GARDENING

Low Maintenance Garden Railings

Guaranteed not to corrode or flake for 10 years, our garden railings also benefit from being another low maintenance product from ColourFence that you can fit, forget and simply enjoy.

ColourRail garden railings are a superior alternative to wrought iron railings, ideal for where full screening is not required. It can be mounted free-standing or between existing pillars or on top of walls. Available in Flat top, Spear, Loop & Spear, Ball Top and Ball & Loop finishes.

Manufactured from 16mm galvanized steel tube, it is available in a number of standard heights up to 1.5m or made to measure. Our garden railings come at a standard width of 2.4m but can be cut down according to your needs. Six colours are offered as standard including cream, blue, green, brown, anthracite grey and gloss black. Both railings and gates are finished by hand in our own workshops and are high quality, economic and very attractive alternative to more costly wrought or cast iron.

To arrange a free site survey and no-obligation quotation call 01935 481013 or for more information visit www. colourfencesouthsomerset.co.uk.

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

PLANTS AS CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

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

Christmas is coming and if we are careful and lucky, we may be able to celebrate this year, with family and friends visiting – remember the old days?

It’s great to be able to fill the house with natural colour and scent as well as the usual decorations. A few years ago, we were having a New Year’s Eve party with lots of friends coming round and I had decided to decorate with poinsettias and amaryllis. If you don’t know amaryllis, they are large trumpet flowers on tall stems in dramatic colours of red, white, pink and sometimes bicoloured too.

We stock some fabulous and very large amaryllis bulbs, and the rule is the larger the bulb the more flowers will appear. I potted them on in early December and they began to grow well, but still to my astonishment, they all began to flower in time for New Year’s Eve. Whereas the celebration was for one night, the flowers kept going and in fact were still going until May!

I added to the collection in subsequent years and kept repotting my original batch and now four years on, I had flowers until August and then another came back into flower in midSeptember.

Amaryllis make a great Christmas present to a friend or to oneself, as do many other indoor bulbs. Hyacinths can be very useful with their glorious colours and powerful scent. These come from ‘prepared’ bulbs planted in early September. However, if you’ve missed out on hyacinths at the bulb stage then our growers grow them as individual pots and then group together those at the same stage to ensure even flowering. We have them as planted bowls but also as individuals if you are doing your own arrangement.

Other bulbs include the powerfully scented Paperwhites, a form of narcissi, which are so easy to grow and great value too. In normal temperatures in the house, they take around six weeks from potting until flowering. My suggestion is to grow them in cool conditions so that they stay sturdy and robust, and then gently increase the warmth to get them into flower.

Cyclamen are also a seasonal favourite. They are grown from corms (a sort of bulb) but the indoor types are available as ready grown plants and can be kept from year to year. They enjoy cool conditions and must be watered from the base to keep them in good form. What the plant doesn’t drink after a quarter of an hour can be tipped away leaving the plant in a dry saucer. The flower colours are stunning from purest white to darkest reds and purples, as is the range of sizes from minis through to the very large.

Such bulbs in bud or flower at Christmas make wonderful presents and with our ecofriendly gift wrapping and free delivery service this can be an ideal gift. But of course, don’t forget that it’s important to cheer ourselves up too so, go on, treat yourself!

THE FENCING & GATE COMPANY

Domestic Fencing Specialist All types of fencing and gates supplied and erected

Over 30 years experience Free Survey and Quotation 10 year guarantee • No VAT 01935 330 095 01460 353 046

By Julie Haylock, Sandhurst Garden Design

As the nights draw in and the days become shorter, there is still lots to enjoy in the garden. The low sunlight at this time of year highlights the last of any autumn colour in the borders and makes the red, yellow, and orange berries, foliage, and hips glow like the embers of a bonfire. Perennials like Sedum ‘Herbstfreude’, which in late summer and autumn had deep pink flower heads loved by bees, now turn a tawny red as seed heads die back and look great covered by a layer of sparkling frost. Trees like Betula Jacquemontii and Prunus Serrula have great bark colour and texture, and when combined with the stems of Cornus Midwinter Fire or the golden grass stems of Stipa Gigantea look stunning backlit by the sun and underplanted with winter-flowering heather and bulbs. Evergreens in your garden give it structure. Here is my selection of some shrubs that look great at this time of year. Ceratostigma Willmottianum; this dainty trueblue shrub likes to be in a sheltered spot, in well-drained soil. This shrub has tightly packed flower heads that open a few at a time. Viburnum Opulus ‘Xanthocarpum’ or guelder rose is a yellow-fruited shrub making an excellent large specimen in the garden. In June, this shrub has white lacecap blooms that develop into bunches of translucent amber bead-like berries. At this time of year some varieties of roses produce fantastic hips of all shapes, colour and size, and one of them is Rosea Moyesii ‘Geranium’. The arching habit of this Chinese species of rose has scarlet blooms early on and then delivers with a bang again later in the year bearing bright red hips on thin stalks. Clerodendrum Trichotomum var. Fargesii; I remember the first time I saw this exoticlooking shrub growing in full sun in a sheltered garden on Exmoor. This large deciduous shrub from China produces fragrant sprays of white flowers in summer followed by shiny berries surrounded by beetroot-coloured bracts that start green before turning to duck-egg blue which then ripen to a dark teal colour. November is the perfect time to plant your tulip bulbs in beds and borders. Last year I planted combinations of tulips in containers, and I will do the same again this year.

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

Choose a couple of varieties that complement each other. Tulips do not like standing in wet soil so place some crocks over the drainage hole in the base of your container and add a layer of grit. Place the first layer of bulbs in the base of the container on a layer of compost and then cover with another layer of compost. Add a second or even third layer of bulbs depending on the size of your container and remember to add a label recording which bulbs you have planted in which containers. Then finally to make the container look attractive until the bulbs pop up, add winter flowering pansies for an instant splash of colour. Until next time, Julie

HOW TO CREATE AN OUTDOOR LIVING SPACE FOR WINTER

By Liv Sabat

In order to really make the most of your outdoor space, it should be usable all year round, not just in the summer. Now that we’re getting into the cold, gloomy winter months, we can feel as though there are obstacles for outdoor use, so many of us decide to retreat indoors to avoid the cold. However, with the help of heating and lighting, the outdoors can also become a luxurious and comfortable outdoor living space during winter as well as summer.

All our patio roof structures are fully watertight when closed which protects the space from any rain or snow. For further protection and warmth, especially in the colder months, you can choose to add sliding glass doors and blinds to your construction which would create the cosy indoor feeling. The main reason people tend to stick to the indoors in the colder months is due to the freezing cold weather. To be able to ensure that you can enjoy your outdoor space at a comfortable temperature all year round, you can add heaters to the glass room. The heaters, being radiant, only heat up your body and not your surroundings so there is no need to worry about burning yourself on anything around you. Winter months offer the least amount of daylight which is why adding LED lighting would be a bonus, whether you choose the LED spotlights, LED linear lights, or both. Incorporating good lighting into your outdoor space will provide an additional feeling of warmth and comfort. The linear lighting is RGB which means you can change it to any colour you desire. Outdoor furniture often requires protection from winter weather and sometimes we may not know where to store it. With our garden room you can be certain that your furniture is safe. This is where our glass doors come into play; they seal everything safely inside when they are closed. During fairer weather you can open them so you can enjoy the fresh winter breeze, indoors. The roofs on all of our sunrooms are completely watertight, as mentioned above, but they also won’t cave in under the weight of the snow either. This means you can rest easy knowing that you and all your belongings will be safe.

A sunroom is perfect for winter because it provides you with space, space for gatherings over Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year; the whole holiday season in fact. They will provide a warm and homely atmosphere for all to enjoy!