With the weather being so ghastly at the moment, nothing is so urgent that it can’t wait until March, but if you do have itchy feet then there are a few things you can do.  

1.  Make a start pruning your roses but don’t get too hung up about the technicalities, it often doesn’t make too much difference to the number of flowers you get. With bush roses, reduce them down by about a third, just above an outward facing bud, cutting out any dead bits or crossing stems.  

 Whilst you’ve got your secateurs out, don’t be tempted to get too trigger happy. If you can’t remember what a plant is, it’s probably best not to cut it back as you might be cutting off this year’s flowers. As a general rule if a shrub flowers before the end of June cut it back after it has flowered (such as forsythia, lilac, mahonia, viburnum bodnantense etc.) but if it flowers after the end of June cut it back in the autumn (such as spireas, potentillas and hypericums).

 2. Tidy up any dead herbaceous perennials, if not already done so, and dig-in any well rotted garden compost that you made last year. 

 3. It’s also the ideal time to prune your wisterias to give you maximum flowers in the spring. You can be quite harsh, cutting those whippy stems right back to two buds away from the main stem and cut away any dead wood.

 4.  As it is quiet in the garden right now, take the opportunity to give your greenhouse a thorough good clean (if it is empty). Scrub the frame and glass to get rid of any fungal spores or any over-wintering pests and clean and disinfect any seed trays and pots to give your seedlings a clean and healthy start.  

 5. If you have been storing bulbs or any other types of tubers, now’s a good time to check them over to ensure that no rots have set in.

 6. Remember to get your gardening equipment serviced early. Take it out of the shed now to make sure it all still works. Don’t’ wait until March or April to take your mower in for a service; we know from experience that if you leave it too late to take your mower in, you might have to wait weeks to get it back, just at the time when you need it the most. Everyone else leaves it to the last minute.

 7. Get ahead of yourself now by digging over any bare soil and breaking-up any clods to give you a fine crumbly seed bed in preparation for sowing. It’s still too early to sow most things outside but you could have a go at planting a few radishes, leeks or parsnips if you are really keen. Inside, you can start sowing a few tomatoes on your window sills to get an early start.

 8. One last thing I would recommend to do this month is to try to find a snowdrop walk and enjoy them before they go over. It will really lift your spirits and get you in the mood for gardening when it does warm up. Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge, has a great winter walk that goes on until the last week in February.

What a month its been, snow, snow and more snow. Although, a covering of snow does make the landscape look beautiful and  romantic it isn’t great for the garden and certainly isn’t great for gardeners. But at least the days are starting to draw out slowly and there are signs of life in the borders as the spring bulbs start to push through. Some early snowdrops are already out and some daffodils are well on their way. Here’s a few jobs to do if you can get out.

 1. Shake any snow off hedges and shrubs so stop them being weighed down and damaged.

 2. Keep the surface of ponds ice free by placing footballs on the surface or melting holes with the bottom of a pan containing hot water.

 3. Keep feeding the birds and make sure delicate plants have a thick coat of fleece around them.

 4. During any milder spells don’t be tempted to cut back any frost damaged plants, leave them be until the warmth of spring arrives. Leave dead or desiccated herbaceous plants as they are, should the cold weather return as it’s supposed to, they’ll provide snug havens for birds as well as providing seed and berries for food.

 5. Continue to remove leaves and debris from lawns but avoiding walking on them when they’re frozen or saturated and when spreading salt on garden paths be sure to avoid any adjoining grass, the salt will kill it outright!

 6. If and when you can, scrub decking and patio areas with a stiff brush to remove slime and prevent them from being slippery; use a propriety patio cleaner or a weak bleach solution.

 7. Make sure greenhouse heaters are set at the right level and working correctly to prevent your most precious plants from freezing to death and turning to mush. Some areas have had power cuts so it’s worth checking that they’re functioning correctly. Use bubble wrap on the inside of the glass for extra insulation and keep your plants on the dry side, many plants will cope with cold and dry but cold and wet spells death for many.

 8. On beds and borders if the weather does allow then continue to dig in organic material, but avoid doing this if the ground is wet and heavy, you’ll cause more harm than good as it will compact the soil forcing out the air and making it more prone to waterlogging.

 9. If you are snowed in then now is the time to peruse those seed and plant catalogues and consider what you’d love to grow this year, perhaps a brand new introduction, a challenging delicate plant, new varieties of potato or perhaps flowers to cut for the house.

 10. Keep an eye on your house plants this time of year, provide maximum light, keep them on the dry side, except for azaleas that love to sit in water, keep them away from cold draughts and hot radiators and make sure the more delicate ones aren’t trapped in a pool of cold air behind curtains during the night.

One of our favourite horticultural jobs at this time of year must be choosing our Christmas tree. Real trees don’t suit everyone but for the people who do want one, you generally have a choice of Spruces (such as the traditional Norway Spruce) or Firs (such as the Nordman Fir or Douglas Fir). They each have their own pros and cons; the spruces tend to be cheaper but the firs don’t drop their needles so readily. What ever you go for, just remember to treat the tree like a cut flower, cut the bottom couple of inches off and make sure it has plenty of water. Don’t put it next to a radiator and keep it outside in a bucket of water until you are ready to bring it in.

1.      Clear the remainder of the leaves, most would have come down already. Last to come down are normally weeping willow leaves followed by the alders.

2.      As with last month make sure your tender plants are protected, either fleeced or brought indoors.

3.      You shouldn’t need to do any hoeing but if you do get the urge be careful not to hoe off any emerging bulbs. It’s easily done, I did it twice last week !

4.      Continue planting deciduous trees and shrubs. It’s a good time for planting both fruit trees and fruit bushes. You can still just about get away with planting any bulbs if you didn’t get time last month.

5.      This time of year is traditionally the best time to prune your apples and pears. Cut off any dead or diseased branches and any crossing branches to keep an open shape. With apple trees I was always told that they should be nice and open so that a pigeon could fly right throw the tree without knocking into any branches. Remember don’t prune cherries, plums and peaches until the spring/ early summer.

6.      Don’t be tempted to feed your plants at this time of year. Most are not actively growing so they don’t need it. Any soft growth that may be promoted could get hammered by the cooler temperatures.

7.      Give your compost heap a good stir to ensure that it gets mixed thoroughly.

8.      Caring for Poinsettias. If you get a poinsettia for Christmas, make sure you keep it well lit, away from draughts and don’t let the temperatures fall below 13 degrees. Don’t over water and let the compost dry out between waterings. To get it to colour up again for next Christmas, cut the stems back to about 10cm in the early spring and then  re-pot and water in May. At the start of October cover the plant from the early evening so that it gets 14 hours of darkness. Do this for 8 weeks and then the bracts should turn red. Remember, the key is 14 hours of darkness for 8 weeks.

9.      Clear away any dead anuuals, runner beans, bedding, sweet peas etc.

10.  Dig over vacant areas; the winter frosts should help to break down the soil ready for working in the spring.

Well what a weird old month November is turning out to be! Although we have had plenty of rain now, and some places have had more than enough, this autumn has started off remarkably well. Temperatures have been above normal in our part of Hertfordshire, and when the sun does come out you can still work outside in t-shirts. More importantly, we haven’t had a frost yet! No doubt we will get a hammering in due course but at the moment it’s so much better than last autumn.

1. Keep on top of the leaves. It’s a laborious job but it is worth while. Keep raking them up, especially if they are on your grass or on your patio and paths; wet leaves on hard surfaces can be dangerous, but don’t worry too much on your herbaceous borders as they will eventually rot down and improve the soil (Unless they are trapped around plants as they can be a hiding place for slugs).Diseased leaves such as black spot infected rose leaves should be disposed of by burning to prevent carry over of infection. The rest stick on the compost heap.
2. Keep cutting back herbaceous perennials once they go over and turn yellow.
3. Keep an eye on the weather forecasts. If frost is predicted, bring in any tender plants or wrap them in several layers of fleece.
4. Take hardwood cuttings (shrubs and trees such as Forsythia, Buddleia and Photinia) and root cuttings (Oriental poppies, Chaenomoles, Acanthus, Crambe, Dicentra, Eryngium). See Propagation section for instructions on how to do it.
5. Not too late to plant bulbs. November is ideal for planting tulips.
6. Depending on where you are in the country, you may need to lift your dahlias and store them over winter. If you are in a mild area just leave them in and mulch the crown to protect it. If not, cut the stem right down to just above ground level, dig up the tuber and wash off the soil. Let it dry and then store in sand, newspaper or dry compost. Keep them cool and dry but frost free.
7. Normally, we would expect to put the lawn mower away at this time of year, but if it continues to stay mild you might get another grass cut before Christmas especially if it’s dry. Don’t forget grass can still grow even at 5 degrees. If you are finished with it, give it a good clean before you put it away.
8. If you are really bored and looking for something to do, you can always clean and oil your hand tools such as spades, hoes and forks – not my favourite job I must say.  
9. Take a few moments to do a bit of garden planning. Look back at your gardening successes and gardening failures and start to plan next year’s projects. There may be beds to dig over or new areas to plant.
10. In the veg plot, clear away any dead or dying plants such as tomatoes and runner beans, dig over any bare areas and mulch with manure.

Fabulous, Fun and Spooky Planters for Halloween from Woolcott & Smith

Autumn is a fab time for planting and also for those spooky Halloween pumpkins. So  this year, why not combine the two and enjoy your pumpkins as planters a few days before Halloween. Then simply convert them back into the traditional Halloween lanterns on Halloween night. Easy to do, you can get the kids involved, enjoy your plants presented in a fun way and then plant them out in the garden once you have finished.

Step 1 -           Choose a large pumpkin

Step 2 -           Draw your design on the pumpkin, the scarier the better

Step 3 -           Cut the top off and scoop out the flesh and seeds

Step 4 -           Carve out the design with care

Step 5 -           Choose a grass or spikey plant such as a phormium and drop it

                        into the top of the pumpkin to make it’s hair

 ( If the pot is too big remove the plant from the pot, cut the pot in half, place one half at the back of the carved out face to create a black screen, then remove a little compost from around the root ball of the plant, place the root ball in a freezer or sandwich bag and simply drop into the pumpkin behind the black screen).

 Step 6 -           Once you have finished with it simply take the plant out and

                        plant it out in the garden. Don’t forget to recycle the pumpkin on

                        the compost heap, or wash it out and make into soup.

Meet The family –  (Back row left to right, then front row left to right)

‘Witch Doctor ’ - We have used Carex ‘Comans Bronze’

‘Spike’              - We have used Phormium ‘Rainbow Queen’

‘Scarecrow’       - We have used the red grass Uncinia rubra

‘Banshee’           - We have used Festuca glauca ‘Elijah Blue’

‘Smiler ’             - We have used Acorus gramineus ‘Variegatus’

Have Fun !

1. Now is a good time to start thinking about giving your lawns some TLC with an autumn lawn treatment. Rake out any thatch of dead brown grass and improve drainage by spiking or aerating. On heavy soils brush sand into the holes to improve drainage and on light sandy soils brush in compost or top soil to improve the moisture retention. If the weather permits you can keep mowing for a few weeks to keep the lawns sharp. 
2. Try to keep on top of the leaves if you can, especially if they are on the lawn as they can turn the grass yellow if left to rot. Don’t get too worried about leaves on your flower beds as these will eventually rot down or you can dig them in giving extra nutrients. Diseased leaves should be burnt to stop any infection from carrying over to next year. 
3. We try to give roses a light autumn prune, just to put them to bed before Christmas. If you prune down by a third it will stop wind rock which can reduce the rigour of the plant. Rake up and burn old rose leaves, especially if infected with black spot. 
4. Tidy up Buddleias now that they have finished flowering. Cut back by a third, just above a pair of leaves. You can cut them back hard in March. 
5. Keep lifting and dividing perennials such as Michaelmas Daisies, Alchemila, Campanula and Phlox if required. 
6. As deciduous trees are now becoming dormant you can start planting new fruit trees and ornamentals. Peaches and nectarines always do better if planted in the early autumn when the soil is still reasonably warm, apples and pears aren’t so fussy. 
7. If frosts have destroyed the last of the summer bedding or you are just fed up with them, pull them up and get rid of them. Think about planting autumn / winter bedding such as Violas and pansies, Bellis, Cyclamen and wall flowers. Pansies and Violas always do better if planted early autumn and I always prefer Violas to pansies as they flower better, look neater and don’t need so much dead heading. 
8. Raise your pots up with pot feet to stop them sitting in water over the winter and give some of your more tender plants a bit of protection. If we get some harsh frosts remember that you need to properly fleece your plants; one layer of fleece is not enough you need several layers and cover the pot itself as well. 
9. Keep planting spring bulbs.  
10. In the veg garden, harvest your pumpkins and squashes. Once cut you will help storage if you leave them in the sun for a couple of days to let the skins  harden before storing somewhere cool, dark and dry. 

     If your tomatoes are still refusing to turn red, try pulling them up and hanging

    them up side down in the greenhouse or somewhere bright. It should help them

    to ripen.

1. Make some notes on the position of your herbaceous perennials in your borders. Now is a good time to think about where to move them to later on in the autumn if you are not happy with their current position or height in the border etc. It is always a good idea to mark them with a stick as they die down so that you don’t dig them up by accident in the spring.

2. Lift and shift. Towards the end of the month you can lift those perennials, divide them and then move them somewhere else. 

3. Start thinking about buying and planting spring bulbs. Daffodills are pest planted towards the end of the month and tulips are best planted in November. 

4. Cut summer fruiting raspberry canes down to the ground once they have finished fruiting if you didn’t do so last month. The new canes which will still be green will provide fruit for next year so leave these and tie in for next year. Pick autumn flowering raspberries.

5. Continue to collect seed from perennials and annuals once the seed pods have dried out to either give to friends or re-sow yourself.

6. Don’t be tempted to forget about your hanging baskets and pots; keep watering, feeding and deadheading to prolong flowering. Most will flower quite happily until the first frosts.

7. If you are thinking about re-turfing your garden or re-seeding your lawn, now is a good time to do it as the soil is still reasonably warm and there tends to be more rainfall.  

8. Continue to harvest your veg, potatoes, sweetcorn, runner beans and tomatoes. If, god forbid, there are any light frosts at the end of the month, cover your outdoor tomatoes with fleece for protection and don’t forget to keep feeding them with tomato feed. Don’t forget keep picking runner beans, ideally when they are young and not stringy, to keep encouraging continued cropping.

1. August is a good month to summer prune wisterias. We normally trim back the wispy spurs by about a third or to about 5 or 6 buds from the main stem. To help flowering next year feed with tomato feed to give it a boast. The main pruning time for wisterias is the middle of winter (Jan / Feb) when you trim the spurs back to 2 or 3 buds from the main stem.
2. Continue to deadhead roses and other perennials to prolong flowering.
3. If you want to save seed from your perennials for growing on next year, now is a good time to do so. Cut heads of hardy geraniums, aquilegias and poppys for drying out. Collect the seed in paper bags or envelopes and keep somewhere cool and dry.
4. Identify and mark gaps in your borders now for planting of autumn bulbs before the perennials die down.
5. Once this year’s raspberry canes have finished fruiting, cut the old canes down to the ground and tie in the new canes. Pin strawberry runners into pots of compost to create new plants.
6. Put stout stakes around autumn flowering perennials such as dahlias, chrysanthemums and michaelmas daisys to keep them supported.
7. As soon as lavender has finished flowering take the shears to it and reduce it back to about ½ inch into the new growth but no lower. Keep the seed heads for their fragrance and use indoors.
8. Continue to feed and water tubs and baskets.
9. Make sure houseplants aren’t left on windowsills in the summer sunshine (should we have any!) as they can scorch in direct sunlight.
10. Trim back leggy annuals to give them a new lease of life such as petunias, nicotianas and nemesia.

1. As the weather has been warm and dry for much of the month (apart from the odd heavy shower) our main advice this month is to keep your pots, baskets and containers watered; once a day for your containers and pots, and twice a day for hanging baskets. Don’t forget to feed your bedding plants and baskets every fortnight to ensure they last through the season. Tomato feed or ‘Miracle-Gro’ is ideal for this. You may have to get the hose pipe out to give your borders a good soaking. If you are growing runner beans in pots it is especially important not to let them dry out.
2. Cut back the spent flower stems of perennials that have gone over such as lupins, delphiniums and aquilegias if you don’t want them to seed everywhere.
3. Keep an eye out for pests, especially caterpillars and aphids and either pick them off or treat them with something such as ‘Provardo’ (Based on thiacloprid) or try out biological control if there aren’t that many of them such as nematodes (for caterpillars) or parasitic wasps (for aphids and whitefly).
4. Keep dead heading your plants to ensure continued flowering, e.g. roses, valerian and pelargoniums.
5. Fill gaps in your borders with bedding plants .
6. Divide bearded irises now that they have finished flowering.
7. Tidy up trees that have started to send out suckers by cutting them back to the base of the trunk. Also cut back rose suckers and parts of variegated plants such as elaeagnus that may have started to revert, i.e. turn back to green and loose their varigation.
8. Keep a look out for blight on your potatoes and tomatoes. There is a forecasting system for blight called a ‘Smith Period’ – this is defined as 2 consecutive days starting at 9am in the morning where temperatures are over 10 degrees C for at least 11 hours and the relative humidity is over 90%. In other words blight will spread when it is warm and wet, conditions that we have already had in the last few weeks. You will start to see brown patches on the leaves (potatoes and tomatoes) and tomato stems may develop black patches. Prevention is better than cure, avoid growing potatoes and tomatoes in the same spot, try not to water with sprinklers as spores can develop on wet leaves. Grow resistant varieties and grow early potatoes so you can harvest before blight takes hold. On potatoes it is a good idea to remove the haulm or foliage if blight arrives late in the season so that the tubers do not get infected as blight will spread from the leaves down to the tubers by rain splash.The only sure fire way to keep tomatoes and potatoes free from blight is to spray the leaves with a protectant fungicide before blight appears and then spray regularly to keep it away.
9. Give your lawn a summer feed if it didn’t receive a spring treatment and keep it well watered to ensure that it stays green as we haven’t had enough rain this month.
10.  Top up your ponds and water features now that the weather is warming up as water is being lost to evaporation.

Plants in the garden continue to grow apace this month to fill in the gaps in your borders . Thankfully, we have now had enough rain to keep the garden happy for a few weeks here in Hertfordshire. The rain coupled with the sun and warm temperatures have created ideal growing conditions. We have also had something of a novelty over the last week or so; and that’s warm evenings, so we have been able to actually sit out and enjoy a glass of wine in the garden. The long term weather forecast looks reasonable so maybe it’s the start of a decent summer for once.

1. Pull up your dead daffodil, tulip and bluebell foliage if you haven’t already done so now that they have died down enough.
2. Now that the birds have flown their nests now is a good time to get your hedges cut and trimmed. We always try to resist the temptation to do it earlier so we don’t disturb them.
3. Trim back Forsythia, lilacs and Choisyas now that they have finished flowering.
4. Keep an eye out for pests. Thankfully, dreaded lily beetle seems to have disappeared this year but slugs and snails are still around. Try organic slug pellets (based on ferric phosphate) as an alternative to the chemical ones as they are kinder to wildlife.
5. Keep dead heading (roses, Scabious, centranthus etc.) to prolong flowering.
6. Cut back oriental poppies once they have finished flowering, they will produce new green growth which will look more attractive than dying leaves. Also cut Geranium phaem and Geranium sylvaticum right back; they will re-shoot in no time and you should get some more flowers. You can do the same with Brunneras.
7. Continue to sow out your veg including tomatoes, runner beans, sweetcorn and courgettes. If grown in pots remember to keep them well watered especially runner beans. Thin out earlier sowings so they have plenty of room to develop.
8. Some early potatoes should be ready for lifting this month. Wait until the first flowers start to open and then do a test dig to see if they are ready.
9. Support larger herbaceous perennials such as paeonies, so that they don’t flop when in rains. I use hawthorn or hazel twigs as they look more natural than plastic or bamboo canes.
10. Feed tomatoes and bedding plants once a week with tomato feed to keep them happy.
11. It’s a good time of year to take softwood cuttings on shrubs such as Deutzia, Philadelphus and Spirea. (see propagation tips).
12. Keep mowing your lawn regularly, at least 5-7 days (or less) if you want it to look neat and you can cut a bit lower now. Remember to get the sprinkler out if it starts to dry out.
13. Keep on top of the weeds.
14. If you do have gaps in your border fill them with colourful bedding plants– think geraniums, dianthus and petunias for sun and busy lizzies and begonias for shade.