Home and Garden
Love your
garden
by Greenfingers
A
lthough the weather hasn’t allowed much time just lately to be working outside, the hedges have all been cut and they look fabulous! Nothing can make me feel better than a hedge or lawn well cut and finished……it makes everything in the garden look so much better and the land is defined so neatly. I’ve found a couple who have made such a difference. I met them before we had the lockdowns with Covid and they cut the hedges for the first time. I’m not as tall as I used to be, so hedge cutting would have meant me precariously poised up the ladder with hedge trimmer in tow……..not a good thought! As the hedges are quite dense and tall it’s too big a job for me to do on my own now. This pair came to the rescue and now have a job for life! I’ve begun the under-planting of the trees with spring bulbs and violas and have finally sown some seeds and taken cuttings which are nestling in the greenhouse. Wonderful to have one furnished with electricity, so the travelling kettle and CD player have found a permanent home inside! The Amistad salvia is, amazingly still flowering abundantly and has become an enormous plant…so copious cuttings from it are being taken. It’s not reliably hardy, so it’s an insurance policy against losing it in a sudden frost. I’m awaiting a delivery of other bulbs, directly from Holland, from a company that has a huge and different selection which I can’t obtain locally, so that will be a joy when they arrive, to get on with more planting. Cutting back the campsis vine has been a bit laborious, especially as a bramble had invaded behind it which I only discovered by getting a handful of it…a prickly surprise! Still the digging out and the cutting back have been good cardiac exercise and it’s good for the soul! I’m still undecided about where to site the pond in the back garden—it has quite a slope to it so I expect it’ll be at the top or the bottom eventually. I’m looking forward to that as a project and to introducing some new species into the garden. The medlar is still in a pot and I need to plant that out soon! It has
such beautiful blossom and quite unusual looking fruits. I would also like to buy a small variety apple tree to complete the ‘orchard’. The variegated hedychiums haven’t flowered well this year due to lack of water, but the foliage is spectacular even now. The foliage on the others has begun to die back and I’m trimming it off when it starts to look really ragged. They are such large plants now, I’ll be splitting them again in the spring. More plants for free! My friend and I are still walking during the week and on the weekend. As we go along, we see all sorts of wild life and we’ve noticed that it has been a marvellous year for wild cyclamen……. they are everywhere that we walk, large clumps, small clumps… and the colours are a delight ranging from white through to purple. We can see through the hedges to fields beyond, all sprinkled with these welcome, cheery little plants. It’s made the walking quite special and we get a positive feeling from that. It’s not too late for us all to do something which will help plants like these and so many others, to survive. I too have cyclamen growing in the garden which I naturalised a few years ago and their natural propagation process is fascinating. The flower dies and the seed, like a small, hard nut, stays on the end of the stem. The stem then begins to spiral down towards the earth until it makes contact, and the seed is planted automatically! Isn’t nature wonderful?
Now is the time to:
Greenfingers
There are several jobs and activities which continue from last month; the garden and plants are gradually preparing themselves for dormancy; so if there is some repetition I apologise…….but if you haven’t had time yet to start on the winding down jobs you’ve still got time. • Although our winters are usually milder than those in the UK, it is as well to check that structures in the garden are safe and secure…….the winds can be quite fierce during this season and after experiencing a greenhouse which blew away completely after a windy winter storm, I’m always keen to make sure that everything is tied in, tied down or tied up!……..I was collecting greenhouse panels from around the neighbourhood for several weeks after that escapade! • Check too that fence panels are secure as much as is possible. It’s a good time to carry out any necessary repairs and also to repaint the panels with some wood preserving paint. Check that climbing plants are properly tethered and attached to supports. Make sure that tree ties are not biting into the bark, relax them a bit if they are. • Keep a supply of fleece to hand in case frost or snow are forecast and investing in a small greenhouse heater or even a hurricane lamp is helpful in keeping cuttings and seedlings warm and frost free. • Avoid walking on wet or frozen soil as this can lead to compaction. Walking on frozen grass can damage it badly too. • Deciduous hedges such as beech or hornbeam can be trimmed or renovated during the next few months. • Lemon trees need a night-time temperature of around 10°C and will benefit from a citrus fertiliser at this time of year.
18 | The Deux-Sèvres Monthly, December 2021
