Friday 13th December 2013

Last Friday group of the year - no gardening today just our group Christmas meal. Amazingly we did get 26 people seated and served a 3 course Christmas lunch. Lovely food everyone and a great way to end our first term of the 2013/14 Friday gardening group. The pictures give a good flavour of the event.

                                                              Happy Christmas!

                                                               

Friday 6th December 2013

Cotoneaster Rothschildianus

Our last opportunity to get out and do some gardening this year as next week we will be celebrating a busy first term of the Friday group with our Christmas lunch and probably a seasonal horticultural quiz.We had some discussion about the planting of herbaceous perennials. Perennials are plants that have a life cycle of more than 2 years -the term herbaceous perennial  narrows the group to plants with soft, green stems that die back to the ground in colder climates. Trees, shrubs and other woody stemmed plants are excluded. Perennial vegetables are jerusalem artichokes, globe artichokes, cardoons and asparagus.

Activities in the garden this week:

• Bubble wrapping the inside of the greenhouse and putting more of the plants that are not frosty hardy into the protection of the greenhouse
• Digging up and sorting out the chrysanthemums so they can be protected over the winter months and cuttings taken in the spring. Chrysanthemums are good grown for cut flowers - they were slightly overshadowed in the garden this year by the cosmos that grew so abundantly. See RHS page for advice on care of chrysanthemums.
• Further work on hard landscaping the area outside the compost bins
• Planting up the Grand Soleil D'or narcissus bulbs
• Pruning the rose that grows over the arch in front garden
• Leaf raking
• Tidying up the yellow bed near the shed

Mahonia media 'Charity'

Plant ident:

• Thuja plicata 'Irish Gold', Western Red Cedar. Thuja are fast growing evergreen trees and can be grown as a hedge.
• Taxus baccata 'Fastigiata', Irish Yew - a large bushy upright evergreen shrub. Conifers can provide important winter structure in the garden.
• Mahonia media 'Charity' - Mahonia are evergreen shrubs with yellow flowers that are pollinated by moths. 'Charity' is an upright shrub that can grow to 4m with clusters of flowers in late autumn/winter
• Cotonesater 'Rothschildianus' - a large deciduous or semi evergreen shrub that grows to 5m with small white flowers in large clusters, followed by pale creamy-yellow berries.

The guerilla pruning team! 

Friday November 29th 2013

Plants for the big border

A big task for the day was planting up the main border with perennials that will look great in summer/early autumn. Now is the time to plant perennials before the frost compacts the soil. Paul arrived with a van load of compost as well as a selection of perennials for the border. The compost could not be dug into the bed as this would disrupt the bulbs that had already been planted. However compost can be laid as a covering on top and will be integrated into the soil quite quickly with the help of the worms.The new perennials included Veronicastrum 'Fascination', Rudbeckia, Phlomis, Althea, Nepeta, Helenium, Miscanthus, Iris siberica, Pennisetum & Asters. Dianthus would be used as edging plants at front of the border. There was also the last of the tulip bulbs to be planted and all the perennials that had been lifted from the border needed sorting out.

Veronicastrum

 

Dinah on compost delivery

Barrowing in the new compost

Paul in charge of plant placement

Ann & Sue on a plank

 

It will look amazing  next year

Mandy, Julia and Catherine dividing and potting up

 

Friday November 22nd 2013

A chilly bright day and  there are still more bulbs to plant. Before venturing out into the garden we had some discussion about roses. Bridge has started cataloguing all the roses in the garden and will plan a slide show about the roses in the garden for the new year. The plan is to label all the roses.Check out the current edition of Gardens Illustrated for an article on late flowering roses. One such rose in the garden now is a polyantha rose, Rosa 'The Fairy' which has lovely small pink flowers and a very long flowering season. It is low growing and can be grown in a pot.

Rosa 'The Fairy'

Rose hips can also provide colour and interest in the garden in winter. Rosa omeiensis pteracantha has spectacular thorns which are translucent on young plants and glow bright red with the light through them. Now is a good time to plant bare rooted roses -roses don't grow so well on chalk so you need to ensure you mix in plenty of organic matter into the soil when planting. It is good to put manure around your roses now and give them a feed in spring and again when they flower. We looked at some other plants that are looking good in the garden now:

Clerodendrum Trichotomum

• Clerodendrum Trichotomum - is also known as the peanut butter tree because of the particular fragrance of the leaves. It is an upright deciduous tree or shrub from China or Japan and in autumn it has very striking maroon sepals surrounding blue berries.
• Myrtus communis subsp. tarentina -a small evergreen shrub of dense growth, with small, narrowly ovate leaves, and pink buds opening to white flowers.They can get to 1m tall. Myrtles are evergreen shrubs with aromatic leathery leaves and white flowers followed by fleshy berries.
• Sarcococca confusa (Sweet box)-is a lovely bushy evergreen shrub that can grow to 2m, it has glossy, deep green, leaves and in winter very sweetly scented, small, creamy-white flowers, followed by glossy black berries. This shrub will tolerate shade.
• Himalayan bamboo - we also talked about bamboos. They can be thuggish but can also be kept in check if grown in containers and certain small bamboos can be used in flower arranging. Check out Big plant nursery  website for more information about different types of bamboos.

We also thought about gardens to visit in winter - Bridge will be planning Garden House trip to Anglesey Abbey in Cambridge which is a wonderful winter garden. Also possibility of Friday group outing to Chelsea Physic Garden - perhaps to look at the snowdrop displays early next year.

Activities in the garden this week:

• Further work on border on far side of hawthorn hedge. The plants that have been taken out need to be reviewed and decisions made about what will be put back and what can be divided. Groups of tulip bulbs have now been planted and narcissi bulbs planted under the hedge. The plan is to plant dianthus along the front of the border
• Continue rose pruning along the arches and feed the roses with manure
• Plant up rest of tulips and wallflowers in the cut flower beds - Tulips being planted are Queen of the Night which are deep purple.
• Planting allium bulbs in end bed
• Landscaping area in front of the compost area
• Reviewing state of the wormeries
• Take out and divide the large Libertia goldfinger plants from two containers. The divided  clumps of plant need to be potted on and when the new plants have developed healthy root systems they will be planted into urns on the pillars around the garden. This plant has very attractive variegated green and golden orange striped upright leaves and produces white flowers in spring/summer.

Dividing Libertia goldfinger

New Libertia plants

Sue and Vicky contemplating their task

Friday 15th November 2013

Clematis cirrhosa 'Freckles' growing over willow arch

A lovely bright cold day at the Garden House - just right for planting bulbs. The grasses are still looking beautiful so we focused our discussion this week on grasses.Bridge has written a piece on Garden House website on pampas grass so check that out for more information.

Pennisetum

Miscanthus

• Cortaderia selloana ‘Pumila’is a more compact variety of pampas grass.
• Pennisetum can be annuals or perennials but are easy to grow and the annuals self seed easily
• Hakonechloa macro 'Aureola' is a deciduous perennial grass which forms dense low growing clumps
• Stipa gigantea- (golden oat grass) is a lovely autumn grass which can be almost transparent in the border.It is a robust grass that can grow to 2m

Deciduous grasses don't need to be cut back until Mar/April and provide structural quality in winter. Be careful not to damage any new growth when cutting back in the spring. You can just comb through evergreen grasses to remove old dead thatch.

Book recommendation: Grasses by Roger Grounds

Highdown Nursery in Henfield has a very good selection of grasses.

Activities in the garden this week:

• Planting  the cut flower beds with red wallflowers and tulip bulbs 
• Clearing out alpine sinks/ refreshing compost ready for planting
• Edging of large border and more tulip/narcissi bulb planting
• Clearing a veg bed and planting onion sets and garlic cloves
• Trimming back willow arch
• Weeding and preparing beds by willow arch for planting
• Pruning climbing and rambling roses
• Sowing salad seeds in greenhouse- giant red mustard/mizuna
• Sorting out/weeding yellow bed by the shed





Planting tulip bulbs and wallflower

Make sure all those tulips are red!

Nanette on bottle planting duties

Susan quality checking

Ann planting even more bulbs in border

Unwelcome occupants of the alpine sink

Clearing out alpine sink

Weevil grubs were found in the alpine sinks - so grubs need to be destroyed and sinks cleaned out carefully as they will munch through anything that is planted. There are nematodes that can be used for this or just scour out with boiling water.

Friday 8th November

Ginkgo

We started with a discussion about autumn colour, looking at some leaves from trees in Sheffield Park and talking about trees that look particularly amazing at this time of year. These are just three:-

• Liquidambar is a deciduous tree with maple like leaves that turn to crimson, orange and purple in autumn
• Ginkgo biloba, or maidenhair tree, has been described as a ‘living fossil’ because it is the sole survivor of an ancient group of trees older than the dinosaurs.It has fan shaped leaves that turn yellow in autumn
• Sorbus Joseph Rock - this Rowan has copper leaves in autumn with creamy yellow berries

Sorbus Joseph Rock

Liquidambar

                                                                     
Check out Barcham Trees website for information on a comprehensive range of trees

Now is the time to put tender plants in the greenhouse or cold frame and it is not too late to sow some more sweet peas. Sweat peas will need some protection from winter winds and you need to pinch out the growing tip after you have 3 sets of leaves.Tender succulents like Aeoniums need to overwinter indoors.
It is also time to prune rambling and climbing roses.The RHS website has useful detailed information on pruning rambling roses and  climbing roses. Hybrid teas and shrub roses should not be pruned until Feb/March time. Ramblers usually  flower only once in June whereas climbers repeat flower. Climbers are more contained and can be suitable for growing over arches etc. Rose pruning ensures that plants grow vigorously and flower well each year.

     Activities in the garden this week:

• preparing a bed for planting allium bulbs
• digging up dahlias and storing the tubers for overwintering - the tubers need to be turned upside down to dry out for a few days before being stored in a box with old compost/straw in a shed or greenhouse during winter months
• planting up last of the pots with spring bulbs
• pruning climbing and rambling roses

Forthcoming events at Garden House
 see Garden House diary

16th Nov  - Botany talk from Irene Fletcher
22nd Nov - Flowers for the Christmas table with Bea Andrews
27th Nov - Wine Tasting with Henry Butler
plus just a few places left on the Christmas wreath making workshops

Ammi majus looking good for next year

Dahlias drying out

Storing tender plants

Sweat peas have been pinched out

Friday 25th October 2013

Still mild and it did not rain! The group pricked out some of the seedlings of hardy annuals which had germinated in the greenhouse, but mostly we planted masses of bulbs in pots. Including ‘spring bulb lasagne’, layers of bulbs in large, deep pots. (Instructions from Sarah Raven: How to plant bulb lasagne).

Ammi majus

The light levels are dropping and it will be cold soon. Bridge reminded us of things to do now:

Last chance before spring to sow hardy annuals e.g. nigella, ammi, calendula, sweet peas, larkspur, orlaya, cornflower, corncockle, ratibia, in cold frame or cold greenhouse for a bit of protection against weather. Helps to grow them hard so that they develop slowly but strongly. Sow ammi majus in modules so that tap root is not disturbed by pricking out. Plant out in open beds in March.

Sow hardy broad beans – Aquadulce Claudia variety – in pots or direct in ground. This gives an earlier crop and helps avoid black-fly.

Plants over-wintering Japanese onion sets in ground, leaving the tips above the earth. Or can plant in modules to get root system established, and plant in ground a month later.

Plant garlic individual bulbs 2.5 inches deep in open beds.

Plant bulbs in beds and pots – daffodils, crocus, iris etc but tulips can wait until it is colder. In pots set bulbs close together but not touching to avoid disease.

Plant indoor narcissi like ‘Paperwhite’ in containers (no drainage holes needed) in pure grit. Water sparingly and stand in the light, turning every day so that they grow up straight. Flower in approximately 6 weeks. Can continue planting up until February for extended display if bulbs stay firm and healthy.

Plant Ident:

Shrubs and trees bearing berries:

Pyracantha varieties (very thorny) - prune in April back to 2 buds. Red or yellow berries.

Cotoneaster (not thorny) deciduous or evergreen small trees and shrubs e.g. C. franchetti with orange berries, C. rothschildianus with yellow berries makes a good specimen tree, C. watereri has red berries and is evergreen.

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) known as May, has small spines. Good for windswept gardens. White, pink or red flowers in May. Lots of varieties available from Notcutts Nurseries. Berries can be used in cooking.

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) known as Sloe. Has big spines. Flowers very early on bare wood. Can be used for sloe gin; put berries in freezer for 24 hours to soften.

Viburnum opulus known as Guelder Rose, frequently seen growing wild on the South Downs. White flowers, red hanging berries resembling redcurrants. Also worth growing: Viburnum tinus, V. davidii, v. rhytidophyllum. All love chalk.

Euonymus europaeus – has striking and vivid orange and pink split fruit in autumn. Bushes get very big but there is a more compact variety.

Common Privet has quite big black berries if left unpruned.

Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) has silvery grey foliage and orange berries. Very tough shrub for windy/coastal sites. Berries can be used for jam.

Stag’s Horn Sumach (Rhus typhina). Good autumn leaf colour and red velvety fruits. Suckering small tree. Rhus ‘Laciniata’ has dissected leaves and is less invasive.

 

Euonymus europaeus

Viburnum opulus

Sea Buckthorn