librarian2003 (librarian2003) wrote in weagardening, @ 2009-11-30 20:00:00 |
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Week 10 - The Garden in December
Our main topic for this week is the Garden in December.
Here are the handouts:
GARDENING FOR PLEASURE
THE GARDEN IN DECEMBER
December can be a very good month to work in the garden. The weather is often good, and when it isn’t, you can plan for the coming year. Review what happened during the last twelve months, and if something isn’t working, admit it, look at it afresh, and come up with a solution.
1 TREES AND SHRUBS
Evergreens are star performers in the winter garden. Golden variegated leaves make a real splash of colour. Conifers add winter colour and structure, and a few tough broadleaved performers will give flowers as well. Cut berrying stems of holly required for decoration sooner rather than later, or the birds may beat you to them.
Acers, birches and vines should be pruned before Christmas, while they are dormant. If left any later, the pruning wounds will bleed with sap and weaken the plant.
Clear up the last of the fallen leaves.
Deciduous hedges that are overgrown can be pruned hard back.
Prune roses by half to prevent wind rock if this has not already been done.
Take hardwood cuttings from shrubs such as rubus, cornus, buddleja and willow. Look for strong, straight, healthy-looking stems and cut just above a bud. Choose stems that are about the thickness of a fat pencil. Make the cuttings about 9 inches in length, and trim each to just below the bottom bud. Either place in pots of well-drained compost in a cold greenhouse or coldframe, or insert in a trench lined with some sand.
2 PATHS , PATIOS AND FENCES
Clean moss from paths and patios or they can become dangerously slippery.
Repair fences and other structures while climbing plants are dormant.
3 ORNAMENTAL GARDEN
Replace worn turf in the lawn or around beds and borders. Spread fresh gravel on paths. Prune overhanging trees and shrubs. Check that all climbers are securely tied in to protect them from wind damage and to keep them looking tidy.
Borders
Hoe off weeds during mild dry weather. Cut back invasive roots of trees, shrubs and hedges.
Bulbs
Look for bulb bargains in garden centres. Tulips, alliums, fritillarias and April-flowering daffodils will all give good shows from late plantings. Even with bargains, check that bulbs are firm and show no sign of mould.
Bulbs that are stored in the dark for forcing should be inspected regularly. Check that the compost has not dried out, and water sparingly if necessary. Do not overwater or the bulbs could rot. When the tips of the leaves are 1-2 inches above the compost move the bulbs out of the dark to a greenhouse or cool windowsill. Once the leaves are around 4 inches high, the bulbs can be moved to a slightly warmer room.
Dahlias and gladioli
Examine stored tubers of dahlias – if they start to shrivel, plunge in a bucket of tepid water overnight. Cut away portions of tubers that have rotted and dust the cuts with flowers of sulphur.
Check stored gladioli corms and discard any that are diseased.
Irises
Water bulbous irises in pots and move earlier species into a cold greenhouse to encourage more rapid flowering.
Grapevines
Grapevines in the greenhouse can be pruned once the leaves have fallen. Cut back the side shoots to leave one good bud and take a third of this year’s growth off the main stem.
Herbaceous perennials and alpines
Sow slow-germinating seed and those that need exposure to frost. Stand outdoors, or in a cold frame, choosing a hard surface away from worms and the drip from trees.
4 KITCHEN GARDEN
Check stored fruit and vegetables, discarding any showing signs of rot.
Hoe off weeds during mild, dry weather. Remove old crops to the compost heap. If the soil is dry enough to walk on, continue digging in organic matter such as garden compost.
Fruit
There’s still time to buy bare-root fruit. If the ground is too frosty for planting, heel them in to a temporary spot until you can plant properly.
Bush apple and pear trees can be pruned throughout the winter while they are dormant, though it’s best to complete pruning by the end of the year if possible. Older trees that have formed dense heads need to be thinned to let light and air through the tree (see notes). Take off any tips that have been shrivelled by mildew – don’t compost them or the spores will spread.
Old mummified fruits on plums indicate brown rot and should be removed. Do not compost.
If you have a fig tree, remove all unripe fruit except the tiny, pea-sized ones just visible at the junction of stem and bud, which will take 12 months to ripen, and will be ready for cropping next October. Larger ones that failed to ripen this autumn will not do so now, and will take energy from the tree.
Vegetables
Witloof chicory can be forced from December to April to produce fresh, crisp chicons.
Net winter greens against birds, and earth up Brussels sprouts plants to support them.
Herbs
Protect bay, rosemary and marjoram from severe winter weather.
Bring herbs such as mint and chives inside to force them.
Rhubarb
To enjoy the youngest, most tender pink shoots, force some now, if you have a clump you can afford to discard. Dig up a spare, established clump any time now, leave it lying on top of the ground for two or three weeks to get frosted, then pot it up with garden soil or compost and put it in the airing cupboard. Shoots will be ready to pull within a month or so.
5 GREENHOUSE AND COLDFRAME
Sow geraniums now for early flowering next summer. Sow seed thinly onto moist compost. Cover with a little fine compost. Cover the pot and leave in a warm place- a windowsill over a radiator is ideal, but do not let the pot dry out. Germination should take place within 4 weeks.
If you sowed sweet peas last month, pinch out the tips of the seedlings to encourage bushy growth.
Regularly go through the greenhouse every week or so and have a quick tidy up. Remove and dispose of dead leaves and flowers and water plants sparingly – do so in the mornings so that water dries off the foliage quickly. This will help keep disease at bay. Overwintering tender perennials need to be kept on the dry side. They tolerate the cold much better if they have dry feet.
Keep an eye out for pests like vine weevil. Mice will be attracted to the protection of greenhouses and coldframes – take appropriate control measures.
Wash or scrape the greenhouse glass if it’s covered with green algae to make the most of low light levels.
6 POOLS
Keep a small area of the pool free of ice to permit toxic gases to escape.
7 WILDLIFE
Bird boxes should be cleaned of old nesting material, which can harbour parasites. Wash out with boiling water, and repair if necessary. Do this well before late winter, when some birds will already be selecting suitable nest sites ready for spring.
Feed the birds – this will keep them in your garden, hunting for overwintering pests.
8 GARDEN BUILDINGS
Make sure that garden buildings are sound and ready for bad weather. Insulate garden taps and any exposed pipework.
9 TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
Clean and service tools and equipment as you put them away for the winter.
Clean pots and seedtrays in hot water and disinfectant, ready for spring.
Tidy the garden shed.
10 WINDOWSILL
Feed flowering pot plants weekly with a liquid fertiliser.
Keep houseplants in brighter places in winter as light levels fall.
Houseplants are a favourite Christmas present, but all have different requirements. The most popular ones are :
Poinsettia like a warm room and need to be kept moist but not waterlogged. Never buy one that has been exposed to the cold.
Cyclamen need a good light and cool conditions. Avoid splashing water on the corm.
Azaleas detest a hot, dry atmosphere and especially central heating. Never allow them to dry out and give them a cool position on a windowsill or in a porch or conservatory.
11 ARMCHAIR
Plan what you want to grow next year. Look at the diary you kept or the photographs you took, so that you can look back at successes as well as mistakes.
12 CHRISTMAS
Christmas is coming, so why not make a winter wreathe? Make or buy a strong wire frame and cover with damp moss, secured by wrapping string round and round. Tie a few sprigs of green foliage together with thin wire and secure to the frame. Continue until the whole frame is covered. Add decorative material like bunches of berries (e.g. from crab apples, cotoneasters, shrub roses, gladwyn irises), variegated foliage and fir cones. If you spray the fruit with hair lacquer, this will hold in moisture and they will be less likely to drop. Add a wide bow of red ribbon and voila!
13 DECEMBER NEWS
1 Pest control experts warn that decking is providing an ideal breeding ground for rats and mice. The wooden boards keep out the cold and the rain, and fallen leaves can be dragged in to provide bedding.
2 There’s a new website to teach the importance of soil to secondary schoolchildren. It has been created by scientists from the National Soil Resources Institute at Cranfield University in response to reports that science teaching isn’t strong enough in schools. Did you know that it takes perhaps 500 years to form half an inch of new soil? It’s at www.soil-net.com
3 Sharrow School, Sheffield, has been awarded Local Nature Reserve status because of its green roof, with over 700 types of plant, and range of different habitats, including a meadow, wetland area, a dead tree and a bird table.
4 The UK’s largest winter garden has opened at Dunham Massey, a National Trust property in Cheshire. The garden has 700 plant varieties, 1600 shrubs and 200,000 bulbs, all picked for their interest between autumn and spring. Highlights include a camellia walk with 50 different varieties, a Cyclamen Grove, the Yellow Meadow with a mixture of crocus, daffodils and iris, and over 12,000 snowdrops along the Snowdrop Walk.
5 Two important garden chemicals are being withdrawn. Mancozeb, a fungicide sold as dithane, for controlling diseases such as potato blight and blackspot, will be withdrawn on 30 June 2010. It will be replaced with a new product containing copper oxychloride. Murphy’s Traditional Copper Fungicide has recently become unavailable, which would have left Bordeaux Mixture as the only serious treatment for blights and peach leaf curl.
Pesticides containing bifenthrin are also to be withdrawn next year. This will affect Rose Clear and Multirose. A new formulation of Rose Clear is expected.
6 Scientists from Imperial College, the British Lichen Society, and the Natural History Museum are undertaking a survey of lichens, in order to map air quality. Gardeners are asked to record the different types of lichen growing on trees in their neighbourhood. The survey will also record the presence of tar spot on sycamore, which seems to be less prevalent where air quality is poor. Go to: http://www.opalexplorenature.org/?q=Air
7 A cross between a Brussels sprout and a kale, Brassica oleracea ‘Petit Posy Mix’, is now available. It looks like a sprout, producing frilly buttons in colours from purple to green, but tastes like spring greens, cropping from November to March. From Thompson and Morgan.
Jo Hanslip
November 1999
Last revision November 2009
GARDENING FOR PLEASURE
SEASONAL PLANTS FOR DECEMBER
Border and rock garden
Name Common Name
Hyacinths
Iris unguicularis
Narcissus ‘Paper White’
Narcissus ‘Soleil D’Or’
Phormium
Trees and Shrubs in flower
Name Common Name
Chimonanthus Wintersweet
Erica carnea Heather
Hamamelis mollis Witch hazel
Lonicera purpusii Winter honeysuckle
Jasminum nudiflorum Winter jasmine
Mahonia
Trees and shrubs with colourful fruit
Name Common Name
Arbutus Strawberry tree
Aucuba Spotted laurel
Callicarpa Beauty Berry
Gaultheria
Nandina domestica Heavenly Bamboo
Pyracantha Firethorn
Skimmia
Sorbus Mountain ash
Water plants in flower
Name Common Name
Aponogeton Water Hawthorn
Greenhouse plants in flower
Name Common Name
Aphelandra Zebra plant
Azalea indica
Begonia
Chrysanthemum
Cineraria
Cyclamen persicum
Euphorbia pulcherrima Poinsettia
Primula kewensis
Primula obconica
House plants in flower/fruit
Name Common Name
Begonia semperflorens
Chlorophytum Spider plant
Cyclamen persicum Cyclamen
Euphorbia pulcherrima Poinsettia
Saintpaulia African Violet
Solanum capsicastrum Winter cherry
Zygocactus truncatus Christmas cactus
Vegetables in season
Artichoke, Jerusalem
Beet, seakale
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Chicory
Leek
Marrow
Onion
Parsnip
Radicchio
Radish Winter
Salsify
Scorzonera
Spinach Beet
Swede
Turnip
Oriental greens
Jo Hanslip
November 1999
Revised November 2005
Jo