cabbage patch, to ward them off. The pigeons will think that your cabbages are being guarded by another bird, and will usually keep away.

Adaptable pansies

If you want your garden to have a fresh burst of colour during the winter, then consider planting pansies this month. Winter pansies are hardy plants that will often continue to flower throughout the coldest months of the year.

Pansies have an amazing ability to adapt to frosty temperatures and still come out strong in the spring. However, they must be planted at the right time to achieve this (when the soil is between seven to 21°C). After flowers have bloomed and began to wither, they should be pinched off to encourage new flowers to continue growing.

Upright, branching stems bear greenish-white or blue flowers gathered into a cone surrounded by a ruff of spiny bracts. In some, the upper part of the plant is suffused with metallic blue.

The thistle-like flowers are made up of tiny flowers packed together in a tight cluster. With colours ranging from grey to intense cobalt blue, eryngiums are striking plants. There are over 250 species and lots of garden cultivars to choose from. They look wonderful in gravel gardens or mixed herbaceous borders and they’re good for attracting pollinating insects.

Eryngiums make good winter silhouettes and the flowerheads are great for cutting and using in fresh and dried arrangements.

Eryngiums need plenty of sunshine and free-draining soil. They can tolerate poor soil, and a spot at the foot of a wall is a good position as the soil will remain dry over winter. It’s also a good idea to plant eryngiums away from the edge of a border or path, as their spikes can be quite sharp. They work well in gravel gardens and don’t need a lot of watering.

Species eryngiums can be grown from seed, although if you have a named cultivar, take root cuttings to ensure it stays true to type.

• ‘Neptune’s Gold’ – a colourful plant. The spiky bracts are silvery blue at the base, turning gold at the tips.

• ‘Big Blue’ – as the name suggests, the flower cones are large and a very intense blue. They appear from June to August and contrast beautifully with the grey-green in leaves.

• Sea hollies die down completely in winter and, given good drainage, will return every year.

• Deadheading should be part of your sea holly plant care. Pinch or cut off spent flowers to encourage additional blooming.

• Sea Holly is self-sowing but non-invasive. If it crops up in an area where you don’t want it, it is easy to remove.

• Holly plants are toxic to cats, dogs and horses because of the “saponins” found in the plant roots. Clinical Signs of Illness may include: vomiting, diarrhoea and depression. Leaves and berries found on the holly plant are low in toxicity.

country gardener CROSSWORD

WIN £100 IN RHS GIFT TOKENS

Welcome back to our popular gardening themed crossword compiled by Saranda which over the past year has become enormously popular with readers. The winning entry to be drawn by us will receive £100 of RHS gift tokens. Completed entries should be sent to Mount House, Halse, Taunton, Somerset TA4 3AD. The closing date for entries is Friday, 28th October. The winner of the September issue crossword was Jonathan Howard from Chippenham.

ACROSS

1. A plant without flowers? (9)

6. Soothing infusion prepared from a garden flower (8,3)

12. Scottish actor (1900-76) famous for playing Scrooge (8,3)

13. A juicy fruit like a peach (9)

14. Large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada mountains (5)

15. 1945 Pacific battle won by the United States (3,4)

16. Coarse parts of flax and hemp (7)

18. Ecclesiastical name for ground elder? (6)

19. Declares (6)

20. Scottish river (5)

23. Line of trees or shrubs planted to protect a field of crops (11)

25. Alternative name of Polaris (5,4)

27. Euphorbia marginata, an American spurge (4-2-3-8)

31. Where W. B. Yeats had nine bean rows? (9)

33. Resembling a tree in growth or appearance (11)

34. Cawdor Castle’s famous gardens are five miles from this town (5)

lemon balm (7)

Any plant of the genus Helianthemum (3,4)

snapdragons (11)

minutina (5,4)

family with pink flowers (6,4)

2. Any plants of the genus Atriplex (7)

3. Plant from Madagascar also called devil’s backbone (6,2,9)

4. Genus of plants in the sunflower family known as tasselflower (6)

5. East Indian tree whose leaves are used for fodder (6)

6. Horticultural poem by Tennyson? (4,4,3,6,4)

7. New York borough and heart of the Big Apple (9)

8. Portuguese monkeys or lemurs (7)

9. Open area of grassy land (3)

10. Name given to alliance between the UK, France and the Russian Empire (6,7)

11. Common plant found on waste ground, Smyrnium olusatrum (10)

17. Dicentra cucullaria, a native North American plant (9,8)

21. Leafy glade or bower shaded by trees (6)

22. A reddish-purple root vegetable (4)

24. Compounds extracted from plants to capture their scent and flavour (9,4)

26. Of a river, cease to flow or have any water (3,3)

28. Massive tree native to the Pampa of South America (4)

29. Mentioned by Shakespeare in Macbeth, once a great forest (6,4)

30. A person who doubles for an actress in dangerous scenes (10)

32. Horsetail belongs to this genus (9)

35. Short-lived perennial also called sea lavender (7)

37. A cherry pepper or allspice (7)

38. An above-ground spa? (3,3)

39. Of or relating to iron (6)

44. Surname of South African golfer ‘The Big Easy’ (3)

Garden advice October

Can any plant live in a room with big heat fluctuations?

How do I get good results if I switch to peat free compost? I want to switch over completely but am a bit concerned if it will be the same growing conditions.

Andy Eason Dartmouth

It’s true that some peat free bagged products can vary in quality and be coarse in terms of texture. It is worth shopping around to find the brand you are happy with. The thing to remember is there are many kinds of peat free compost so be specific about your needs.

Peat-free composts are typically made up from materials such as wood fibre, composted bark, coir and, to a lesser extent, composted garden waste. However, you can also find composts containing sterilised soil, vermiculite, perlite, grit and manure. There is even one series of composts made from composted bracken and sheep’s wool. It’s likely new materials will be have to be used to fill the gap left by the peat ban.

Getting used to peat-free composts when you have used peat for many years can seem daunting, but with a little care you should get very good results. For the past three years Which? Gardening has only used peat-free compost for all its growing needs and knows it’s entirely possible to grow a wide range of plants without peat.

Can you suggest tall trees to grow in pots as a barrier?

Allan Thornton Sidmouth

Plenty of trees can be grown in pots and containers, providing you with all the benefits of a tree but with the convenience and ease of growing in a pot. Flowering dogwood adds architectural interest with long lasting pink bracts in spring and autumn. Italian cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) grows very tall but can be clipped to keep it in check. Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) are among the best trees for small gardens and are slow growing but will form an attractive clipped barrier.

Should I cut off the suckers on my roses? This summer my roses have produced more than normal.

Kelly Dawson Devizes

Suckers are rapid growths that spring out of the hardy rootstock of grafted rose bushes, just below the grafted knuckle union. Sucker canes will, if left to grow, suck most nutrients necessary for good growth and performance from their grafted counterparts, weakening the upper part of the bush – many times to the point that the upper portion dies. Therefore, removing rose suckers as they sprout is important. Sucker canes will usually take on a totally different growth habit from the rest of the rose bush. They will grow tall and a bit wild, much like an untrained climbing rose. The leaves on the sucker canes will differ from the leaf structure and sometimes vary a bit in coloration too, with few to no leaves. Rose bush suckers typically will not set buds or bloom, at least in the first year of their growth. If a sucker cane is suspected, take a closer look at it and follow the cane down to the base of the plant. Grafted roses will have a bit of a knuckle at the grafted union. If the cane is growing out of the top part of that knuckle union, it is likely the desired rose bush. If the cane is coming from below ground and underneath the knuckle union, however, it is most likely a true sucker cane and needs to be removed.

Anna Greenhaugh Exeter

You could try the wonderful and slow growing Agave parryi which has a clump-forming habit and which can tolerate a dramatic change in temperatures. While it rarely flowers, when blooms do arise, they do so majestically ten to 15 years after planting upon six to 20-foot tall stalks. Summer buds are typically red and open to blooms ranging from gold to light yellow to green.

My dahlias have just not flowered this summer and it has been a mystery. I certainly haven’t done anything different, and it has been so disappointing.

Amy Turner Liss

Unlike other plants, dahlias fail to bloom as a result of only a few factors. One is bloom competition. The problem with being a heavy bloomer is that there are only so many resources to go around and often a plant will put on intense amounts of greenery and then not flower. When your dahlias aren’t getting enough water, they can also stop blooming.

Dahlias love the sun and require at least six hours of full sun each day. If an area has become shady and lacking light it can dramatically affect the way the plant produces blooms. Finally,excess of nitrogen can cause dahlias to stop flowering. Nitrogen is great for leaves and stems but does nothing for blooming, so if you’re seeing lush growth but few or no buds, this may well be the culprit.

Is there a secret to growing celeriac? I would like to grow it and tried some plug plants I bought from the local garden centre but they just didn’t take off?

Cathy Latimer Exmouth

Celeriac isn’t the easiest thing to grow successfully and many gardeners deal with it in the same breath as celery - possible but hard work! Celeriac is best when it comes to harvest in cool weather. It is b est started indoors and later transplanted into the garden.

Celeriac is a shallow rooted plant so make sure you water in dry spells. The plants will also benefit from a top dressing of seaweed / poultry manure pellets during the summer.

Remove the outer leaves to expose the crown and encourage the bulb to develop. Be careful when hoeing around the plant as the shallow roots are easily damaged. It is important to keep the plants weed free so don’t use that as an excuse! Celeriac requires 90 to 120 days to reach harvest.

We want to plant a new apple tree and only have room for one - will our neighbours’ trees work as pollinators? They are about 20 metres away and the other side of a high fence?

Donna Spencer Exeter

For successful pollination, most apple trees need another one nearby that flowers at roughly the same time. They should roughly be in sight of each other and the distance you mention shouldn’t be a problem- neither should the fence. When choosing a variety, it will certainly help if you know your neighbours varieties, if they crop well then those varieties should do well for you. Plant the trees in sight but not too close as older trees carry pests and diseases and cause root competition if too close.

More questions and queries from our ever-bustling postbag of problems from Country Gardener readers. If you need advice on any gardening problem or concern then write to us at Country Gardener, Mount House, Halse, Taunton TA4 3AD or email editorial@countrygardener.co.uk

Why do my walnuts and hazelnuts not produce any fruit? We look forward to the crop every year but this year something has happened.

Pam Burns Portsmouth

Walnuts can be both late and troublesome and they will not produce fruit in cold sites. The male flowers can also miss the femails on the same tree so often you need everything to go just right to get a decent crop. You can hand pollinate on a smaller tree. Hazelnuts should be better. They are partly self-fertile. Perhaps your site has been too dry which is very understandable this summer. Spread wood ash around the base as this often helps.

Is it of any value to grind up eggshells and use them in the garden?

Eggshells contain calcium, a mineral which it is true is very important for the health of plants. It depends on the size of your garden. If it is a medium or large garden then it may just not be worth it since most gardens in this country are very rarely deficient of calcium in the first place and it will be a lot of trouble for not a lot of benefit.

I am busy planting a whole area of the garden with daffodils bulbs but I am worried that so many failed to flower this year. Is it weather conditions which are likely to be the problem?

Maggie Allison Martock

Daffodils are usually very reliable so any that didn’t open might as you suggest be an issue with the weather. They are simple and normally trouble free bulbs. Excessive wetness for instance can cause a fungal infection during the winter and if this is the case there is little you can do. The leaves will appear but there is no goodness to produce the flower. Avoid ground which you know gets excessively wet. The opposite weather conditions also cause problems drought during the flowering period. So, if there is a long dry spell next spring try some extras watering

My garden has been plagued by squirrels this summer

Pam Dickens Taunton

There aren’t many options when it comes to deterring squirrels and they are both a damaging and difficult pest to deal with. The solutions tend to be a bit drastic if they are regular visitors to your plots. You can protect everything with extensive cover that the squirrels cannot get under so buy a roll of galvanised chicken nettings and cut and bend into long half cyclinders and place over especially young crops.

Is an avocado a good idea for growing indoors? I always stop and think if I could grow one?

India Palmer Plymouth Avocados have a reasonable success as indoor plants and can be straight forward to get going but their scope is rather limited. They can flower and fruit inside but it is rare and mostly do not crop. That doesn’t mean they cannot be enjoyed as a leafy ornamental plant, better to enjoy them as an ornamental houseplant.

Cutting to the quick

Country Gardener reader Raymond Butler from Exmoor sings the praises of being able to use a scythe properly, carefully and quietly to cut his grass

Scything is all about timing, rhythm and momentum

I have just come in from mowing the lawn. I left it long and wild during the heatwave but now it is white rather than green and very uneven.

This isn’t maybe worthy of a letter to Country Gardener but I hope it is when you realise I cut it with a scythe. Two years ago, I had a day course in Dorset which was both illuminating and in its own way thrilling. Scything for me is now a way of life in the garden and I would encourage others. Many people mow their lawn with a scythe.

Yes, it’s hard work and to start with the lawn isn’t going to be a bowling green. But there are other benefits.

Besides a sharp edge, mowing when the grass is wet helps. It is not necessary for the grass to be wet, but it does improve the cutting. The moisture adds weight to the short grass helping it stand up as the scythe slices through it. The moisture lubricates the blade and softens the grass so it is easier to cut.

Short grass can be difficult to mow. It hasn’t the weight and inertia of taller grass. Once the blade has hit the grass a couple of times the grass seems to turn to rubber, bending over and springing back up after the blade has passed.

Absolutely, a scythe blade needs to be razor sharp at all times, and would be given a few seconds of sharpening every five minutes or so during use to keep it this way. It is badly set or maintained lawnmowers that produce split ends in lawns. Most domestic lawn mowers and strimmers are rarely, if ever, sharpened; they rely on brute rotary speed to sever grass blades. The bruising from these blunt instruments can cause unsightly straw-coloured die-back at the tips of grass leaves.

Scythes have been developed and refined over their almost 2,000 year history into a remarkably ergonomic tool. Properly set up and used they are good exercise for all parts of the body, including the back and core muscles.

MY TIPS:

• A long blade is not necessary. Short blades work well and may be easier to use. It takes longer to mow the lawn but short blades don’t have the extra weight and resistance of longer blades.

• Don’t expect the finished lawn to look as neat as if it were done with a rotary mower, especially the first few go-arounds. Give yourself time to develop the skill of close cropping a lawn.

• Expect scything a lawn to take longer than with a power mower.

• Your neighbours will appreciate your quiet, motorless mower.

• A scythe will mow wet and/or thick grass that would bog down and stall a power rotary or hand reel mower.

• Slice with the blade, do not hack; you are not teeing off in a golf game.

• Light, gentle strokes are most effective. Mowing is a shearing action. It’s more like slicing a tomato than splitting wood.

Autumn’s LEAFY TREASURE

Dealing with fallen leaves seems to sum up autumn in the garden.

Yes, it can be hard and often cold work for those well practised in collecting the leaves but the key thing to remember is you are handling a valuable resource.

Leaf litter is the source of free and wonderful organic matter and should be used to replenish the garden.

The good news is there is only one way to get leaf mould – make it yourself.

Leaf mould is not produced or sold commercially.

And you only need three ingredients – fallen leaves, moisture and time!

Leaf mould is what’s left when the dead, fallen leaves from deciduous trees and shrubs are heaped up and allowed to rot down. As they slowly moulder, only the toughest bits remain, eventually forming spongy, dark brown crumbs to rival any dessert topping.

Leaf mould should be free of pests, diseases and weeds (unless you gather it from where they’re seeding), a delight to handle, and you can’t possibly overdose your soil on it. The hidden alchemy that brings it about – the countless microorganisms that drive decay – gives leaf mould its almost magical quality.

It has several great attributes. The first is that it can hold up to 500 per cent of its own weight in water.

Most leaves are slightly acidic when they fall, with a pH below 6. However, as the leaves break down into leaf mould, the pH goes up into more of a neutral range. Leaf mould will not correct pH problems, but will have a moderating effect.

Though leaves are not high in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, tree roots mine calcium, magnesium and many other trace minerals from the soil and so your garden will also benefit from these nutrients.

LEAF MOULD – AN ACTION PLAN

As part of reducing your reliance on manure and other imported fertility, leaf mould should become pivotal to gardening.

There’s a number of ways to store the fallen leaves.

One is to build circular wire cages – about two metres in diameter. The number of bins clearly depends on the number of trees and leaves you expect in your garden.

MAGICAL MULCH

The finished article after perhaps three years is chunky mulch that is ideal for smothering young annual weeds and blocking out light to stop others coming up.

Nothing beats fresh leaf mould as a dark foil for showing off emerging perennials in a border filled with promise, and it works just as effectively around newly planted vegetables, fruit, or on top of containers to help prevent them from drying out.

SOIL IMPROVER

Using a sieve results in a more refined mould, free of even small twigs. In spring, spread a bucketful of leaf mould to each square yard and fork it in deep. It helps bind loose, sandy soils and improves their water-holding ability. Conversely, it helps break up tough, claggy clays, making them more gardener friendly.

If you have a lot of ground to improve and sieving is impractical, take your leaf mould out as it comes, remove hard chunks of debris, and fork or dig it in.

POTTING MIXER

You can also use leaf mould as a potting mix. Sieve it to get rid of any big lumps and then mix it according to different recipes.

A basic mix for seed sowing and for potting-up plug plants, bulbs and tomatoes, should be a 50:50 mix of three-year-old leaf mould and worm-worked garden compost, both passed through a quarter-inch (6mm) sieve and thoroughly blended. The garden compost provides ample food for about a month before you need to start feeding.

For small seeds, you can pass this already refined mix through a finer eighth-inch (4mm) sieve to give a seed covering that is akin to breadcrumbs.

For seed sowing, the low nutrient value of leaf mould is ideal, as it doesn’t encourage sappy, quick growth in the seedlings. Use half leaf mould, half silver sand.

For potting, use four parts leaf mould to two parts loam or sieved topsoil to one part grit.

WHEN TO LEAVE LEAVES IN PLACE

There are places and times when it’s just better to let the leaves fall where they are. In orchards for example it’s fine for fallen leaves to rot down into the grass during the winter.

Then there are times when leaves fall on woodland planting, shady beds where there’s shrubs or at the back of borders where it might be difficult to access them. In all these cases the easiest thing to do is just let any fallen leaves decompose directly onto the bed.

How wildlife will love your rotting leaves

An unexpected benefit of making leaf mould is that you’re also encouraging garden biodiversity. You will often get a flush of mushrooms over the surface, as the alchemy of decomposition begins.

Worms will also move in for a while to do their stuff.

A whole variety of birds will be attracted to the edges of your pile especially around the sides feeding on bugs.

You may also see various burrows as you lift back the covering sheet, made by field voles or even toads. Slow-worms are often found among leaf mould, too.

It’s time we all saw fallen autumn leaves for what they are – not a nuisance to clear up but things to be treasured as a way of improving our soil

The perfect red rich rowan tree

Most mountain ash species and varieties aren’t too fussy about their position – they will grow in open, sunny sites or partial shade. They prefer a fertile, well-drained soil enriched with lots of organic matter, which holds plenty of moisture in spring and summer, doesn’t dry out or become waterlogged.

VEGETABLES TO PLANT THIS AUTUMN

Whoever said there’s never a gap in the gardening season was certainly correct when it comes to the autumn as there are plenty of vegetables which can be planted.

Garlic

Plant bulbs two cms down into compost improved, well-drained soil in full sun. Cover with fleece if necessary, as this time of the year they are an attraction for birds and especially pigeons. Varieties -try Elephant Garlic or ‘Provence Wight’.

Perpetual spinach

Sorbus, often called mountain ash or rowans, are attractive, deciduous, ornamental trees, many of which are suitable for even small to average-sized gardens.

If you are looking to add a tree to your garden this autumn this is the perfect choice.

They look fabulous in spring, covered in their flowers, and again in autumn when their fruit and autumn foliage provide more interest and colour.

In Britain,the rowan has a long and still popular history in folklore as a tree which protects against witchcraft and enchantment.

Bane of witches, diviner of the future and producer of jam, rowan is an elegant tree with a mystical history. Its leaves and berries are a favourite for wildlife in woods and towns alike.

They have a very distinct smell that attracts flies, beetles and bees.

Mature trees can grow to 15 metres in height and can live for up to 200 years. The bark is smooth and silvery grey, and leaf buds are purple and hairy. Look out for its five to eight pairs of serrated leaflets which are distinctive.

Ideally you can plant bare-root trees from October onwards and certainly between November and March, and pot-grown trees any time of year unless the soil is frozen.

Dig a square hole and remove weed roots. Fork the soil to make it pliable. Place the tree in the planting hole and check its depth – ensure it sits at the same level it was in the ground or in its pot, for bare-root plants look for the ‘soil tide mark’ towards the base of the stem. Once you’re satisfied with the depth, fill around the roots with soil until the hole is filled, and firm gently. Water well.

Add a tree stake to prevent root rock, this will need to be in pace for around two years.

Rowans need very little attention after they’ve become established. Water in very dry weather and mulch annually with well-rotted horse manure or compost. You may need to cut back suckering shoots coming from the base of the tree. Prune out dead or damage stems from late autumn to spring.

• Sorbus aucuparia, the common mountain ash, is an upright tree with clusters of white flowers in late spring, followed by orange-red berries in autumn and yellow autumn leaf colours.

• Sorbus cashmiriana can be grown as a large, spreading shrub or small tree. The pink flowers are followed by white fruit in autumn.

• Sorbus commixta ‘Embley’ is an upright, mediumsized tree with creamy-white flowers, deep red fruit and bright red and orange autumn leaf colours.

What does a rowan tree symbolise?

The rowan tree and mythology

• Since ancient times people have been planting a rowan beside their home as in Celtic mythology it is known as the ‘Tree of Life’ and symbolises courage, wisdom and protection.

• The tree features heavily in witchcraft mythology, with people all over the world planting them outside their homes to ward off evil spirits, witchcraft and the undead. In Wales, they were planted in the grounds of cemeteries, and to cut one down was forbidden.

• The rowan features in Norse mythology and legend has it that it saved the life of the god Thor by bending over a fast flowing river in the Underworld in which he was being swept away. Thor managed to grab the tree and get back to the shore.

• The rowan has a long and still popular history as a tree which protects against witchcraft and enchantment. The physical characteristics of the tree may have contributed to its protective reputationeach berry has tiny five pointed star or pentagram opposite its stalk. The pentagram is an ancient protective symbol.

• People also believe the colour red was the best protection against magic.

A hardy cut and come again crop for winter, you can sow continuously for long term crops into next year. Keep harvesting fresh young leaves. Stagger sowings every week for the next month for larger yields.

Asparagus

Plant in well drained, manured soil in a 20 cm trench with a mound at the centre and plant each crown at the top of the mound. Try ‘Mondeo’ or ‘Majestic’ both suitable for autumn planting.

Broad beans

Autumn sowings of broad beans will give you an early start for next spring and a head start for eating from the vegetable plot. Weed regularly and stage as necessary. The more growth they put on in autumn the earlier the crop will be next spring. ‘Aquadulce Cllaudia’ is a hardy popular variety.

Spring onions

Sow thinly and keep the soil moist. Harvest little and often and pick when pencil thin plants come through. This way there’s no need to thin out. ’White Lisbon’ is a variety worth trying.

Sorbus is steeped in history and its bright berries and leaves make it a classic choice for the autumn garden and now much in demand

PLEASE DON’T CLEAN UP your autumn garden

Some years ago, fresh out of university with a horticulture degree in-hand, I started teaching adult education classes at a local botanic garden.

For years, I taught a class called Preparing Your Garden for the Winter. It was all about how to clean up the garden every autumn. I would show slides (who still remembers those) of how well-kept gardens should look in January.

In the images, every plant was cutback drastically, except for the ornamental grasses and butterfly bushes, and the whole garden was snug under a thick layer of mushroom soil mulch.

The roses were neatly trimmed to two feet and wrapped in a blanket of mulch, folded and stapled closed to keep them protected from freezing winds. There wasn’t a fallen leaf in sight; everything was raked up and hauled off.

You see, that’s how we gardeners used to roll in the early ’90s, before we knew better. Before we knew all the reasons NOT to clean up the garden. We’d cut everything down and perform a big, end-of-the-season gardening clean up until there was no shred of nature left behind. We’d turn the place into a tidied, controlled, and only slightly dirtier version of our living room. Everything was tucked and trimmed and in its place.

Unfortunately, many gardeners still think of this kind of hack-it-all-down and rake-it-all-up gardening clean up as good gardening, but in case you haven’t already noticed. I am going to argue strongly for a different approach.

There is a completely different option these days. We now understand how our gardens can become havens for creatures, large and small, depending on what we plant in them and how we tend to our cultivated spaces.

Our gardens play an important role in supporting wildlife

and what we do in them every autumn can either enhance or inhibit that role.

If the previous five reasons aren’t enough to inspire you to hold off on cleaning up the garden, I’ll add one final reason to the list: You. There is so much beauty to be found in a winter garden. Snow resting on dried seed pods, berries clinging to bare branches, goldfinches flitting around spent sunflowers, frost kissing the autumn leaves collected at the base of a plant, and ice collected on blades of ornamental grasses.

At first, you might not consider yourself to be one of the reasons not to clean up the garden, but winter is a lovely time out there, if you let it be so.

Delaying your garden’s clean up until the spring is a boon for all the creatures living there. Instead of heading out to the garden with a pair of pruning shears and a rake, wait until the spring temperatures are in the 50s for at least seven consecutive days. By then, all the creatures living there will be emerging from their long winter nap. And even if they haven’t managed to get out of bed by the time you head out to the garden, most of them will still manage to find their way out of a loosely layered compost pile before it begins to decompose. Do Mother Nature a big favour and save your garden clean up until the spring.

Many of our many species of native bees need a place to spend the winter that’s protected from cold and predators. They may hunker down under a piece of peeling tree bark, or they may stay tucked away in the hollow stem of a bee balm plant or an ornamental grass. Some spend the winter as an egg or larvae in a burrow in the ground

All native bees are important pollinators, and when we remove every last overwintering site by cutting everything down and completely cleaning up the garden, we’re doing

ourselves no favour. We need these bees, and our gardens can provide them with much-needed winter habitat.

Some butterflies overwinter as adults. They nestle into rock fissures, under tree bark, or in leaf litter until the days grow longer again and spring arrives. Butterflies that overwinter in a chrysalis include the swallowtail family, the cabbage whites and the sulphurs..

The UK is home to many different ladybird species, many of which are not red with black polka-dots.. Most of them enter the insect world’s version of hibernation soon after the temperatures drop and spend the colder months tucked under a pile of leaves, nestled at the base of a plant, or hidden under a rock. Most overwinter in groups of anywhere from a few individuals to thousands of adults. Ladybirds are notorious pest eaters, each one consuming dozens of soft-bodied pest insects and insect eggs every day. Leaving the garden intact for the winter means you’ll get a jump start on controlling pests in the spring.

Insect-eating birds are very welcome in the garden because they consume thousands of caterpillars and other pest insects as they raise their young every gardening season. Not cleaning up the garden means there will be more protein-rich insects available to them during the coldest part of the year.

These birds are quite good at gleaning ‘hibernating’ insects off dead plant stems and branches, and out of leaf litter. Your feathered friends will also appreciate feasting on the seeds and berries they can collect from intact perennial, annual, and shrub stems.

Song birds are one of the best reasons to skip the garden clean up!

Country Gardener reader Jim Ellis once used to tell his gardening students how to tidy up the garden for winter. Now he says we should leave it alone and give nature a helping hand

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ACTION PLAN FOR AUTUMN

Planting and gardening in general in autumn can be a wonderful, pleasurable time. The heat has gone from the air, making it far more comfortable. The ground is moist and easier to dig. But most importantly, it is the best time to garden and work through the tasks

Spring gardens are grown in autumn! It is a old and favourite saying but carries much truth Whether your plants are inside or out, there are lots of tasks, big and small, that can be done to protect and prepare for spring during the colder months.

If you give your garden time and care in the autumnal months, you will reap the rewards come springtime.

Lawn care is key

Although we may not spend as much time in the garden in autumn, starting your lawn care in at this time is vital. This will ensure lush, green grass in the warmer months that isn’t patchy. Keep your lawn well fed with and sow seed, as well as clearing any fallen leaves away regularly.

of bulb fibre (compost specifically designed for growing bulbs), then medium bulbs. Continue the process until all bulbs are planted in order of size, and top with violas that are currently in bloom.

• Camasias – September

• Daffodils – Sept-Oct

• Crocus – Sept to Oct

• Alliums – Sept – Nov

• Winter Iris – Sept-Nov

• Tulips – later in November

Keep wildlife in mind

Shrubs with berries will not only add bright reds and yellows to your garden over the winter but will also encourage birds to your garden as they will eat the fruit. The birds will then help you protect your plants by keeping caterpillars and aphids in check!

Feeding the shrubs with will help keep them lush and full.

Mulch is your friend

Continue to weed and clear leaves from any borders and add mulch (products like bark that help enrich soil) in a thick layer on top of your soil. This will help protect roots from winter cold and stop soil from being washed away - as well as keeping weeds at bay and adding nutrients to the soil.

Some favourite additions to mulch:

Consider colour over the colder months

Now is the time to dig up any old summer annuals (plants that flower for one season before dying) for compost and replace them with plants that will bloom in the autumn and winter such as violas, pansies, bellis daisies, wallflowers and cyclamens. These will add colour over the colder months and keep your garden looking bright.

Bulbs are your best friends

Bulbs are one of my favourite quick and easy wins to add colour to the garden (and a cheaper option than buying flowers in spring!) that can be planted in autumn. Plus, they then need very little maintenance until the spring!

Make a ‘bulb lasagne’ to create a successional display of gorgeous flowers throughout spring. Layer your bulbs in a container, with the biggest and latest flowering at the bottom. Follow with a layer

• Loose dog hair or human hair to help birds and wildlife in making their nests.

• Extra animal bedding (such as rabbit bedding), or wet shredded newspaper to help with insulation.

Add structure with shrubs

Plant evergreen shrubs in autumn to help brighten the garden when other plants go dormant. Fatsia japonica, Acuba japonica and Skimmia japonica are fantastic options that can add structure and light with their large, glossy green leaves.

Help Your Houseplants

Now the sunlight is not as hot, houseplants can be moved nearer a natural light source.

Make sure they’re kept away from any cold draughts, and not placed too close to heat sources like radiators or open fires.

The following plants are a fantastic way to brighten up your home during the cold, dark months:

• Moth orchid - this will still need the occasional feed and water

• Pink Quill -very little care is needed by pink quills, that will flower in the winter if exposed to enough sunlight

• Flaming Katy - this plant comes in an array of bright colours such as yellow and pink, and if bought in flower in autumn will still bloom if it is kept warm and bright. Feeding a Flaming Katy once a month will help its longevity.

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October can be a time when we start to look back over the season. There’s plenty to harvest and it’s a time to judge how well our crops have performed and how well we’ve managed the garden. It’s a time to look at things we did right and things which went wrong and what lessons have been learnt.

A gardener’s knowledge is never complete and there’s always the opportunity to master a new skill or hone one you’ve tried before. Also take the opportunity to reimagine your garden and transform it into a more enjoyable place to be. So, all in all now’s the time to be a better gardener.

1 .Make more plants

Propagating and making new plants from scratch is almost certainly something we can all do more of. Plants are expensive so it’s a great way to get free plants. Keeping seeds, dividing clumpforming perennials and taking cuttings often all appear on things we want to do but often don’t get round to. Autumn is the time to divide herbaceous perennials so that’s where to start.

2. Planting

This is one of the first skills any gardener tries and is a crucial step. Doing it well makes the difference between a thriving or a sickly plant. Good soil preparation is essential, as is a strict routine of digging holes, aiding root systems and preparing the soil. Autumn is the best time to plant anything hardy.

3.Growing to eat

Can and should you be growing more of your own vegetables? Home grown tastes better and saves your purse. Even in the smallest of gardens there’s the opportunity to pack in edible plants. Most of us dabble a bit when it comes to vegetables but perhaps now is the time to ask yourself if you can do more?

4.Watering

Water is now a precious resource. We need it for our gardens so becoming a water wise gardener is going to be more important than ever if we are to have more drought affected summers like this one. So, water butts, irrigations systems, watering when it's really essential and automatics timers will all come into play as we make the most of creating a better garden with less water.

6. Understanding nature

5. Controlling weeds

The oft quoted definition of a weed being a plant in the wrong place is still true. It has to be a principle of successful gardening to edit out the unwanted weeds. Weeds can overwhelm other plants, compete with them for water and nutrients and may host pests and diseases. Managing weeds needs a system, regular and painstaking . Leave it for a week in the growing season and there’s a lot of damage caused. Start now by preventing weeds releasing their seeds by pulling them up and or cutting off their seedheads.

Gardening shouldn’t all be about hustle and bustle, plant, water prune and so on . There needs to be a time to have patience stop and look and not expect too much too soon. The gardening season is a long and often testing one and understanding nature is a skill of the gardener who is learning to work with, not against, nature.

7. Coping with pests

A garden is a diverse eco system with a huge range of creatures, some good, and some harmful. Most are beneficial so where a garden is managed sympathetically without chemical sprays and plants that attract natural predators a balance of nature is reestablished. The trick is being vigilant and acting early so pests don’t build up.

8. Training and pruning

Our ability to prune properly is often underrated in any garden. It keeps plants productive and healthy, encouraging them to grow how and where you want. So think about why the plant needs pruning and only make cuts to reach that aim. Remember to make cuts just above a bud or leaf as this stimulates new shoots and avoids leaving a stump.

9. Looking after your soil

More time and money spent in getting your soil healthy is never ever wasted. All soil types can be improved with rotted organic manure. Mulching plants improves growth by suppressing weeds, adding nutrients, insulating roots from extremes in temperature and reducing water loss. Making your own garden compost is essential and there may be a need to improve composting skills. Act now by starting to collect autumn leaves and put into a chicken wire cage and allow to rot down into leafmould.

10. Weather proofing

Climate change is it appears happening faster than we’ve been told. This summer seemed to be a clear indication of how our gardens might have to adapt in the future. So, the skilled gardener will need to be sensitive to temperature and rainfall by looking regularly at your garden and choosing plants that will thrive on your gardens soil and site. Always research the needs to plants before buying them. If you put the right plant in the right spot, it will thrive.

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Let green manures rescue your worn out soil

October is the perfect time to start getting your soil ready for the demands of next spring and planting green manures is an increasingly popular way of putting new zip into the earth.

Our gardens are due a time of respite. The demands of a summer like the one we have just endured, with droughts, excessive heat and occasional dramatic downpours, will have drained so much goodness from the soil.

Luckily there are a few months now when we can all do something about it.

The next few weeks is the time to concentrate on recovery and replenishment of the soil so we’ll be ready for an ever better year of growing when spring rolls around.

Many organic gardeners spread mulches, leaf mould or compost across beds to condition the soil overwinter. All great ideas, yet these will leave large bare patches in our gardens. Perhaps a better option is to grow a green manure, known as a cover crop, over the soil and then dig this crop into the soil in the early spring to add nutrients.

How does green manure work?

As well as increasing the fertility of the soil in spring

when it’s dug in and incorporated, the foliage of your green manure will help smother any hopeful weeds and provide shelter for beneficial wildlife such as ground beetles. The roots will ensure your valuable top soil stays in place and doesn’t become compacted during heavy rains.

There are two types of green manure: Legumes and Non-Legumes.

Legumes, such as clover, soybeans and winter field beans, are plants from the pea and bean family. These have the special ability to grab fertilising nitrogen from the air and ‘fix’ it into the soil via their root systems.

Non-Legume green manures include rye and oats.

How to plant and dig in your green manure

Firstly, check the weather forecast. It’s important to sow the crop when it is going to rain so the seeds don’t dry out during the germination period.

For small areas, mix the seed with a little soil or sand, and broadcast by hand. Try to spread the seed as evenly as possible and then rake the soil to cover them sufficiently for germination.

Around three weeks before you plan to sow or plant out your main crops, chop down your green manure and leave on the surface of the soil to wilt. With two weeks to go, dig the wilted plants and foliage into the top 25cm of the soil and leave to decay. When it comes to begin the new season, plant or sow as usual and enjoy a bumper crop.

HOW TO BUY AND USE COIR

Coir is an exciting alternative growing medium for plants of all descriptions which is capturing the attention of gardeners.

Natural, biodegradable, and peat-free, CoirProducts.co.uk provides an innovative range of coir-based products. With the largest portfolio of coir product varieties in the UK, all the products are ethically produced and sourced, with minimal harm on the environment.

Coir has excellent water retention ability, air porosity, and drainage, which help plants develop strong and healthy root systems.

Easy to use, they are ideal for growing a variety of plants and crops, indoors and outdoors.

One of the most popular products is coir potting mix, available in various sizes of blocks, bricks, and discs, depending on your need. To use, add enough water and watch it expand (the amount of water added would depend on the size) Once expanded, stir and fluff the coir, and place the potting mix either in a coir pot or on the ground. As a guide, if using the 5kg coir potting mix (block), add 18-20L of water, and once expanded, you will get over 70L of coir.

Coir pots come in sizes ranging from five cm to 35cm. If you are looking to grow flowers and vegetables in pots, the larger pots are suitable for crops such as tomatoes, carrots, broad beans, beetroot, while the smaller-sized pots are ideal for sowing herbs and chillies.

Unlike plastic pots, coir pots allow plant roots to grow through the coir, and there is also no transplanting shock when repotting. As plants grow, you can simply relocate the plant with the pot itself on the ground, where the pot will start to disintegrate, giving roots further room to grow. CoirProducts.co.uk also provides coir hanging baskets that are great space savers. They are ideal for growing crops such as strawberries.

For sowing, CoirCoins are known for their high germination rates. The cover of the CoirProducts.co.uk CoirCoins that holds the coir together is biodegradable. Coming in four distinct sizes, just add water to use the CoirCoins and the coir will expand into the biodegradable cover. CoirCoins allow plant roots to grow through them, thus allowing plants to thrive.

In addition, if growing creepers, grow poles provide the perfect support. CoirProducts.co.uk growbags have been used widely for growing tomatoes, strawberries, orchids, and roses, among others. Coir chips are an ideal soil conditioning supplement. CoirProducts.co.uk also offers a unique select of coir bundles, including for kids.

All products can be purchased via the online shop www.coirproducts.co.uk/shop and delivery is free within mainland UK. For the eco-conscious grower, CoirProducts.co.uk has also taken steps in offsetting the carbon footprint in transporting goods to the UK.

This new growing material is extracted from the tissues surrounding the seed of the coconut palm and is becoming a favourite with gardeners