Autumn Colour in the Garden
Grasses give a rich combination of autumnal colours
The purple Cosmos also add a dash of colour to this autumnal scene.
New for Ponds or Renovated Ponds
I may be behind the times but here are some new, or new to me, ideas to enhance your garden pond this summer.
New Pond Design
‘Islandscapes’ and Floating Planters
‘The Next Big Wave In Ponds’ (Oh please) ‘enhance the beauty and biological health of ponds, providing innovative filtration and a lush growing environment for terrestrial plants. lslandscapes offer food and fun for fish, frogs and other wildlife’ according to the blurb on Freedomponds.com
Velda do several floating planters made in covered styrofoam.
Ecopond Tadpole Food
I have to admit to never thinking of feeding tadpoles but if I did here is the answer. Ecopond Tadpole Food provides the nutrition that tadpoles need up to the point where they develop back legs (4-6 weeks after free swimming begins). See also frogspawn tips on Gardeners Tips
Rubberised or rigid plastic ponds are one of the easiest methods of creating a new pond. I bought one in a kidney shape with 3 different depths created by shelves. It saved a lot of hard work once I had dug an appropriate hole!
In one garden I saw such a preformed pond raised up rather than buried and think that is a creative idea if you can support the weight of water.
Pond Liners
Now you can cover black PVC liners with a stone coating. This makes the black edge of a pond look natural with a pebble or stone finish. Sold in various widths it could be used to finish off a butyl lined pond or as a run off into your garden proper. The brand I have seen is Oase Stone Liner.
All these products are available from the links above or a specialist like Bradshaws of York. Amazon supply the preformed ponds.
Pond Renovation
- As winter approaches all ponds need a bit of tlc to see them through the winter.
- If removing dead leaves and waste from the bottom of the pond leave the sludge on the edge so any small creatures can crawl back into the water.
- Repair leaks to prevent having to regularly top up the water. Evaporation is unavoidable so you may want to think of easy top-up methods.
- Create ways of stopping leaves dropping into the pond. Nets are unsightly unless semi submerged. Barrier hedges of box to stop prevailing winds may help.
- Make edges safe and secure. Reinforce and renew if necessary any childproof measures.
Read more on Preformed Pond Shapes including installation tips.
10 Green Gardening Habits
Get into Green Habits
- Work with nature. Grow native plants which will thrive in your local conditions. If you live in an arid area choose plants which are tolerant of draught. Labouring in a garden is healthy, satisfying, cheap and can be fine tuned to your own vision of your environment.
- Grow a good variety of plants including, shrubs and hedges for nesting, nectar plants and caterpillar food such as nettles.
- Do not be too tidy under hedges, keep a rough area to encourage wild life, keep a pile of logs or branches to rot down and an uncut grass area with a few weeds.
- Put up home made birds nesting boxes, bee nests with hollow tubes, and make areas safe from predators.
- Provide appropriate food and water for birds and hedgehogs. Birds and hedgehogs can be great eaters of slugs!
- Reuse, recycle, repurpose and retry if you fail, because that is what gardeners do. Don’t worry if your garden is not perfection – it is not a finished painting, but, an evolving organism.
- Have a fast compost bin for soft waste and a slow one for twigs and harder matter plus a wire frame for leaf mould. Compost provides one of the best organic soil improvers.
- Try growing your own herbs and vegetables without chemicals but using complementary planting.e.g. Tomatoes and French marigolds, Brassicas with Onions and Leeks
- Keep your greenhouse unheated but insulate tender plants with straw. You will be less encouraged to buy imported plants from exotic regions and will save fuel.
- Maintain your green sense of humour and green fingers but don’t become green with envy when your neighbours buy the latest Chinese electronic gardening gizmo.
The Perfect Rose
When Roses are in full bloom I can’t resist taking photos of them. With this rose I tried putting white paper behind the rose to highlight its colour. The rose below is taken with a dark background but is still satisfactory.
It is far from perfect, but, still very nice.
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Swiss Chard a Vegetable Show Stopper
Autumn sunshine sets off the traffic lights in the vegetable plot. A low angle for the rays of sunshine creates an extra opportunity to appreciate this vegetable. I like the leaf texture and think Chard can look so colourful that I will grow some amongst the flowers for next year.
Swiss Chard Varieties
- Ruby Red has stunning deep veins and can be picked young.
- Bright Lights is a seed mixture ready within a month.
- Lucullus with a clean white stem.
- Bright Yellow as it says on the label
- Leaf Beet Rhubarb Chard is deep red burgundy coloured.
- Leaf Beet Bulls Blood is used as a salad leaf.
available from Thompson & Morgan
Eating Swiss Chard
- Also called Leaf Beet, Swiss Chard is similar to spinach with a slightly bitter flavour.
- Swiss Chard is pungent and tastes slightly salty.
- It contains an exceptionally impressive list of health promoting nutrients and is definately one of your five a day.
- Both the leaves and stalk of chard are edible, although the stems vary in texture with the white ones being the most tender.
Growing Towards the Light
Light Affecting Growth
- Some plants do not require high levels of light for growth, because they are adapted to low light conditions (such as jungle and forest plants).
- Plants left in the dark will grow taller than plants in lighted conditions but they will also be yellower and more spindly.
- Increased height is often a response to low light levels – the plant is trying to grow over anything that may be blocking the light, and will grow towards any source of light.
- Etiolation is an extreme form of photosynthesis, and it occurs when you keep a plant in the dark too long.
- When a plant is blown down, like this teasel, its efforts to regrow will produce distorted stems or branches.
- Plants on a windowsill may grow only one one side, towards the light, unless turned frequently. (I must turn my pelargoniums again this afternoon).
- Seedlings need good, even light as a spindly plant many not recover. Beware sun through a window can burn seedlings.
- Too little light and leaves may brown and drop off.
- Blue daylight bulbs are the best if natural light is unavailable.
For more details read science for schools
Etiolation is a process in flowering plants grown in partial or complete absence of light. It is characterized by long, weak stems; smaller leaves and often pale yellow coloring.Â
Blanching is the exclusion of light to prevent greening up of Celery Leeks and other plants
Grow Healthy Hydrangeas
There are several types of Hydrangea to consider. The Mop Heads or Hortensia above, the lace caps or other species. They are a rewarding group of plants to grow well but need the right conditions to excel.
Provide Suitable Growing Conditions
- All hydrangeas thrive in moist well drained fertile soil.
- Too wet and humid and you may get root rot and botrytis on foliage.
- Hydrangeas appreciate partial shade.
- Shallow chalky soil or light sandy acid soil may cause yellowing of leaves. To cure this water or foliar feed with Epsom salt (Mangenisum Sulphate).
- Hot dry conditions can encourage powdery mildew.
- Hydrangeas can be prone to insect attack from Aphids, Red Spider mite, Capsid bugs and even Vine Weevil.
Flowering Problems
- The main cause of non-flowering is pruning too hard and cutting off the buds. Just trim off the old heads in spring to the first fat buds.
- The failure of flowers to turn blue is caused by a shortage of trace elements of Aluminium. This is available in acid soils but not alkaline soils.
- Some species will change from pink to blue by using a proprietary preparation or colourant. This is unlikely to work when the soil is too alkaline.
- If you have a pink flower this can be enhanced by applying limestone or chalk during winter.
- White flowers remain white whatever you do. Some fade to a pink tinge.
Other Sources of information
Hydrangeas available from Thompson & Morgan
See Help to change Hydrangea colour
Hydrangea Hydrangea an enthusiasts site
Amazon for Hydrangea books
Warm Your Soil
Late winter and unseasonal snow has left many garden soils cold and inhospitable.
Spring is the time for new root growth and annual plants and vegetables need the best start possible.
Vegetables and ornamental plants need a bit of warmth to get established and growing away.
Clay soils is traditionally slow to warm through as they hold a bulk of water.
Warming Your Soil
I use several methods to warm the soil and control the amount of water.
A cloche will cover an unsown area until you are ready to plant. It will slow down heat loss at night, speeds germination and also offers protection to young plants – I have started off my onion sets under a plastic tunnel type of cloche this month.
Black absorbs the suns heat and white tends to reflect heat. You can lay black plastic on an area of soil to get some warmth but ensure a good contact between the two. Hoe off any weeds before planting out.
Horticultural fleece is best for protecting young crops from late frost and will only do a little to warm the soil.
Compacted soil is inhospitable and likely to be cold. Incorporate plenty of humus and dig over to get air into the soil.
More Tips for a Cold Soil
Orchid Compost a Treat for Orchids
If you want to make your Orchids feel at home then use good Orchid compost and mimic natural conditions as best you can.
There are many proprietary brands available but you could do a lot worse than talk to an expert at a local Orchid show.
Orchids love humidity but hate wet feet so a free draining compost is preferred.
Some orchids are epiphytes that grow on other plants and trees and need to retain enough moisture when the opportunity arises.
All roots need air in greater or lesser proportions and some orchids have roots that grow out of pots into open air. That gives a clue as to what good Orchid compost will be like.
Orchids do not get any real food value from the free draining compost so need dilute feed in with the watering.
Content of Orchid Compost
- Bark chippings which come in differing sizes. For plants with thick roots choose a larger chips, if they are small and thin then choose small chippings.
- Sphagnum moss, bark and styrofoam mixed is good for seedlings or very thinly rooted plants. It tends tol dry out quickly so watch the watering.
- Rock wool mixed with a little perlite can seem dry on the surface  when very wet underneath and over time breaks down into a hard mass.
- Lump peat and styrofoam is good for Phalaenopsis and those plants requiring a little more moisture retention.
Orchid Compost Tips
- You can buy a proprietary Orchid compost at most garden centres
- Compost breaks down and Orchids need repotting into fresh compost but only every couple of years.
- Put some large crocks of foam at the bottom of the pot to aid drainage and retain air pockets
- Repot just after flowering not whilst in flower.
- Let bark compost soak in water overnight before repotting.
- Thompson & Morgan Chempak orchid growth feed. It is a high nitrogen liquid fertiliser containing plant foods, magnesium and six trace elements to promote growth
Orchid compost is available from Amazon
Gardeners Winter Vegetables
Get sowing for some winter greens and veg like Beetroot, Spring Cabbages, Lettuces, Spring Onions, Chicory, Fennel and Rocket.
Unless you already have a well stocked allotment or vegetable garden you need to be thinking about next years winter vegetables. Settle down with a drink and some good seed catalogues and plan to enjoy the fruits (or veg) of your labours through to next Christmas.
The well named Tundra Cabbage will take all that winter can throw at you and still produce firm heads until April. Blue cabbage Aurtoro looks so good next to Autumn yellows and oranges and it can be planted in the flower garden. The heads are firm and the leaves tightly packed to make a vegetable that stands well. It will also help make a warming winter soup.
Cabbage Tips
Plant Spring cabbage 12in apart.
Earth up the soil around their stems to prevent rocking and help them against the cold.
In cold frost prone areas cover with fleece or cloches. Watch out for pigeons which may get deterred by netting.
Young plants can be thinned for spring greens and leave the rest to heart up.
Curly Kale with crinkly leaves is another vegetable that shouldn’t be restricted to the vegetable patch. Redbore a purple leaved variety grows on tall sturdy stems that look interesting through winter. Other varieties like January King 3, Red Winter or Westland Winter, a blue green, can add more variety to the garden and your winter grub. If you like the blistered crinkly leaved varieties go for Resolution or Traviata F1’s.
Parsnips are just ready to start lifting. They can be left in the ground until needed and I think a bit of frost does no harm to the flavour. Interceptor Carrots can be harvested through to March and reverting to the purple theme Purple Haze Carrots can be picked until Christmas.
Seasonal favourite Brussels Sprouts need that bit of frost to bring out the sweetness and take away some of the sulphur taste. Pick from the bottom of the stalk and then you can finish off eating the top of the stalk like a small cabbage. I find Maximus F1 have a long cropping season and a good flavour. Support the stalks if grown in windy conditions.
Late Cauliflowers to consider are Haddin or Deakin F1’s that will hold until February if you don’t eat them first.
Autumn sown Spinach is a healthy crop containing iron and vitamins.
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