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January 2, 2010

Up the Ladder

Posted by Barhi under Gardeners Diary | Tags: , |
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So what is it that would make someone, who has a healthy respect for heights, go happily climbing up the side of the house on a ladder?   It has to be the winter prune of the Wisteria.  

It is a job that I do every New Year’s Day.  I know that gardening experts always say that the autumn is the start of the new gardening year as that is the best time for planting, but for me, pruning the Wisteria is the start.  It is almost always very frosty, a lovely crisp day when it is a pleasure to be outside if you are well wrapped up.   For the last two years, my husband has been concened to let me do it following my hip operation.   Two years ago, there was absolutely no chance of me doing it as I was on crutches.  Last year, he once again offered to do the job.  This year, there was no way that I was going to let him do it. 

We agreed to split the labour this year though.  He placed the ladder and I climbed up to do the pruning.  Once I had finished a section, he moved the ladder and the process continued.  The wisteria covers the back of our house, so this means quite a few ladder moves.  We have a stabiliser for the ladder for safety reasons, but it does make the moving process a bit more complicated.  We always start on the eastern side of the house as it is much easier to put the ladder up on the patio.  By the time we get to the western side, we have to negotiate the plants in the bed which is always a little harder.  The dogs are always confined to the house during the pruning process, the last thing that we want is to trip over them as we move the ladder (our springers are very inquisitive creatures) or for them to be hit by falling branches.

There is something intensely satisfying about pruning the wisteria.  The thought that this job is going to produce a more floriferous result in the spring spurs one on.  As the books say, I prune to two buds, which I assume allows the plant to concentrate its efforts on a smaller number of buds and therefore produce more vigorous racemes in the spring.  Over the years you create more and more flowering spurs  just waiting to erupt when the time is right.  At the same time, removing the unnecessary growth provides a nice neat structure for the plant to start its growth again once the sap rises in spring.

 

October 31, 2009

Winter Preparations – Cleaning the paths

Posted by Barhi under Gardeners Diary | Tags: , , |
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Well, it’s almost November, so winter must be around the corner – though I have to say that the temperatures today gave little indication of up upcoming change in weather.   The plants also haven’t quite sussed that things are changing.  I have a hemerocalis in bud, a few roses out and a clematis that refuses to give up, as well as a few geraniums in flower.   The goldfish too haven’t yet decided that it is time to drop to the bottom of the pool, they still come straight to the surface when you walk by the pond, in hope of some food.  The berries on my pyracantha are a wonderful bright red – who says autumn is a season that lacks interest ???

The main job today was pressure washing the paths.  This is a job I hate doing as it is such a palaver to get everything ready, but when the job is done, the paths do look wonderful.  Once the pressure washer is out, it must be hooked up to both water and electricity and then I get changed into my protective clothing (waterproof trousers and boots) and then we can get going.  I have to admit that getting a water tap in the garage has made things a lot easier than when I had to lay out the hose from the back door.  The main reason for this pressure washing is safety over the winter.  We frequently make the journey between the house and the garage and I would have for anyone to slip and hurt themselves.  I tend to do the job again in spring to remove the effects of the winter and then sometimes  I do it again a couple of weeks before the garden opening in June if I feel that the paths are looking a little scruffy.

The biggest problem with this job is finding the right day to do it.  It has to be at a weekend and it has to be a dry day (electricty and rain are not the best companions, in my opinion) – a combination which is exceedingly hard to find at this time of year.  The forecasters told us that today was the day – tomorrow is going to be very wet :(.  I was meant to be at a dog show, but I have quarantined myself for this weekend.  The dogs have had a sickness bug and the last thing I was to do is pass it on to anyone else.  So, luckily I was free today and able to get on with the job.

The area by the pond is paved with a modern grey stone, which looks a little better when it has been cleaned, but it is the “long walk” which looks best after the procedure.  It is made from York stone and really does suffer from algal growth.  There is an immense sense of satisfaction as the path reveals its true colour from under its dark green covering.  It is also wonderful to see how much the lichen like the York stone.  None grow by the pond, but colonies are becoming very established on the York and add a great deal of character to a simple walk to the garage and back – if you look down and the path is clean enough to reveal them in all their glory.

So now our main paths are ready for the winter.  Now all I have to do is finish clearing and then get on with some planting.  I have cyclamen, daffodils and tulips waiting to go into the ground as well as a lovely young Carpenteria Californica that I was given, but that will have to wait to be planted until its fleecy jacket arrives to protect it from the worst of the winter weather.

 

September 23, 2009

Mail Order Plants

Posted by Barhi under Gardeners Diary | Tags: , , |
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Do you buy plants by mail order?  It was something that I used to be loathed to do.  I liked the pleasure of visiting the nursery and getting the feel of the place where my plants had grown up.  But then I realised that I could often get a much better choice of plants from specialist nurseries which were further away, provided I knew what I wanted. 

Some mail order catalogues rely on the chocolate box syndrome – that your eyes are much bigger than your garden.  This is especially true of the ones which concentrate on annuals and drop through the door in the middle of winter.  They concentrate on your depression in the middle of winter and make you dream of the warm summer days pictured.   I have had at least one order just not arrive, the time between ordering and receipt is so long that I forgot that I had ordered until it was too late to chase them – I just had to chalk it up to experience and vow never to use that company again.

Great example of packaging from a specialist nursery

Great example of packaging from a specialist nursery

All these Cyclamen came out of that box - each one in its own cardboard tube filled with bubble wrap

All these Cyclamen came out of that box - each one in its own cardboard tube filled with bubble wrap

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Better by far is to order from specialist nurseries.  In time, you get your own favourites.  Sometimes you can get to know a nursery and the people behind it at a RHS show or a farmers market, maybe you have read an article about the nursery, you may have spoken to the owner on the phone or alternatively someone may have recommended one of their own favourites.  We all have our own ways of finding those little gems of nurseries that exist out there.   Many suppliers now have their own websites as they have realised that they are a great way to get in touch with gardeners all over the country.  Some of the websites leave a little to be desired.  The owners are planstmen rather than IT professionals after all, but some get it really right. 

The key thing is that the specialists really package their plants well and can provide exceptional value for money.  I have recieved plants from all over the country and have some lovely gems to show for it. 

My latest purchase was for cyclamen.  I ordered on Sunday and the plants arrived on Wednesday – fast work in anyones book.  They were beautiful plants and great value for money – 14 plants for less than £40.  The packaging was amazing.  It was obvious that someone really cared about their plants.  Now all I have to do is get them in the ground :).

 

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