October: blowers and colours

If there is one thing that bothers me more than seeing Christmas advertised in late September, it is hearing leaf blowers being unleashed by their owners in early October.

I know I am sounding like a Luddite, eco-friendly Victor Meldrew. If you have ever been savouring the colours and crispness of an autumn morning only to have your inner Zen shattered by a demented, over-sized hair-dryer you will know what I mean.

The fact is that sodden leaves are rarely shifted by home-owned leaf blowers, so doing the job by hand will save a trip to the gym, build up your upper body strength and save money.

It will also be kinder to everyone within 100 meters trying to enjoy their weekend, especially neurotic garden designers. Still, toys will be toys.

So, having had my moan - what does one do with the leaves and what other tasks are there to see to?

• Leave the leaves if you can. They are a natural layer of insulation for over-wintering plants and will add organic matter to the borders. On lawns, driveways, paths and in ponds they are not good news so spread them over the borders or onto the compost. By adding a few inches of soil to the compost every foot or so (300mm), the leaves will break down faster and become the dark 'humus' that is so good for the garden.
• There is still time to make repairs to the lawn but aim to make your last cut this month leaving the grass no shorter than an inch (25mm). If your lawn has become full of thatch you can scarify it by using a soft-prong rake to scratch out the dead grass. 
• Lawn feed can be applied but make sure it is the autumn lawn feed as it will have less nitrogen.
• Trees, shrubs, hedging can be moved as their growing processes have slowed down but the soil is still warm so any damage can be kept to a minimum. 
• Herbaceous plants are best divided and moved at this time of year. Cut down the plants that are over but leave those with seed heads so the birds can eat them to build up their winter reserves.
• Prune your climbing roses by cutting back all stems just enough to prevent them shaking about too much in the winter weather. Tie in loose shoots or cut them back so they are not looking too wild. The main prune can be in a few months time.
• With the inevitable wet coming, try to avoid your patio pots and containers becoming water-logged. A tile or two, a clay "foot" or a few bricks will raise them enough to provide some airflow underneath.
• Check tree ties and stakes before the windy weather sets in.
• Move your tender plants into the greenhouse or cover them with a fleece.
• And finally: Christmas begins on 25th December. The run up to that is Advent ( read:'waiting').

The fun part this month comes when you have the bonfire to burn all those diseased leaves and branches. Check the wind direction first to see that the neighbours don't have all their washing hanging out for you to smoke. 

On the other hand, if they have the leaf blower going...

Courtesy of Matt @ The Daily Telegraph

September: colours and coolness

I have just come back from walking in the Yorkshire Dales.

Being further north and more exposed it is a wee bit cooler there but dramatically beautiful all the same. The first signs of autumn are very evident. The mountain ash trees (Sorbus aucuparia) are taking on that rosy glow that will attract the birds and the bracken is beginning to turn brown.

Acres of undulating, pinkish heather stretch out over the moors and the hum of wildlife reminded me of just how much activity there is at this time of year. Bees, fly-catchers, red kites and buzzards are looking for their daily food. 

Closer to home you might be enjoying the berries of the wayfaring tree (Viburnum lantana), the guelder rose (Viburnum opulus) or the swelling hips of the roses. There are always the blackberries to pick if you want to stray away from the sofa!

The key to enjoying your garden in September is getting the most out of the remaining flowering period of your plants and noticing the changes that autumn brings.

So here are a few pointers to help achieve this:

• Use a liquid feed for your hanging baskets and pot plants. A feed that is high in potassium will provide the main nutrient that boosts flower and fruit growth. Look at the label on the packet and that will tell you the proportions of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in the liquid feed. Avoid high nitrogen feed as that will boost green growth.
• Dead head (take off using your thumb and forefinger) all flowers that are 'over' in your displays. When it comes to Dahlias, Penstemons and other perennials then use a pair of secateurs (or hedge clippers if you are in a real hurry!) to cut them down to their larger leaf level. This will encourage a second flush of flowering.
• Keep watering. The days and nights might be getting cooler but there is often a lack of rain to keep the thirstier plants happy. Be particularly aware that the moisture loving Rhododendrons and Camellias are forming their buds for next spring and need all the help they can get.

General tasks that will set the garden up for the coming year are :

• Dividing herbaceous plants. Phlox, Hemerocallis (day lillies) and hardy geraniums can be lifted this month. Two forks pushed in back to back at a slight angle and then pressed together will split the plant. Don't worry if you end up with a few sorry looking chunks of roots. They can become the most impressive plants in time.
• Spreading mulch where gaps are appearing in the garden. This may be composted leaves and grass cuttings from you compost heap or well-rotted manure.
• Planting evergreens while the soil is still warm. With the on-set of the autumn and winter rains you will have less watering to do than if you planted them in spring. Give them a good drink now by saturating the plant hole and after you have planted them but be alert to dry spells in the coming weeks.
• Thinning out oxygenating and floating plants in the pond. If you leave the debris by the side of the pond overnight before adding it to the compost pile, the wildlife will be able to make its way back into the water.

You may want to consider starting again with your window boxes and hanging baskets by creating an autumn display. Going to a garden centre can give you an overwhelming choice of options of plants. Checking the height, the hardiness and the colour of the plants will help narrow down the choices but the key is to choose evergreens with contrasts in foliage and growth habits such as grasses and Heucheras.

On the other hand that may be all too much fuss. You may see all you need to inspire you just by going for a long walk in the countryside and marveling at what is already at hand.

Guelder rose (Viburnum opulus)

August - shedding the years

It always seems harder to get down to the garden chores in the summer holidays. 

Facebook has irritating pictures of “Friends” having the most wonderful time in the most amazing weather with smiling faces all around them. Meanwhile you are staring at overgrown grass, weeds that are choking your shrubs and an enormous hedge to trim hoping that the kids next door don't spend all afternoon screaming on their trampoline.

To hide in sheds is certainly one of the reasons why they were invented. Others include: having somewhere to keep pieces of wood that might be useful one day, storing broken machinery and building piles of bicycles that can never be untangled. 

I have to say though that when a lady is in charge then it is often an entirely different and unrecognizable matter. Pegs, labels and order. 

A pal of mine can take up to 20 minutes to get his tools out because he has canoes, an electric table saw, a lathe, collapsible work benches, cables, sails, ropes and building equipment stored in there. His shed is 12 foot long and 5 foot wide and at the last count he still had a wife.

So if you can find your hedge trimmer and cable, some pruning shears and even some hand tools you might want to have a go at this month's tasks:

• Cut your hedges as there is still time for new growth to emerge before the cold sets in later in the year. Remember that the idea is not to have vertical sides to the hedge but ones that are “battered”. In other words they are broader at the base than the top.
• Trim Lavenders and Hebes but only lightly trying not to cut into the old growth if the plant is more than a few years old.
• Wisteria can still be cut back to 5 or 6 buds from the main stems.
• Rambling roses can have their stems that have flowered removed.
• Dead head the roses you know will give you a second flush of colour and scent.
• As ever, cut back  the stems of herbaceous plants that are now well and truly over.
• If greenfly or blackfly are becoming a problem mix a few squirts of washing-up liquid into a sprayer or a bucket of water then cover the plant with the solution. A soapy mix is just as good as that too will block up the breathing holes of those poor critters.
• Lawns can be very simply partially protected from going brown in dry spells (ho-ho-ho!) with a simple trick; just leave your grass cuttings on the lawn by keeping the collecting box off and this, in a small way, will help retain the moisture.
• Keep an eye out for plants that are wilting in the dry periods. A high wind can be just as dehydrating as bright sunshine for hanging baskets, pots and exposed plants.
• Top up your ponds especially if you are going away for a break. Fish, for example, need a certain volume of water to survive in order to keep up their oxygen levels and this can be aided by a small fountain or a running hose.  

·       When you have done all this you can collect all your trimmers, cables, hoses and shears and throw them into a big pile at the back of your shed. Then you can reach for that nice bottle of something you put in there 12 years ago.

If only you could find it.

Thanks to Ladybird Books Ltd for their piercing psychological insights into men and sheds.

·         

·         

July; very British lawns

July- very British lawns

One thing that does actually distinguish this country from other European countries is how we treat our lawns.

British lawns range from the ultra-tidy, striped, impeccably green ones (usually owned by scientists or former greenkeepers), to the hardly-ever-mown ones with bits of play equipment, dolls, butterflies and tortoises lost in the tall grasses. These ones are usually owned by members of the Green Party, ex-hippies or Indian Head massage practitioners. Sometimes if all three categories overlap you can get a really wild garden that feeds the Wildebeest escaping from the wildlife park.

Most of us are somewhere in the middle: green but mossy with occasional bare patches where the BBQ fell over or where the dog tried to bury something unspeakable. It is soft, the right colour, doesn’t need too much attention and is robust enough for Dad to re-live his fantasy of scoring the winning goals.

The worst lawn offenders are engineers. I realise I am about to lose a customer base by saying this, but I have yet to meet an engineer who doesn’t think that you have to shave a lawn to death rather than mow it. They are puzzled when it turns brown in summer and will go out and buy more Weed & Feed to add yet more chemicals to the disaster.

So let’s get down to the facts: most lawns are a collection of four or more different sorts of grasses. The best lawns have a mixture of Meadow grasses and the utility lawns usually have Perennial Ryegrasses and Timothy grasses. Each different grass species have their own strengths; some are good in droughts, some hard-wearing and some very frost resistant.

Looking after a lawn is a bit like having your cousins over for a meal; you have to serve something to keep them all happy and the best way to keep your grasses happy is:

-keep the grass from 20mm to 30mm long by mowing regularly

-use a product like Weed & Feed in spring (be careful to follow the instructions)

-aerate the lawn in spring and/or autumn if the kids have been jumping up and down on a patch. Do the same but with a garden fork.

-rake in spring and autumn with a spring-tine rake to take out any “thatch”. This is dead grass and moss that can accumulate on the surface of the soil and nothing to do with political opinions.

So now I have ruined the Wimbledon viewing in your house because you will be tut-tutting about the state of the courts in week two, let me move on swiftly to other tasks for this month.

·  Hardy Geraniums and Delphiniums can be cut back after they have flowered to encourage a second flowering.
·   Hanging baskets and displays can also be cut back to encourage a second flush but add liquid feed to nurture them.
·    Cut back the shoots of shrubs that have flowered such as Weigela and Philadelphus.
·    Cut back the current year’s side growths of Wisteria to about 150mm.
·     Prune deciduous Magnolias but never more than 25% of the canopy.
·     Prepare for the herbaceous and mixed borders getting over-grown by pushing in canes or long Beech twigs that can hold up the plants.
·     Trim fast-growing hedges such as Leyland cypress to avoid having to make one big chop that may expose brown stems.
·     Stay calm and keep hoeing out the weeds and inebriating the slugs.

And when you have done all of the above you can safely collapse onto your lawn knowing that the moss will soften your fall, that your daisies are perfect for making chains and the dandelion heads are ready for blowing.

Just don’t tell the neighbours.

June; making garden "rooms"

We are not all lucky enough to have acres of space that can be divided by Yew hedges, gravel walks and the odd tennis court or swimming pool here and there. However, even the smallest garden will benefit from being sub-divided into garden spaces that offer some surprises, a sense of journey and even a sense of mystery.

One of the reasons that new houses are so dull is that the gardens are an open book and are taken in at one glance.

A friend of mine has a typical terrace house with a long, thin garden. Her neighbour has gone for the B&Q option as I call it with a rectangular lawn with decking one end and paving the other. Brilliant if you are blind, inebriated or can't be bothered to walk to the park to practice penalties.

Her garden however winds its way from a sheltered seating area surrounded by climbers and small trees onto a path that goes through perennials, flowering shrubs, roses and fruit. There are no straight lines and at the end of the garden there is a secluded natural seating area with logs to sit on and wildlife to admire. 

It is full of life and colour and whilst it may not be great for footballers it is never without interest. The divisions are achieved by arches, trellis, trees and shrubs. You don't have to cut an area off from everything else. Thinking about what the garden can be used for ( a quiet corner for reading for example) will help you decide what you need.

If you do want to make some garden rooms a simple rule in design is to decide if you are going to have a garden of curves or straight lines and then choose your materials accordingly. You could always be adventurous and go for winding hedges or undulating trellis though rotating Laurel pyramids as seen on TV may not quite tick the sustainability box.

Whilst surveying your estate and calling for afternoon tea to be served you may want to get the staff onto this month’s priorities;

• Now is the time to get the summer bedding and hanging baskets out there. The worst of the frosts will be over, but remember to be very generous with the watering. Annual bedding plants will have come from a cosseted environment so will be used to regular hydration.
• The slugs seem to have been particularly numerous this year. I have resorted to the tried and tested control method of filling small leftover plastic containers with beer and giving them a cheery end. One gulp for me and then one gulp for them.
• Weeds may be getting a hold of your borders. Hoeing annuals, wiping Round-up or something similar on the leaves of the ground-elder, bindweed and couch and spraying SBK on nettles and docks will all help keep them in check. I find that brambles are best dug out.
• Lawns have suddenly picked up their speed of growth. Setting the height of your mower to a 35-50mm (1-2 inches) will ensure you are not too hard on the coarser grass varieties in your lawn but will allow the finer grasses to flourish. It is the finer grasses that stand up to the dry month’s best.
• When your spring bulbs look truly past it and the leaves are turning yellowy-brown you can then safely chop them down. Too early and they may not flower next year.
• The seeds from spring annuals and perennials can be sprinkled onto the borders for a show next year. Leave the Aquilegia and Forget-me-nots until the seed heads are dry and crispy then simply spread them over your chosen area.
• Magnolia, Fuchsia, Penstemon and Caryopteris are all on the tender side so now is the time to give them their prune rather than in the colder months when the frosts may get to them.

If you have strawberries, you might have timed it just right to put up your feet and enjoy a bit of Wimbledon in classic style. Mine are on course for a good year, but if you are going to buy them I suggest you go for organic, locally-grown varieties. They are much tastier than their imported cousins and it’s better to support your local grower isn’t it?

Then again the staff may have sorted all that out for you. 

Dream on.

May; simple garden design

Looking at a garden that you want to improve, and make your own can feel very daunting. Where do I begin? As Julie Andrews famously sang, ‘Let's start at the very beginning. It’s a very good place to start.’ You know the rest.

So, when tackling a garden, it can be useful to ask yourself questions that you would pose when decorating and furnishing a room in your house:

- What am I going to use the space for?

- How many people will use it?

- Do I want to make it darker, lighter, more colourful, more cosy, or what?

- What angle does the morning and evening sun come in?

- How much maintenance do I want to do?

- What style fits in with the surrounding architecture?

Having worked your way through that list, it can be helpful to think of the different components of the garden as being like the furniture and colour in a room.

You wouldn't put an armchair in the middle of a room, because it would dominate the space. Therefore, why would you put a big plant or border in the middle of your garden? Unless you need shade or you want screening, it will have the same effect in your garden.

Busy wallpaper and crammed-in furniture can make a room feel claustrophobic. So it is with an over-crowded outdoor space. Remember, there is a difference between an exciting space and a chaotic one.

Restrained colours on the walls and floors can be dull if taken to an extreme, but used well will create a sense of order and calm. So it is in gardens. Deciding on a restricted palette will create a sense of unity.

Perhaps you want a secluded corner or a quiet, reflective area just as you would have a reading chair or writing desk away from the thoroughfares and walkways.

Drawing a basic outline plan can be a start to working out ideas with pencil and paper. I always keep an eraser handy so I can improve ideas and easily sketch out new ones.

Yes, it is tricky getting the right plants for the right situation. Equally, knowing how to tackle changes of level, getting the right paving at the right price and most challenging, finding the right person to do the job, are all tasks you might want to leave to the professional. This is not just because every man I know who is over 50 has a bad back (and most of them still think they are 25!). It is because if you are going to spend money on a project you need to be sure you are spending it well.

So, when not embarking on your new career as a garden designer there will be plenty to keep you busy in your existing garden;

• Watering newly-planted trees and shrubs is critical at this time of year. The Royal Horticultural Society recommends giving a bucket of water every four days for a 2m tall tree unless there has been prolonged rainfall. And there hasn't been.
• Shrubs with hollow stems and branches can always be cut back hard. Spireas are one of this group. Don't touch the large arguta until it has finished its white-flowering show and then cut out about a third of the shoots. But old and straggly knee-high Spirea bumalda can be cut right back down to 10cm.
• If you are going to clip your hedges, then be sensitive to the wildlife that may be making a home there. Delay the task if you see birds nesting.
• In this early part of the growing season there is still time to tackle your pond. Water lilies will become less showy if they are not divided every few years.
• If you are keen to attract wildlife then make sure amphibians have easy access in and out of the pond. A small plank or a shingle edge to the pond will enable hedgehogs to drink without toppling in and meeting a watery end, as well as giving frogs an easier life.
• Resist the temptation to plant rows of bedding plants when the sun comes out. If it has been a brilliant day then the chance of a frost in the evening is still pretty high. Wait until the end of the month.

It is easy to think of the garden as nothing but a series of chores when everything starts growing at this time of year. If you are able to schedule and spread your tasks over the month, preferably working with someone else then is should be more of a pleasure than a pain.

Pleasure? That was the idea of having a garden in the first place wasn't it? Julie Andrews would approve.

April; loving your mess

They say you can tell a lot about a man by the company he keeps. So I hesitate to tell you this but a friend of mine overwinters his children's rabbit hutch in their kitchen, along with the rabbits of course. 

It's a slightly unnerving experience to have two pairs of glassy eyes staring at you as you bring your fork to your mouth. Images from The Curse of the Were-Rabbit go through your mind.

I also have an artist friend in Spain who rears hares in the bottom drawer of his living room cupboard before releasing them into the wild. 

Wise gardeners and allotment holders also seem to know which animals are beneficial for their plots and which are not, as well as how to get the best from them. Here’s my handy guide to garden friends and foes.

Frogs like to eat slugs so build a pond, however small and shallow to attract them, but make it is safe if toddlers are around. If you create gentle slopes to your pond you will also attract thirsty hedgehogs which will also eat your slugs. 

Bees will pollinate and cross-pollinate, so plan a wildflower patch with a bee-attracting plant mix. Even a small area of garden will do the job. You don’t need a meadow. These seed mixes can be surprisingly cheap if you shop around. 

By keeping a pile of twigs and rocks somewhere in your garden you will create the ideal habitat for a range of creepy things. Spiders, beetles and woodlice are not everyone's idea of pets but when you start getting ladybirds, frogs and slow-worms too it gets interesting. Try not to be freaked out if you see a slow-worm. Yes, they look like dangerous snakes, but they are harmless. Like a lot of us they enjoy basking in warm, protected spots and can often be found under discarded sheets of corrugated iron. 

As the season progresses the ladybirds will eat the aphids (green and black fly), the frogs will eat the slugs and the slow-worms will eat anything that is going. Bird life will add diversity and interest so keep your bird-bath topped up and your feeders full.

I would counsel caution when it comes to keeping chickens and rabbits. Foxes and rats will have a go at them and their feed, particularly in the spring, when they are raising their own young and have hungry mouths to feed. So you will need serious barriers in place to protect them. This includes having chicken wire dug 200 mm into the ground to stop foxes burrowing in. Watch Chicken Run for tips and beware of holes appearing under fences and sheds. 

When not spooling through your old Wallace and Gromit collection, now is the time to get stuck into important spring jobs. These include:

•    Straggly Photinia, Choisya (Mexican orange blossom), Laurel, Santolina ( cotton lavender)  and Brachyglottis (Senecio) can be improved with a hard chop. Take them back to 150mm if you need to. 

•    Reduce Cotinus (Smoke tree) and Sambucus (Elder) to create more dense foliage as this will best show them off.

•    It should now be mild enough to plant out species from Mediterranean climates.

•    Dead-head fading daffodil and tulip flowers but don't touch the foliage as this will feed the bulbs for next season.

•    The weeds will soon start showing their heads, so mulch, hoe and if you really have to then spray them. Be conscious that even in a light wind herbicides can drift. So be very discerning as to where and what you use.

•    Lawn feed can be applied, but avoid moss killer unless you are committed to re-sowing or laying turf on the bald and black patches where the moss has died.

•    Bumps and hollows in the lawn can now be repaired by cutting a cross and peeling back the turf in order to remove or add soil. 

•    Late frosts can damage fruit blossom, so cover the tips with a protective fleece or simply a light sheet.

And remember - bunnies are not just for Easter. Just ask Gromit if you don't believe me.