Other jobs we should be thinking about;

 Plant the last of your potatoes if you haven’t already done so and start to earth up when the growth gets to about 15cm. This will stop greening.

1. Continue to keep an eye out for pests. Check for the red lily beetles, aphids and slugs and dispose of them. Viburnum beetle can be a pain on Viburnum tinus, V.opulus and V.lantana. As can sawfly on Soloman’s Seal. Nip them in the bud before they spread with a good systemic insecticide.
2. With any luck the frost threat is over so start to think about planting out some summer bedding from the end of the month. All the garden centres are awash with fabulous bedding for your pots and hanging baskets. Now is the time to plug any gaps that have appeared in your borders.
3. Keep an eye on the weather forecasts. In the unlikely event of late frosts, be prepared to cover your tender plants with a double layer of horticultural fleece. The weather does seem a bit changeable and the forecast (for our part of Hertfordshire at least) for the first part of May is a bit disappointing, cooler temperatures again until the middle of the month; thought it was a bit good to be true.
4. Pull up or hoe off weeds. Don’t forget on a cool day when the soil is wet some weeds can re-root once hoed off so either remember to put them straight onto the compost heap or hoe on a sunny dry day so that the weeds desiccate and quickly die.
5. You can sow runner beans, squashes, pumpkins and courgettes directly into prepared soil from the end of May.
6. Start mowing your lawn weekly now.
7. Dead head tulips and daffodils and trim back Pulmonarias and Doronicums to encourage new verdant growth once the flowers have gone over. Don’t be tempted to cut down your daffs just yet. You should wait 6 weeks after flowering to make sure all the goodness goes back into the bulb to ensure a good flower display next year.
8. Brussels sprouts can be transplanted from their seed bed into their final positions and spacings at the end of May.
9. Continue to keep your pots and hanging baskets well watered to ensure that they don’t dry out.
10. Prune out any frost affected shoots of evergreen shrubs.
11. Prune back camellias after flowering. They do respond well to quite severe pruning if required.
12. Take softwood cutting of deciduous shrubs such as Forsythia, Hydrangea, Fuchsia, Spiraea and Philadelphus. (See propagation section for advice on how to do it).
13. Towards the end of the month think about introducing certain houseplants into the garden such as Christmas cacti, potted azaleas and orchids. All will enjoy a summer holiday but take them out gradually and don’t put them into direct sunlight straight away or they will scorch. In fact, the Victorians used to plant up flower beds for the summer using rubber plants, palms and mother-in-laws tongue.
14. Support your perennials now so that they don’t flop later on.
15. Remember to take time to sit and enjoy your garden. Get a glass of wine or a gin and tonic and really take in the beauty of the plants around you. After all that’s why we do it!
16. COME AND SEE US AT CHELSEA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blackthorn or Sloe blossom (Prunus spinosa) is out in the hedgerows

1. Spring Planting. Plant evergreen trees and shrubs now that the soil is starting to warm up. It’s a good time to plant other flowering plants such as roses, climbers and herbaceous perennials.
2. If you haven’t pruned your roses by now, you can just about still do it, if you get a move on now. Don’t leave it any longer. It’s also a good idea to feed them with a granular rose fertiliser.
3. Hard prune the forsythia after flowering.
4. Start hoeing to keep weeds down between your plants. Take care not to cut the tops off hostas, lilies and other plants that have tender shoots.
5. Keep a look out for pests, especially slugs and snails if the weather turns wet and take speedy action. If you don’t want to use sprays then pick off as many as you can. Try using the organic slug pellet based on ferric phosphate. Keep an eye out for the dreaded lily beetle as the lilies start to push through. We are hoping that the cold weather has reduced their numbers.
6. Continue sowing selected vegetables outside such as carrots, radishes, beetroot, cabbages, Brussels sprouts and lettuce. Brussels and cabbages do better if they are sown in a seed bed first then transplanted into their final positions in May / June.
7. Plant second early potatoes (such as Maris Peer, International Kidney & Charlotte) from early to mid April (ready July/August) and main crop towards the end of the month (ready September/October). First early potatoes are usually planted late March but it doesn’t matter if they run into April
8. Sow pumpkins, squashes and tomatoes inside with protection. When it has warmed up in May and frost risk has gone then they can be planted outside.
9. Don’t be tempted to fill in the gaps in your borders just yet; some plants are still coming through.

10.  Start your spring lawn treatments to keep them in tiptop condition. Continue to aerate, scarify, feed and weed. There are a number of all-in-one weed and feed granules available at your local DIY store or garden centre and it is worth using them.

11.  Normally it’s a  good time to start turfing or seeding new lawns but with hosepipe bans in force in much of the country leave it until the autumn.

12.  If you have winter bedding such as pansies continue to deadhead them to extend their flowering season, and keep containers and hanging baskets well watered. They should start to look their best from this month onwards.

13.  Take basal root cuttings from things like delphiniums, dahlias, phlox and chrysanthemums. These are created from the little tiny shoots coming from the base of last years old stems. Try to remove from as near as possible to the main root and before they are 2 or 3 inches tall and root in nice sandy, gritty compost.

14.  Take soft wood cuttings from fuchsias and geraniums.

15.  Hoe in slow release fertiliser between your plants to get them going.

16.  If you want dramatic leaves on some shrubs and are happy not to get the  flowers you can cut back hard on Catalpas, Acer negundo and Pawlonias

17.  Carefully remove dead and damaged fronds from ferns. Take care not to damage the new, unfurling fronds in the crown of the plant as they are very brittle.

18.  Be patient with perennials that may look as though they have been killed by the frost such as salvias and verbenas. There is a  good chance that they may re-shoot from below ground level.

19.  Start watering your house plants regularly. Pop them in the bath and give them a blast with the shower head to get rid of dust and cobwebs. You will find that this will invigorate them and help them to photosynthesise properly.

20.  It’s a good time to start planting summer flowering bulbs such as gladiolis, fresias, ixias, sparaxis and lilies.

Top 10 Tips for Coping with the Hose Pipe Ban

With the prospect of hose pipe bans soon becoming a reality in many parts of our region we have put together our top 10 tips to help you cope. Living without your hose pipe isn’t the end of the world; now’s the time to embrace your watering can, your new best friend.

1. Collect rain water with water butts- some plants such as rhododendrons and camellias actually prefer it. If you haven’t got one it’s a really good idea to get one if not two.

2. Water at the right time of day – Water either first thing in the morning or later on in the evening. This will reduce water loss from evaporation.

3. Recycle bath and washing water for watering the garden– (so-called ‘grey water’) – If you want to recycle this sort of water it’s best if you use organic or environmentally friendly natural products for washing in the first place so that it doesn’t harm your plants when you reuse it.

4. Group pots together in the shade and stand them in saucers. If it gets really hot you might also have to take down any hanging baskets  and stick them in the shade as well.

5. Dig in plenty of organic matter to help the soil lock in moisture when it does rain and consider mulching your borders with manure or garden compost.

Dig in plenty of manure and consider mulching

6. Don’t worry too much about watering your lawns. Established grass is incredibly tough and will green up again in the autumn. (You will still need to water newly laid turf if you can. If not you’ll have to leave any turfing jobs until the autumn).

7. Water the base of the plants, not the foliage – This way it goes straight to the soil where it’s needed. Make a puddle around each plant and water slowly to allow the water to seep down to the roots.

8. Choose plants that tolerate dry conditions. Examples below;

Dry and Sunny-

Perennials

 Generally, plants with a tough, silvery leaf such as cistus, lavender, lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina), Russian sage (Perovskia), dianthus, phlomis, rosemary and thyme will all do well in the sun and many will give the added bonus of a fabulous scent. They originate from the Mediterranean and they all are used basking in the sun. Other plants that will do well are iris germanica, alliums, thrift, coreopsis, agapanthus and gaillardia.

Stachys spp. - Good for dry sunny sites

Bedding Plants

Geraniums and osteospernums and petunias are the most draught tolerant of the summer bedding plants

Dry and Shadey -

A bit more tricky but it is not impossible to overcome. Top of the list is the Epimedium rubrum, a great little plant with a pinky purple flower, and then there is Mahonia aquifolium or Oregon Grape which is an evergreen shrub with fragrant yellow flowers in late spring.  Periwinkles (Vinca), elephant’s ears, liriope and butcher’s broom (Ruscus) will also do O.K. For foliage colour go for the many euonymus varieties such as ‘Emerald and Gold’ or ‘Silver Queen’ or try the Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Album’ which has a great white flower and will do well in dry shade.

Euonymus 'Silver-Queen' - Once established can tolerate dry and shady conditions

9. To try to reduce the need for watering in the first place get the secateurs out and cut back the excess foliage on your perennials, this will keep them bushy and reduce the watering burden.

10. Keep the weeds down as much as possible as they can be nutrient and moisture robbers, taking away much needed water from your cherished perennials.

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Well,  there’s a whiff of spring in the air! The soil is starting to dry out and we can finally get onto the borders to do some gardening. Herbaceous plants are starting to emerge, the blackthorn blossom is nearly out in the hedgerows and the daffodils are bringing some much needed sunshine into our gardens.

1. Prune your roses. Now’s the time to prune your rose bushes if you haven’t already done so. Don’t get too stressed about the technical side. What you should do is prune back to an outward facing bud, taking the bush down to about half to a third of its height. You should also prune away any dead or diseased stems and burn them and prune away any stems that cross each other. You are aiming for a good open bush. This isn’t something to worry about too much – I know of at least one rose grower who does his rose pruning with a hedge trimmer and it doesn’t affect the flowering one bit.
2. Tidy up frost and snow damaged plants. Prune out the dead bits from tender shrubs and climbers such as choisyas and solanums. Cut out bent leaves from phormiums and take out the dead brown leaves. Ceanothus have been particularly hit badly with the cold; be patient although they are looking brown now, they should come back.
3. Prune buddleias and dogwoods. Ideal time  for cutting back Buddleia davidii to encourage flowering. Some plants that have got out of hand may need to have quite a bit taken off. Cut back the colourful stemmed dogwoods such as the red Cornus Alba. If you cut the stems back almost to the ground (15cm) it will ensure a new lot of colourful stems for next winter.
4. Trim your grasses. We always give our ornamental grasses a haircut this time of year, ready for the new verdant growth to push through. Don’t cut too low only down to about 15cm. Good time for trimming back pampas grasses; we take a hedge trimmer to it or if you are in an appropriate location set light to it to take it to take off the dead bits and encourage new growth.
5. Lift and shift your perennials. Good time for dividing and moving herbaceous perennials such as Phlox, Asters, Rudbeckia and Alchemila
6. If you want to transplant Snowdrops, a good time to do this is after they have flowered when they are still ‘in the green’.
7. Get out and dig over your bare soil now that the conditions are right if you haven’t already done so. For most vegetables you want to aim for a consistancy of coarse breadcrumbs before you sow.
8. Start to sow some veg seed outside such as lettuce, raddish and cabbage
9. Onion sets can be planted out now.
10. Chitting Potatoes – To get your potatoes growing away better, you should chit them to encourage sprouting. To do this place in a tray or egg box and keep somewhere bright and cool for a couple of weeks. Put them ‘rose-end’ up (The end with the dormant eyes upwards). Earlies you can think about planting out at the end of the month
11. Get the mower out and make sure it works. You may also want to think about a spring lawn treatment for next month.
12. Plant lily bulbs ready for the summer.

 As far as gardening jobs for February, there’s not an awful lot to do that won’t wait until March so unless we get some good sunny days and you want to get stuck in, keep warm and stay inside.

Banana stem fleeced with extra compost protecting the base

 Remember to feed the birds. Nuts and fat are better than bread. Putting out bread just encourages rats. Remember to clean your feeders regularly to stop any build up of bacteria.

1. Give your roses a boost with a specialist rose feed to encourage more flowers and get some manure on the beds
2. Cut back perennials to keep them tidy
3. If the weather does take a turn for the worst remember to fleece any tender plants or bring them inside if you can.
4. Continue planting bare-rooted roses, trees, shrubs and hedging plants.
5. Start thinking about which varieties of potato you are going to grow this year. You can soon start chitting them (encouraging them to grow shoots). Put them in a warm light spot inside and they will soon sprout allowing them a better start when you do plant them outside.
6. Service your petrol lawn mowers and check your other tools are all in working order.
7. General hygiene – Clean out your greenhouse (if you are not using it) and give any pots or seed trays a good clean and disinfect if you are going you reuse them
8. 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.
9. 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.

 Moth Orchids (Phalenopsis spp.)

These are probably the most common and widely available orchids that you can buy and they aren’t all that difficult to look after so there’s no need to panic. They need bright, but not harsh sunlight and do best if placed on an east or west facing windowsill. Like most houseplants keep them away from draughts and radiators and don’t put them on top of the telly.

 Don’t worry about the strange ‘white wormy things’ coming out of the top of the pot, these are just the aerial roots of the plant and are perfectly normal.  In the wild, Phalenopsis orchids are epiphytes, which means that they cling to trees and rocks rather than growing in the soil so they don’t need a lot of compost.

 Regularly check the compost and when it starts to feel dry, run tepid water through the pot until it runs out of the bottom. Don’t overwater it as the leaves will fall off and it will rot. Too little water will lead to the leaves withering and turning yellow. You can get specialist orchid feed from garden centres and DIY sheds and feed from April to September to encourage growth.  Sometimes misting the leaves, but not the flowers, to increase humidity can also help with plant growth.

 The flowers are spectacular and can last for up to 12 weeks. Once they have gone over, cut the flower spike off just above the second joint below the spent flowers and if you’re lucky another flowering side shoot will develop.

 Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima)

I always have a love hate relationship with poinsettias. It probably goes back to my DEFRA days when I spent days on my hands and knees inspecting thousands and thousands of individual plants looking for Tobacco Whitefly.

 Poinsettias are native to Mexico and so love lots of light. Don’t panic if you do get some yellowing and leaf drop, this is normal and due to our reduced light levels in the UK. They can be quite tricky to look after.

 Keep them in a well lit location but not in direct sunlight and keep them away from draughts. Don’t let the temperatures fall below 13 degrees C. Water thoroughly but wait until the compost is dry before watering again. Overwatering is the most common cause of death for poinsettias.

 Poinsettias are cheap enough in the shops. We saw some on sale for £1 over Christmas so it’s really not worth keeping them once they’ve gone over and trying to get them to bloom again for next Christmas unless you want a challenge. But if you want to have a go here’s what you do;

1.  In early spring cut back the stems to 10cm, keep the compost dry and place somewhere shady

     2.     In May, water and re-pot the plant

     3.   Next is the tricky bit. You need to carefully control the amount of light it gets. In Sept/Oct cover the plant with a black plastic bag from early evening until the next morning so that the plant is in total darkness for 14 hours. Continue daily for eight weeks. Then hopefully it will flower again.So remember 14 hours of darkness for 8 weeks

 If you really can’t be bothered with all this kerfuffle just pick another one up next Christmas.

 (One thing to remember, poinsettias can cause a skin reaction to some people so better wear gloves if you touch them)

 1.  Prune Wisterias. The middle of winter is the ideal time to give wisterias their main prune (they are also lightly pruned in August). All you need to do is to shorten the lateral spurs (those whippy shoots growing from the main plant) to 2 buds away from where they meet the main stem. This will encourage a good display of flowers in May.

 2. Prune Apple and Pear Trees : The main aims of pruning are to open up the tree to let in more light, remove dead and diseased branches and generally increase vigour so that the tree produces more fruiting spurs and then consequently fruits better for you. Start by cutting back any dead or diseased branches. Then cut back any crossing branches, low growing branches or any that are growing downwards. The aim is to keep the tree open enough for a pigeon to be able to fly through it without its wings touching the branches.   All this general thinning and tidying will stimulate new growth and regeneration of the tree.

 3. 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.

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

 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 don’t fancy going out into the garden 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. Give the leaves a good dust as well as this will improve photosynthesis.

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.

SOMETIMES autumn can feel a bit depressing but walking around Kew Gardens last Saturday we saw a really uplifting sight. This wonderful Gingko biloba really shorn. Also known as the ‘Maidenhair tree’, it can grow quite tall (up to 20 metres); it prefers full sun but is also quite happy in partial shade. If you have the room it’s well worth including in your own garden. You really can’t match it for autumn colour!

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.