How colourful our town is right now, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale using the brilliance of the ash, oak, maple and all other trees and shrubs that become fire then dance their leaves into the wind. The splendor is over all too soon with the raking up taking us into the winter, each full wool pack is getting to the end of them and the compost heaps are filling well.
Once deciduous trees have lost their leaves we can view the shape, if any are in need of a prune you will need to know the right time to tackle a particular tree.
Prunus (flowering cherry)
The height of summer is the time to prune these be they flowering cherries, fruiting cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots or almonds to avoid the dreaded silver leaf infection. Naturally wait until they have finished fruiting where possible.
Oak, Elm, Ash: prune Late summer, autumn or winter. Birch and maple: can be pruned in spring, but be prepared for clear sap bleeding. Waiting until late spring when they have a full set of leaves is recommended. Ginkgo Prune in winter. Sorbus: (rowan) Prune Late autumn / winter. Magnolias: prune, only if needed right after flowers have finished. Apples and pears: prune in winter.
The overall look of an established garden can be changed by having a clean out, don't be sentimental about a tree out grown it's spot or in the wrong place, If it was not planted by you or just arrived in your garden odds are that the birds planted it! Clear those rouge trees out or transplant them to a spot where they are able to grow full size with out becoming a nuisance.
This week as well as raking leaves I have been re potting some pots that have been full of summer colour but were now looking very tired, some I will fill with succulents because I noticed that a lot of my succulents have flowered and become stalky which means that it is time to forgo the Mother plant and plant out her Babies. Each rosette on the end of a stalk can be broken off with a little part of the stem and pushed into river sand and soil, each one will develop roots and become a Mother plant, baby succulents look great in pots over the Winter months. Fill a pot or push in around the edges of a pot planted out in Hyacinths or dwarf Spring bulbs. There are so many different succulents, in shades of red, orange, silver and fresh green. If you have exhausted clumps in the garden break them up, toss out the dodgy ones and replant the fresher.
Dahlia tubers can be divided , a division needs a tuber and an eye, the eyes are located on the neck of a tuber clump near a cut stalk, an eye resembles a potato eye ( a small swelling) cut with a clean sharp knife, you may get three divisions from one tuber clump, name and store in slightly damp river sand or damp sawdust in a cardboard box and leave in a cool, dry, dark place. Label and plant out again in late spring. Most of my dahlias are still growing well so I will keep dead heading until they collapse from frost, then will cut back and covered with pea straw. Cut tops can be left on top to protect tubers if straw is not available but if you have dahlia tubers in ground that could be flooded and stay wet they will probably rot, gently lift, hose off dirt and store as above.
May is the last Month to plant Tulips to have them doing their thing when they should, Tulips seem to take a long time to come into flower, unlike a lot of other Spring bulbs already starting to make an appearance but tulips are so worth having in a spring garden.
Two plants you can dig a trench for then fill with manure are sweetpeas and clematis, to reach the desired height they need a lot of rich food and a sweet soil so some lime for these as well. I have sweet peas well through after planting them in March, they should start flowering in late August. Sweet peas planted now will come up and grow slowly over winter and then really take off in early spring.
Keep taking rose cuttings, choose a straight stem and cut off about 12 inches from the top just below a leaf node. Pull off the leaves along the stem two half leaves can be left at the top. Soaking in willow water for a couple of weeks is said to introduce hormone for rooting into the cuttings. Dig a spade into damp ground, make a slit in the soil and bury cuttings about six inches down into this wedge and firm the soil around cuttings, name, water in and they should make roots in the spring to support new growth.When you see they are growing on their own roots uproot them carefully and plant into pots to grow them on. You can use this method for many shrubs, like ceonothus, geraniums, potentilla, euonymous, hebes, weigela and even abutilon. Just make sure you pick a healthy straight stem. Use rooting hormone powders / gels to dip cuttings in before planting will help cuttings to take root as well as the willow water method.
Lawns have slowed down at last, lime and gypsum as well as a dressing of fine compost can be spread on lawns now, lime to sweeten, compost to add humus and gypsum to soften hard compacted ground containing clay / soil. After two or three years in a row of applying gypsum at this time of the year there will be no more cracks appearing in lawns during dry spells.
Vegetables:
Growing carrots without a problem or two is not always easy, the ground needs to still hold a little heat for them to germinate and continue to grow, if they stop and then start growing again the regrowth ends up as a hard core and the carrot stops growing down into the soil. Carrot fly is also a problem which also attacks celery, dill, fennel, parsley and parsnip. The pest overwinters as pupae in the soil or in old host plant roots which have been left in the ground. The adult flies are long and black with yellow legs and iridescent wings. Females find plants by smell, mostly in the evenings they lay eggs in soil cracks adjacent to plants. Avoid thinning in late afternoon and remove all thinning's as the female is attracted to smell and damaged plants. Plant carrots in a different spot each year and Companion panting can help side track the carrot fly. Gardeners have found early crops sown in September or October usually mature before the fly is on the wing, but it is a handy, I feel to have a carrot or two in the garden when needed. The carrot rust fly season is marked by distinct flights, starting in September/October going through to May. Companion plants for carrots are lettuce, onions and tomatoes ( in summer). never plant dill or parsnips beside carrots. Parsnips planted in late December will be being dug now, they are known not to be successful grown in dry summer ground but if you managed to get them to mature, now that the ground is getting cooler they will sit in the soil for as long as needed without going to seed.
Cheers, Linda
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