GARDENING

UP THE GARDEN PATH TIME TO PLAN AHEAD

By Julie Haylock, Sandhurst Garden Design

Autumn is traditionally the time of year to plan and plant in the garden. Whether you are planning to redesign your garden, create new borders or divide existing plants in overcrowded flower beds, now is the time to do it!

In autumn, the soil is still warm and rainfall reliable which makes the perfect recipe for making changes to existing planting or adding perennials, hedges, trees, shrubs and bulbs, giving them time to establish their roots before the worst of the winter weather. During the year, it is a good idea to make notes and take photographs of your borders to see which areas need to be improved. Doing this will make it easier in the autumn to make decisions about plants or shrubs which need to be relocated or replaced with something different. Divide your garden borders up into months, January/February, March/April and so on, and then into areas, front, middle and back of the border. Make notes so you can see clearly over the course of the year where an injection of colour, height or interest is needed. Ensure that your borders do not solely rely on colour and contrast. Remember to use form and texture, so that when blooms fade, foliage remains looking good and providing interest. Think of the flowers in your border in three main groups: spires, plants like foxgloves, delphiniums and larkspur; daisies, plants like echinacea, helenium and rudbeckia; and finally, umbellifers, plants like achillea and sedums. If you want, you could even add a fourth, flowers that are spherical in shape, like alliums and echinops. By doing this, you will ensure your border has a continuous supply of showstoppers. Evergreen shrubs form the backbone of the garden and are key to keeping the garden looking good throughout the year, and now is perfect time to plant them. Even in the smallest of gardens you can incorporate small dome-shaped evergreens like Ilex crenata, Hebe rakaiensis or Pittosporum tobira dotted through the borders, complementing the perennials. If you feel that height is missing in your borders, then consider adding a tree. Multi-

Julie Haylock

Garden Designer

20 Sandhurst Road, Yeovil, Somerset BA20 2LG

Tel: 07899 710168 Email: juliesandhurst1@gmail.com www.sandhurstgardendesign.co.uk

Contact Julie for garden and border design, planting plans, plant selection advice and garden styling

BBC Gardeners’ World Live Gold Medal Award Taunton Flower Show Gold Medal Award and The Western Daily Press Cup for Best Show Garden

stem trees are shrubbier in their appearance than a single stem tree, and as they mature, they will cast interesting shadows over your border. Amelanchier lamarckii is a great choice with its white early summer blossom and good autumn colour. If space is tight, then the upright habit of Malus ‘Adirondack’ may be the one for you? This crab apple has white blossom in spring followed by small edible red fruit in autumn. Or how about a Cornus kousa ‘Miss Satomi’? This small tree is covered in pink-bracted flowers in early summer and has fabulous golden-orange leaf colour in autumn. Just remember to read the label carefully to check on the final height and spread of the tree you choose to ensure it will have space to thrive. Until next time, Julie

OUR AUTUMN STYLING GUIDE

By Liv Sabat

Welcome back! Today I am covering how to style your garden and sunroom ready just in time for high autumn.

PLANTING

A lot of people seem to think that autumn is a month devoid of colour and life; this is not true. There are many plants that flower during the autumn that can bring colour and life back into your garden; the crocus, the dahlia and the Japanese anemone. The purples, pinks and reds of these flowers will bring vibrancy back to your garden. Whilst you may want to stick to more natural planting, artificial plants are okay too, particularly within your sunroom. To bring a bit more life back into your sunroom you may want to incorporate a few artificial greens to mix up the colours alongside the more neutral palette I mention below.

DECOR

We love our neutral, earthy colours when it comes to autumn home decor; beiges, whites, browns and tans. When decorating a sunroom in autumn, we love rattan furniture alongside a lovely oak-effect deck underfoot. As I mentioned above, it might be nice to have some artificial plants in your sunroom which could be placed into some lovely little wicker baskets and dotted around the space.

YOUR SUNROOM

Now, as it gets a little bit colder in the autumn, consider having a sliding glass wall installed if you haven’t already. The advantage of these sliding glass walls is that you can shut out the cold air and the noise, whilst still having the freedom to enjoy the beauty of your garden. You can go all in and opt to have radiant heaters as well, the advantage of these being that they don’t heat up the objects around you, they just keep you warm. It also starts to get darker earlier in the day so it may be a good idea to include LED lighting. There are two different types of LED lighting; spotlighting and strip lighting. The spotlights are just a white light but the strip lights are RGB meaning you can change the colour of them to fit the mood. Either kind of lighting allows the sunroom to be used at any time during the day or night, no matter the weather.

In conclusion, a sunroom is perfect if you want to be able to enjoy your outdoor space throughout the autumn and there are so many ways that you can style it; those were just some of our favourites and I know you will be able to think of many more. Thank you so much for reading. See you next month!

Bats

Bats in the belfry hanging upside down, After sunset they start to fly around. An organised squadron they duck and dive, Skillfully catching insects, to make them thrive.

As they swoop between branches and leaves, It is hard to believe they can hardly see. These mystic creatures are full of grace, Happiest at roost in a dark place.

Legends surround them of days gone by, A lifetime conducted in our jet-black skies. And during this time of year at Halloween, A bat or two might just be seen!

Their night-time ritual, stars shining bright, Their frame silhouetted by silver moon light. Around the church steeple then gone, flying high, Little bats disperse before the dawn sky.

Andrew Haylock

AUTUMN TASKS

By Mike Burks, managing director of The Gardens Group and chairman of the Garden Centre Association

CASTLE GARDENS

New Road, Sherborne DT9 5NR

Tel: 01935 814633

BRIMSMORE GARDENS

Tintinhull Road, Yeovil BA21 3NU

Tel: 01935 411000

POUNDBURY GARDENS

Peverell Avenue, Poundbury DT1 3RT

Tel: 01305 257250 www.thegardensgroup.co.uk

I’ve heard it said that there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing – so there’s no excuse not to get out into the garden!

There is often a gloriuos spell between the summer and the start of winter when, if we get a sunny day, it is an unexpected bonus. It is also when lots of plants come into their finest hour, sometimes this will be the culmination of their efforts over the year with flowers turning into seed so that their species can continue or the ripening of berries or fruit, which bring a wonderful glow. The cold nights start to turn the colour of the foliage of deciduous plants and that combined with the plants getting rid of their waste can cause fabulous autumnal colours.

Once these leaves fall then another feature appears, as stems are revealed in their winter glory especially the dogwoods, birches, contorted hazel and spindleberries.

Autumn is the time to get a number of tasks done, which will prepare the garden for the tough months to come and also get them in better shape for the following year. This includes the first and most important stages of controlling such problems as blackspot in roses, scab on apples, and peach leaf curl.

Blackspot overwinters on the leaves and other debris that falls from the rosebush in the autumn. It huddles here until the spring when the new leaves start to appear above. At the first opportunity the fungal spores head for the fresh growth and reinfect the plant. So, by removing – raking up – the debris, the life cycle of blackspot is interrupted and reinfection will reduce. I can’t claim that you won’t get blackspot because unfortunately the disease is endemic and unless everyone in a 20-mile radius follows the same practice, blackspot is here to stay. But it will give your roses a clean start. Mulching with something like Bloomin’ Amazing will also help as it will seal in any spores.

It’s a similar story with apple scab which reduces the yield of apples and also disfigures the fruit. Once the leaves have fallen and autumn pruning is completed, the debris needs to be cleared away. Commercially this would be done by shredding all such material and spraying the area with a solution of urea. This is high in nitrogen and acts as a compost accelerator feeding the bacteria that naturally break down the leaves. Soon the debris has disappeared and with it the home of the scab spores which then perish. Again such treatment will not eradicate the disease but it means a clean start. We don’t sell bottled urea but I’ll leave it to your imagination as to a suitable and free source!

There is also some pruning to do now especially of tall fast growers such as Buddleia davidii and lavatera (the tree mallows). These shrubs have grown long and leggy with lots of flower over the summer and if the foliage is left unpruned, wind rock in the winter weather will allow water to get into the area at the base of the stem. When there is a big freeze this will cause what I describe as the ice-lolly effect with the potential of greater damage. However, pruning too hard will expose the centre of the plant to a potentially tough winter; therefore a compromise is required so that foliage is reduced by half in the autumn and then finished off in the early spring. Such pruning will not only protect the shrub but will also cause it to produce lots of fresh growth on which flowers will later emerge.

Whilst you are out in the garden carrying out such tasks, enjoy the late autumn and winter garden pleasures whether it is the glorious glow of foliage and stem, the rich colours of fruit and berries or the scent of winter flowers from mahonia, viburnum and sarcococca.

Garden Landscape & Construction Services

www.sherbornegardenangels.co.uk 01935 324737