We were sure jolted out of our warm autumn comfort zone this week with the meanest polar blast across the country, out came all the winter gear, it took me a couple of days to become accustomed to the freezing winds but a positive is, all the remaining leaves have been blown off the trees here.
This is a good time to give thought to improving the look of your garden while trees are bare and gardens are clear of full growth.
Don't cling to plants, shrubs or trees that are past their best. If they look like they are past it they probably are. Remove them and replace the spot with something fresh and worth looking at.
If you are worried about removing large ugly shrubs, leaving a gap and lack of privacy you can always fill the gap with manuka screening attached to wooden uprights until the replacement shrubs grow to the required size.
It is also time to look at the shape of deciduous trees now that the leaves are gone, remove lower branches if you think the tree would look better with more trunk showing and check young trees are not sporting double trunks. Cross over branches should be removed and if there are two branches doing the same job remove the lower branch of the two and any weak spindly growth. Some trees like silver pear and crab apples can get get a mass of branches in the center going in every direction, they look so good once they have been thinned out.
If you need to remove large branches it is important to cut at the right place and leave the basal collar in tact, ( a slanted cut leaving a short portion of the branch at the base of the trunk) as this contains cells which will seal the wound from disease.
Turn pruned branches into mulch, slim straight branches are perfect to feed through a wood mulcher to create wood chip for the garden.
If, like me you are finding small native trees planted by the birds popping up around your garden, now is a good time to lift these and pot them up. They will be perfect in a couple of years to create a native area for birds. I have been potting them up for years so have them at all different stages. There is always a need for a native tree planting be it a private woodland where there is room in a large garden or a School or community project. I am nursing some of my more established natives to add to the planting at Cape Wanbrow.
The ground is getting drier by the week with all the wind and still no rain, plants like hydrangeas, rhododendrons, azaleas and spring bulbs are looking for water. I have been soaking gardens before the mulch goes on which will keep the ground warmer and retain moisture, it is also adding food and humus to the garden.
Leucodendrons are taking center stage now, they are wonderful for picking once fully hardened and will last for months picked and put in a vase, just the thing when there is not lot else to pick. Leucodendrons are easy to grow in the conditions they prefer, being full sun, good draining acid soil, newly planted leoucodendronsneed staking and protected from strong winds until established. They will grow on dry banks and rough area's as long as they do not have to compete with grass and weeds. Leucodendrons resent any type of fertiliser and once planted and growing will die if shifted. There numerous types of leucodendrons to choose from for the right spot, upright /tall for the back ground, large and bushy to fill a gap, small front planters and low spreaders which look great spilling over walls. They all add wonderful colour to a dull winter garden.
Vegetables and Fruit
Keep planting out seedling veg plants, board beans.
Winter is also the time for planting rhubarb and asparagus crowns so prepare the ground with rich composted now, get them planted and in no time they will be established.
Black current bushes should have as much of the old dark shoot removed leaving only the light coloured smooth vigorous young growth. I cut the fruit branches off when fruit is ripe and remove fruit while sitting at an outside table to eliminate all the bending. Red currents however will not fruit on new wood so older wood should be kept for 3 years just cut out the odd old branch yearly to encourage a few new replacements.
Give all current bushes a little potash now and a good two hand fulls of bonemeal or blood and bone in spring to ensure a good crop of fruit.
An update on Scruff the dog...he is not such a handful now, until that is when someone new arrives, then it is like he is on a trampoline!!!
He has let us know that the kennel outside is not for him now it's winter, began to sit outside paring in the widow looking miserable until he won Bob over. He now has a new big soft indoor bed on the heated floor, yes he has defiantly scored big time!
Cheers, Linda
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