When you have rain, rain and more rain with the first good frost of the winter, what can you do in the garden in weather such as this? Not a lot outside is the answer.
The ground is waterlogged, there is no point in walking on it and causing compaction and the soil is just too wet to work. I have lifted the dahlias and they are under cover now and drying odd ready to start off in early spring so that I can take more cuttings. This year’s cuttings have been a great success so that gives me the incentive to get the parent plants through the winter.
The frost has finished off any remaining annuals but there is still colour in the garden. In spite of the frost there are still roses in bloom and the winter jasmine is opening up more flowers daily. Also one of my magnolias is also full of sweet smelling yellow blooms that are very welcome this time of year.
Before the rain and frost I did manage to clear up a small amount of leaves, many, many more still to go! Vacuuming leaves almost on autopilot from one of my flower borders I caught sight of movement out of the corner of my eye. I must have disturbed a large frog nestled in amongst the large soggy sycamore leaves. I could so easily have sucked him up with a load of leaves and dread to think what the consequence would have been. It just proves how careful we gardeners have to be as the weather turns colder, the frogs and hedgehogs are still about. It certainly feels too warm at the moment for the hedgehogs to hibernate. I do leave leaves piled up around some tree prunings so the hedgehogs can find refuge if they so want. Wet leaves are dangerous on garden paths and do the lawn no good but in other areas I make a point of not being too tidy. That’s my excuse anyway!
Take a look at this little fellow, definitely too small to hibernate:
Byte Size Biology » Byte Size Hedgehog – Byte Size Hedgehog. December 6th, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments. I don’t know whether to categorize this guy under microbiology or zoology. He’s so small! Cute little fella. From pixdaus.com Click on pic to go to site. …
Not being able to get on with jobs outside in the garden has provided me with time to start getting the greenhouse ready for winter. The structure both inside and out has been scrubbed and power washed. Can anyone tell me why after all this treatment there are always areas of glass that don’t look like they have been touched? The next job is to put up the bubble insulation, a job I never look forward to. The sooner it is done the better so that it is out of the way but it is just one of those garden jobs that has to be done as a chore rather that a pleasurable pursuit.
My Garden is My Space – Hints, tips and how to articles for gardeners. Reviews and offers of garden tools, gardening equipment and many other garden related items
Garden Diary – Stories, hints and tips by a gardener
Normally I take pictures of beautiful flowers to show on my diary. This week is very different; this is a picture I never wanted to take.
I have been growing tomatoes for over thirty years with very few problems. This year I had a few extra tomato plants going spare so I asked my daughter whether she would like to try her hand at cultivating her own tomatoes. There was no room in the greenhouse and so I helped her to plant in containers outside.
She probably gave her tomatoes more TLC than me, she was doing a good job, listening to all the advice and had started to pick fruit. There is nothing better to encourage and enthuse people to gardening that enjoying the fruits of their labour.
However, one day she asked me to look at her tomatoes as she thought they were suddenly taking a turn for the worse. Although I have never experienced the problem it was clear what the problem was, tomato blight. Thankfully this is a tomato disease that does not affect tomatoes grown under glass very often but it can devastate tomatoes grown outside when the summer is warm but wet.
On a brighter note my large flowered dahlias are open and stunning again this year. The cuttings I took earlier in the year are looking healthy so I will hopefully increase my stock again next spring.
That sounds like I am already planning for next year in the garden and, yes, I am! I have identified one area of the garden that needs revision next year. Around the patio has perhaps been a bit neglected while developing another couple of new areas but you cannot do everything. I have not decided fully what changes I will make but I always like to mull several ideas over before taking action. Whatever I do I want it to be there for a few years so it is worth taking that extra time to think it over.
My Garden is My Space – Hints, tips and how to articles for gardeners. Reviews and offers of garden tools, gardening equipment and many other garden related items
Garden Diary – Stories, hints and tips by a gardener
Tomato Casual » Reader Questions: Tomato Blight – Reader Questions: Tomato Blight. Tags: blight, Questions. late-blight By Vanessa Richins. This season, we have a lot of readers concerned about the late blight that has spread throughout the Northeastern United States. …
Tomato blight and me | Los Angeles Metblogs – The tomato crop has been crushed to a large extent this year nationwide, thanks to a fungus that started in nurseries in the US South where the plants were.
Learn From the Past and Learn How to Vegetable Garden
By Rodger Cresswell
There was a time when most young boys learned how to vegetable garden. It is perhaps more appropriate to say learned than taught as the learning process was a practical one. There was a great need to grow your own vegetables so that the family had food on the table.
The history books teach us that it was essential to grow as much of our own food as possible during the World Wars. Dig for Victory conjures up pictures of lawns and ornamental borders being grubbed up, dug over and planted up to provide the much needed nutrition for the family.
Instruction leaflets were produced to teach many people skills that they had not had to call upon when vegetables were readily available and affordable in the shops. And as we know, this was a task that had also to be undertaken by women as many of the young men were away fighting.
Returning to the period before the war, a picture is literally painted of cottage dwellers spending their leisure time cultivating their vegetable gardens and harvesting wonderful healthy and nutritional crops. This is so far from the truth and some of the blame can be put at the door of the commercial artists whose canvases show contented wives and children watching as the man of the house working in bright sunshine maintaining the vegetable plot. Apart from the cottages being draughty, cold, damp and overcrowded the man of the house had very little leisure time. They worked very long hours from dawn to dusk so how did they manage to dig over their vegetable gardens and cultivate their crops? The answer is that they had to work in the time they had available which would be late into the evening using the Parish Lantern to see what they were doing. What is the Parish Lantern? Moonlight.
There is a growing interest in vegetable growing and some of our reasons for wanting to do so are the same as those cottage gardeners. For example, one reason is the desire to save money when prices of fresh vegetables have risen in the greengrocers and supermarkets. But we are also aware of the number of miles clocked up to get the produce to our table. The carbon footprint is not the only issue; we like to know that a concoction of chemicals has not been used in the production of that food.
If you want to help yourself and your planet try growing your own vegetables. You can start in a small way and expand as you become more confident. Unlike those gardeners of the past you may not have had the chance to learn vegetable gardening but there is not a better time to learn how to vegetable garden.
Rodger Cresswell is interested in all things about gardens and gardening. Flowers, vegetables and greenhouse growing and also tries to encourage as much wildlife into the garden as possible.
Getting the doctor out when you have a problem or need inspiration in your garden may sound fanciful but it depends upon which doctor you call upon.
There is one garden expert who is a doctor and he goes by the name of DG Hessayon. Although you may not recognise the name it is highly possible that you would recognise his writings when seen on a bookshelf.
Dr DG Hessayon is the author of the “Expert” series of books that began in 1959 with the title Be Your Own Gardening Expert. This was a straightforward thirty two page guide that was filled with pictures and charts. Nothing new there you may think but this was 1959 when gardening advice books were more like textbooks and not easy reading for the masses. Dr Hessayon obviously hit upon the right idea as the twenty plus books written by him have followed the same format.
He is now aged 80 and is the best selling non-fiction writer in the world having sold over 50 million copies, a long way from his first self-published tome.
Need some help with garden plants, maybe that new lawn, perhaps you are a house plant enthusiast and need to know the best indoor plants for a situation or yours is a vegetable and herb garden, you will find a Hessayon expert book that will help.
The Fruit ExpertThe Garden D.I.Y. ExpertThe Garden Expert
The Garden Revival Expert
The Green Garden Expert
The Greenhouse Expert
The House Plant Expert
The House Plant Expert: Book Two
The Orchid Expert
The Rock and Water Garden Expert
The Tree and Shrub Expert
The Vegetable and Herb Expert
Vegetable and Herb Expert
So when you are next in the library or looking to purchase one of the Garden Expert range of books, say a little thank you to the man who made it fashionable to produce informative books for the everyday gardener but prefers to stay out of the limelight.
It seems that home improvement stores are making their gardening supply and nursery stocks more expansive year by year. I think this is because DIY lawn care and gardening is the easiest to break into as a homeowner.
You can buy gardening products in various stores or nurseries, or you can order gardening products from catalogues, or even order them online. The trick is in knowing what you need for the jobs you plan to undertake.
You will obviously need the basic landscape garden tools no matter what you are planting, such as a hoe, spade, and maybe even a shovel. You must have watering supplies, like a hose, sprinkler and watering can. Other possibilities include a spade, a pot (if you are pot planting), and a pair of gloves for comfort, some pruning shears and a rake. Then, of course, there are the essentials such as the lawn mower and weed whacker, but we are mainly going to focus here on the basic landscape/gardening tools and leave the grass for another day.
When first starting a garden you will definitely want some type of mushroom mulch, manure or peat moss to properly amend your soil. There are a few types of potting soil that you can also add into your slurry including organic potting mix, seed starting potting mix, cactus potting mix, and root development potting mix, just to name a few.
Once you have your garden planted, you must have gardening chemicals so that you can add nutrients to the soil to ensure a healthy plant life. Miracle-Gro is one of the most popular growing enhancements for plants. There are many different types of Miracle-Gro to choose from and what kind you choose will depend on what you are trying to grow. The good thing about Miracle-Gro is that it is labeled very well with easy-to-follow instructions. This same brand name can also be found on insecticides and fungicides with that same easy-to-follow labeling.
If you are growing vegetables or herbs, you may need different gardening tools than regular flower gardens require. If you are growing tomatoes for example, you will need a tomato cage and ties to protect the plants against the wind. Many plants, mostly vines, are designed to grow on something and you will have to have a fence or trellis of some sort.
You can also find tools for the landscape that serve a greater purpose than just “function,” and that being “form.” In other words, they can also come in the form of decoration. There are decorative flower pots, sundials, plastic figurines, stones or bricks for a pathway or looks, and even lawn furniture. The big trend in country gardening is to find old, weathered and rusted garden tools and plant those in and amongst the greenery. Decoration will add to the charm and uniqueness of your garden and is an excellent way to give it a personal touch.
The winter months will bring a whole new set of gardening products to store shelves. When the frost hits the prime place to put your plants are in a greenhouse. However, if you do not have a greenhouse for whatever reason, a tarp of some sorts can be used to cover plants up at night. You also might need a light source, like a heat lamp, to both keep plants warm and give them extra light. In addition, you are going to need a snow shovel or maybe even a snow blower, as well as some good quality snow melter.
New and upgraded gardening products are always popping up on the market. It seems like every day there is some gardening product that claims to be bigger and better than the last. While many gardening tools are not a necessity, they sure make the job a lot easier and more enjoyable. Fall time is a great time to pick up deals on lawn and garden tools as the season is nearly over and they are often found on clearance. Check them out today!
When the basics of your new garden are in place you will want to enjoy it, Summerhouses and Garden Rooms are ideal places to relax.
Annual flowering plants are perhaps the easiest plants you will ever grow. Yet their ease of growth does not limit them from providing continuous color all season long. Whether your yard is small or large, or you are restricted to a small courtyard, annuals are a good choice for you.
Most annuals are grown by sowing seed, either in the early spring in a heated greenhouse or at home in a sunny window sill. Some annuals are planted directly in the soil during warmer weather. Some annuals are so adaptable that you only need to sow them once and they will self seed, producing plants every year. These are considered hardy annuals and need little guidance for regular planting.
On the other hand are annual flowering plants that require early planting indoors and need to be transplanted into the ground when the weather permits. These plants are easily damaged by frost in the early spring but thrive during the warm months of summer.
If you choose to start annuals by seed, you will find a better selection by ordering them through a catalog or online. However, the more limited selections that are found at nurseries and garden centers may be more helpful because of their colorful packaging and that they are likely suitable for your local environment. If you do buy seeds from garden centers, always avoid packets that are faded, yellow, and have been exposed to sunlight as these seeds may not grow well.
The easier way to start annuals is to purchase young plants in the spring that have been started in a greenhouse. Buying starters is a great alternative for people who don’t have the space or resources to start their own from seed. However, buying young plants is always more costly that purchasing seeds.
Growing Annuals in the spring is always exciting for a gardener. So which ever method you choose, you are sure to enjoy beautiful blooms all season long.
More gardening tips for the flower garden throughout the year.
We are that time of the year and garden season when hints and tips for the vegetable garden once more include the phrase “depending upon where you live”. In warmer regions you will be able to get away with late sowings while cooler regions may wish to take a risk or accept that there may not be enough warm weather to come to get crops to maturity.
Tomatoes
I make no secret of the fact that I am an enthusiastic grower and eater of tomatoes. Early in the season I can buy locally grown tomatoes from a market gerdener but there is nothing like that taste that comes from those freshly picked from your own vines.
Pick those tomatoes that are ripening quickly now and enjoy the abundant harvest.
Irregular watering can lead to problems with blossom end rot in tomatoes so it is advisable to water well during dry spells.
Keep up with potato blight control on outdoor tomatoes to prevent further infection of the crop.
Also keep your eyes peeled for ghost spot, blotchy ripening and greenback. Problems with ripening can be caused by heat damage, lack of feeding or water, or by a genetic tendency in some varieties. Tomato viruses are another problem.
Reading back over this it may not at first glance look like a good advert for growing your own tomatoes but with a sensible care and good housekeeping regime most problems are avoided.
Quick Maturing Crops
Here we go with one of those depending upon where you live:
In warmer areas you can still sow quick maturing salad crops such as summer lettuce, radish, rocket, sorrel, chicory and fennel. Continue to sow spring cabbage, turnips, Oriental vegetables and overwintering onions.
If like me and you have a greenhouse, try sowing salad leaf crops such as lettuce, matzuna, rocket, greek cress and golden purslane in seed trays on the greenhouse benching. Sow seeds thinly, grow to maturity in the seed trays and graze the young leaves so that they cut and cum again.
Remember to regularly pick fast maturing vegetables such as French beans, runner beans, courgettes and cucumbers which will prevent stringiness or toughness and encourage further cropping.
We have been eating our own salad crops this week. The tomatoes and cucumbers are not ready yet but are coming on well. The cucumber flowers are so decorative, the yellow flowers brighten up the greenhouse.
What an interesting mix of salad leaves you can put together when you grow your own. Our mix was Mizuna, Greek Cress, Rocket, Spinach, Beetroot and Lettuce. The Greek Cress went down well adding a very peppery taste to the salads. The only disappointment to date is the Purslane which has been very slow. However I have a second sowing which seems to be coming along much better.
The hole in the lawn mystery, some long lost book by Agatha Christie or one of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five adventures? No, something has been digging little holes in my front lawn, not deep, not that big but each morning there are more. Opening the curtains one night before heading for bed, there was the culprit just visible in the filtered light coming through the hedge from a street light.
It is hard to know where to start this week writing about the garden, so much is happening.
In the greenhouse I have nipped out the leading shoots of my dahlia seedlings so that they bush out, the cucumbers are taking off and the peppers have germinated at last. The petunias and alyssum that I pricked out have started to move on at a rate but the basil is very slow.
Outside in the garden the Exochorda The Bride is still starring, over 6 feet tall and wide it is stunning. The first rhododendrons are in flower, light pinks that were here when we arrived over 20 years ago and Rhododendron Luteum which has to be one of my favourites with its yellow and beautifully scented flowers. The tiny sweet scented violets are everywhere, again they were here before us and seed themselves everywhere but are a joy rather than a problem. Bluebells in their full glory and blue mists of forget-me-nots that seed themselves every year, I know some that think this a problem but for me they seem to complement all around them and if in the wrong place they are so easy to pull up. The same can be said for Bowles Golden Grass or to give it its proper name Milium effusum ‘Aureum’. The late Geoff Hamilton brought this to my attention many years ago and I struggled to find a specimen way back then when I suppose grasses were not such a design item as they are now. I would not be without it as it is an absolute ray of sunshine in the garden and goes well with most colours, one exception being yellow. I let mine seed and transplant it to wherever I think appropriate or just leave it where Mother Nature decided it would look best. The magnolia is still in flower and the pink apple blossom with its delicate scent has shown itself.
Looking at my notes from last year the weather at this time was hot, very hot for the time of year. My tomatoes were romping away and other seedlings demanding attention as they grew at an amazing rate. Then guess what happened? The weather turned colder, a lot colder. The tomatoes continued to look very healthy but took ages to set fruit. Bedding plants that had raced away could not be planted out into the border as it was too cold and some had to have the growing tips nipped out to hold them back and help them to bush.
Here we are in April and the days are getting longer and the sun is getting stronger.
Now is the ideal time to consider seed sowing and taking delivery of the young plants you have ordered. Bear in mind that those young plants will still need protecting from the frost at night but they will enjoy the warmth and light of the days. Soon you will see them racing away with the optimism that comes with Spring days.
Prick out seedlings from earlier sowings of cauliflower, putting them into seed trays and allowing space for them to grow in readiness for planting out later in the spring.
Tomato seed can still be sown in a warm place to provide plants for either growing on in an unheated greenhouse or planting out early in June. Later sowings very often quickly catch up earlier sowings and can be better as the early sowings can become a bit “leggy” when grown when daylight hours are short. Choose varieties to best suit your own taste and requirements.
Sweet Corn seed can be sown in warm conditions at this time so that plants will be ready for planting outside in early summer. Picked fresh, cooked and dripping with butter – well worth the wait!
She probably gave her tomatoes more TLC than me, she was doing a good job, listening to all the advice and had started to pick fruit. There is nothing better to encourage and enthuse people to gardening that enjoying the fruits of their labour. 
