AN HOUR TO SPARE

Photo: Coming out with flippant remarks on a forum site could get you bitten.

What do you do when have a spare hour, but it’s too wet to go outside and do some work in the garden? One job I tend to do in the wet is sorting out the shed. Have you ever noticed that any space you have is soon taken up with stuff…when I say stuff I mean old packaging for recycling, newspapers, old clothes, furniture, machinery. In fact anything your imagination will stretch to usually gets dumped in the garage, shed, or any other corner of the house. You might have experienced the phenomenon if you ever tried to keep a spare room clear for any length of time.

CHECK OUT THE WEB
This can get a bit tedious though, moving rubbish from one shelf to another, so if its really bad outside I’ll check out the web. For a fleeting moment I got hooked on the social networking sites like facebook. Trouble is I’m not really that sociable and got a bit tired of all of the interacting. My lads use this method of contact far more effectively than me; it’s easier for them, probably because they have loads of friends from school to chat to.

GARDENING FORUMS
I do occasionally get involved with a couple of gardening forums from time to time and occasionally contribute something. I tend to be a bit flippant with the answers though and don’t take things too seriously, which doesn’t always go down very well. I have had my wrists virtually slapped a few times when I am asked how to sort out weeds in a garden and I suggest concrete.
Odd quirky remarks are best kept to a minimum when giving advice to total strangers.
For every gardening question posted onto the forum sites, there are as many answers as there are people reading it. I think that’s why I tend to hesitate when anyone asks me what is the best way to grow vegetables or cut a hedge, it can be very much down to the individual or circumstances.

IT’S NEVER TOO WET FOR WEBSITES
I also like checking out e-bay when it gets too wet to be outside in the garden. I don’t buy much but there’s no harm in looking and occasionally offering silly money for something…well, you never know, the seller might just say yes even though my dad used to say that a bargain isn’t a bargain if you don’t want it…..

GETTING READY FOR WINTER.
I like checking out the gardening equipment but with the way the economy is, it is probably better to take care of the metal tools that I have. I use WD40 to spray over the metal as I find dipping the lawnmower into a bucket of sand mixed with old oil a bit cumbersome (see what I mean about getting into trouble with being flippant). I would recommend running the mower out of petrol or emptying the tank and pipes totally before parking it up, so that the petrol doesn’t get the chance to go gloopy in the machine. I never seem to actually stop cutting the grass though, it was done last week and is already long enough to cut again. I’ll be out on St Stephen’s day – I just know it….maybe even Christmas day if it gets too noisy in the house.

SLIPPERY
Check your footwear has good grip. I say this because I went outside in my slippers the other day (yes I have started to wear slippers) and went over on the concrete slabs outside. They didn’t look slippery but they were like glass in the wet. I will be cleaning them with a stiff brush (the concrete that is, not the slippers) and some natural cleaning fluid, or even better, I might get a bargain pressure washer off of e-bay and clean all of the outside areas including the decking. There’s no point putting up with dangerous surfaces until spring, especially if I keep wearing inappropriate footwear. Clearing the area will also give the opportunity to tidy away all of the frost sensitive pots you have around the outside of the house. Take out the summer bedding in the hardy containers and get some winter colour such as pansies, polyanthus and heathers. Maybe you can pick some up cheap on e-bay….I’ll just go and have a check…..

Pruning trees

Photo: The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest needs to be supported by steel poles to stop nature taking its course.

MAJOR TREE PRUNING

Our driveway is disappearing very quickly under a thick layer of leaves. We have a few trees that give a glorious show of colour…nature’s fireworks, with their bright foliage. Other trees, like the array of conifers we have as a windbreak, like most evergreens drop their dead needles onto the driveway all year round as soon as the wind blows.

Just because deciduous trees are becoming dormant, that doesn’t mean that we should ignore them though, there are certain things we can be doing to ensure they stay healthy. Trees such as hazel and willows have their life expectancy shortened if they are not coppiced and most trees need their overgrown branches or dead bits cutting out.

Don’t go too far with this though. The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is trussed up with steel poles, nature would have let bits drop off of the tree, but for the tourists sake they are being preserved. You used to be able to walk into the hollow trunk of the tree and hide, like Robin Hood was supposed to have done when the Sheriff of Nottingham was looking for him. You can’t go anywhere near the tourist attraction now for fear of damaging the roots, I wonder what it would be saying if it could talk…maybe that Robin Hood is a fictional character and if he was around it would have been 100 years before the acorn sprouted the famous tree…. We don’t have to be so precious with our trees though and need to get up close to see what needs doing.

PRUNING THE TREES


· Most deciduous trees are best pruned when dormant, in late autumn or winter. Pruning in early spring could cause trees to bleed sap as it is rising from the base.
Exceptions
· The exceptions to the 'deciduous tree' rule are maple, horse chestnut, birch, walnut and cherry trees which all bleed extensively, even towards the end of their dormant season, so prune these in mid-summer after new growth has matured, this slows down the bleeding and there is less chance of infection from the wound.

Conifers
· Conifers require little or no regular pruning except the removal of dead or diseased branches in late summer. Ours need cutting back purely because they are starting to block the view from the house


Caution
If you have trees that need chainsaw work or you need to get up high on a ladder, get a qualified and registered tree surgeon in, for your own safety and also for the long-term health of your tree.


PRUNING TIPS

Shaping young trees

· A feathered tree such as a sorbus has an upright trunk and a balanced pattern of horizontal branches running from top to bottom.
· Each year, check for shoots growing at odd angles, extra shoots growing from the top of the main trunk, or basal shoots (strong shoots coming from the base which deprive the tree of nutrients).
· All of these shoots need to be removed.
· Young standards like cherry trees are trained in the same way, but the lowest branches are cut off until a clear trunk has formed.
· In the first year remove the lowest third of the tree's branches, and shorten those in the middle third by half. Remove these latter branches in the following year.
· By the fifth year the trunk should be developed, so prune branches out from the tree's crown to produce an open pattern of branches.
· Some trees, especially those grafted onto special rootstocks, produce suckers, which are secondary shoots growing from the roots. As these may exhaust the tree, pull each one up while it's still small, after first exposing the point where it joins the root.

Ornamental trees

· Pollarding and coppicing are traditional techniques that are used for timber production, but they're also useful when pruning ornamentals which are grown for decorative bark or leaves. It can also be used for keeping trees trimmed to a fixed height.
· Coppicing involves pruning growth back to, or near, ground level in winter and is used for coloured willow and hazel varieties.
· The same trees respond to pollarding, which is a taller version of coppicing with growth cut back to a short trunk.
· Eucalyptus and lime are often pollarded every two to three years to maintain a compact size or smaller foliage. Remember to feed your tree after pruning to encourage plenty of new young growth.

Conifers

· Most standard conifers develop without the need for pruning, but you may need to prune out any damaged or distorted growth.
· This is best undertaken in autumn or winter. If a tree forms two stems, select the strongest, most upright shoot and cut out the competitor at its base.
· You should remove any plain green shoots that appear on variegated conifers, and any abnormally-shaped shoots on dwarf and prostrate conifers.
· Patches of dead or brown foliage need to be taken out and any gaps can be disguised by tying nearby shoots together so they grow across the pruned area.

Tree Preservation Orders

I am always shocked to learn that there are NO tree preservation orders given out in Inishowen. Never the less, if you are talking a big job on a mature tree, check with the council before commencing work.

WINTER PLANTING

Photo: Our pumpkins are primed and ready for the celebrations later this week, they just need hollowing out.

Our veggie patch is looking a bit battered at the moment. I got a bit of a shock today when I went out to see if there were any courgettes still coming on and found that all of the plants had just disappeared. Not disappeared as in stolen, but because we had a frost last week which caused them to die off. There were no courgettes but I did notice that our pumpkins were coming on nicely. We have had a couple of them already and they make a delicious addition to any meal, particularly curries. We fry them up in oil and add garlic and pepper….yum.

The pumpkins still in the veggie patch are going to be used for the Halloween celebrations. Shop bought pumpkins are not really grown for eating, they are grown for size to make a dramatic effect when they are carved. Ours are solid all the way through so it’ll take quite a bit of scooping to make room for the candle. We should get a few meals out of their innards though. The other difference is that they are yellow skinned, but in the spooky evening glow of Halloween I doubt anyone will notice.

Our leeks have perked up since they were transplanted into their own holes a few weeks ago. These are filling some of the bare spaces the spud crop has left since we dug them up. More areas are appearing late on in the season as things die down, this gives us an opportunity to plant something else. There are crops that can stay in the ground over the winter, such as broccoli, spinach, cabbages and brussel sprouts, but tender plants like the peas and beans are leaving bare patches. It’s not too late to plant green manures on your ground. These will help to keep the soil in place and also feed the ground ready for next year.

TYPES OF GREEN MANURE

The optimum times for planning are between September to November…. in other words…now…Here are the most common types that shouldn’t be too hard to get a hold of:

· Red or Crimson Clover – improves soil structure and nitrogen content. Smothers weeds.
· Mustard White Tilney – helps soil with moisture retention, structure and organic matter.
· Forage Rye – Good for heavy clay soils and suppresses weeds.
· Winter Field Bean – Fixes nitrogen in all soils. Flowers, then dig in the spring.
· Forage Pea – Up to 1 metre tall, fixes nitrogen in the soil for spring.


WHAT CAN WE PLANT NOW?

There are other crops that can be planted now. Some of the seedlings will need to be grown under horticultural fleece for protection or started off in a cloche to protect them from the frosts.

Overwintering or autumn varieties of Broad Beans can be put in now for harvesting in June and July. Try –

· The Sutton – A dwarf variety good for smaller and windy plots. Produces a small crop.
· Super Aquadulce – A tall variety that requires staking, produces a good long pod crop.
· Aquadulce Claudia – Early maturing with long pods and good crop.

Peas can also be grown overwinter for harvesting in May to June. Some choice varieties are:

· Feltham First – A quick growing variety with good crop of pods.
· Douce Provence – An organic sweet french variety with a good crop.
· Meteor – An early growing compact variety with very good crop.
· Pilot – A hardy fast to mature variety which gives a good crop.

Spring Onions can be sown all year round for a spring harvest. There are plenty of types to choose and will grow happily in containers.

· White Lisbon – Quick growing, crisp strong salad onions requires no thinning.
· Laser – Slim pickings from a tasty quick to mature variety.
· Winter White Bunching – A good bulb onion that overwinters well.
· Evergreen Hardy White – These are skinny onions and can handle severe winters.

ANYTHING ELSE?

There are other vegetables that will do well if planted now. Autumn Planting Onion Sets can fill a space and the Pak Choi if planted now could be harvested for Christmas. Garlic, mustard greens, winter lettuce, endives and winter spinach can all be grown too. Even winter variety radishes will be ready for eating in January.

Covering the ground in the veggie patch is a great way to conserve the nutrients and even put a bit back for next year. There is also the added benefit of suppressing the weeds that, as we all know only too well, don’t bother to stop growing over the winter….

BULB PLANTING

SPRING BULBS
I’ve been digging up some dahlias this week to store for next year. Dahlias store best in moist, cool areas with plenty of air moving around them. I lost a few last year because of the frost, so this year I am going to wrap them in newspaper and then put them in the shed. There are other things I could do such as cover them in sawdust or wood shavings, but the guinea pigs have got all of that for their bedding. Talking of bulbs….

Planting the bulbs now
If you want to fill your garden with colour next spring, plant bulbs from now until December, before the first frost. Daffodils, tulips, crocus, aconites, grape hyacinths and fritillarias are just some of the plants to choose from. The bulbs need to develop a root system to take up water and nutrients from the soil so the earlier they go into the ground the better.

In the Herbaceous borders
Planting bulbs in a herbaceous border will help to fill in gaps and provide colour and interest before perennials and shrubs begin to grow in early spring. Drifts of single species can be planted to blend in with the general planting scheme of the garden, or try mixing different varieties to create an even and striking effect of bright colour.

Best tool?
One of the best tools to use to plant your bulbs is a spade, after saying that, if you were to dig a separate hole for each bulb you will still be in the garden by the time they are in flower, there are quicker ways to get the bulbs into the ground. Pick an area where you want to plant the daffodils and did out a comma shape or something curvy, a straight line can look a bit regimental. When the shape has been dug out, stand with your back to the hole and throw the bulbs over your shoulder. If they haven’t ended up in next-door’s garden you should have the bulbs settled nicely in a naturalized manner like the bluebells at the Convent in Buncrana. The settled bulbs can then be covered over with soil.

Planting and buying tips
Most bulbs have a long dormant period, requiring little attention for much of the year. When buying bulbs check they're healthy and as fresh as possible, or you won’t get the glorious displays in spring.

Avoid any that are damaged, shrivelled or feel soft, and go for plump, firm bulbs. Aim to plant within a week or they’ll start to sprout. When possible, check that the plants have been obtained from reliable growers, rather than from stock that has been collected from the wild.

Try to keep the “pointy” end facing upwards as this is where the leaves and flowers come from. This isn’t really critical though as the bulbs have the ability to set themselves upright underneath the soil, plant them sideways if you are not sure…..

If the ground is wet work some sand or wood shavings around the bulbs as they mostly originate from dry soils and tend to rot if they sit in water for any length of time. Put bunches of bulbs of the same colour for maximum impact. If you are doing more than one patch let a few of the next batch of different colours mingle at the edges. The other option is to go for a mass of colour. Plant the bulbs in layers, the largest ones go in first then throw on some soil and then smaller bulbs can then be planted. Try to go for bulbs that flower at the same time so you aren’t left with yellowing leaves when the later flowers come out.





In the grass
If you fancy planting bulbs like crocus into the grass then dig up a sod and tuck the bulbs underneath and replace the sod. In spring they will come right through the grass and look as though they have always been there. The same can be done with daffodils but they will need to be planted a bit deeper. If they are too shallow rodents can munch away at the bulbs, the flowers tend to be smaller and if there is a heavy frost you can say goodbye to them altogether. As a general rule, plant bulbs two to three times their own depth and around two bulb widths apart.

Under the trees
Many spring-flowering bulbs are ideal for brightening up the base of trees before they come into full leaf. The soil beneath trees is moist and light, offering the perfect growing conditions for scillas, anemones, erythroniums and crocuses.

In pots
If you want a great patio display, try growing bulbs in pots. Keep it simple by planting a variety on its own or several of the same variety packed closely together for a bumper show. Several types can be planted together, but, like I mentioned earlier, it’s tricky to get the flowers to appear at the same time.

Feeding
After planting you can sprinkle a little bonemeal or other slow acting organic fertilizer over the area, this will help them establish in spring. While the plant food is in your hand it would be a good idea to give any other bulbs a feed if you can remember where they’re planted of course, which isn’t always as easy as it sounds to find them. Failing this you can wait until spring when the tips of the leaves start to push through the ground and then feed with a fast release nitrogen fertilizer, I have my comfrey juice already made up ready.