| Sixth edition - October 2001.
 The next four editions of Gardener`s Diary will be in a
slightly different format. While the days are short and the dormant garden is
preparing itself for the spring, I will be chatting generally about gardening and in
February will resume "Jobs for the month" and the "Spotlight" section.
Autumn and winter have never been my favourite times of year, mainly
because of the long dark nights, but now, being in the autumn of my own life, I am
learning to love these particular seasons and not to wish my precious time away. Whilst we
are talking about ageing, I have been mindful of my own increasing limitations in the
garden. Gone are the times when I could move mountains - nowadays it`s more likely
to be mole hills. So, when we moved to our new house in Nottinghamshire two years
ago, with a half acre football field for a back garden, it made sense to design a user
friendly area, with ease of maintenance and mobility. We have edged the vast lawn
with paving slabs and the grass can now be mown with the tractor very quickly, and has
only a few edges to trim. The borders are mainly planted with trees and shrubs for ease of
maintenance, and difficult varying levels have been replaced with gentle paved slopes,
just in case... The front garden has been designed to give borders planted with
mainly evergreen shrubs, trees and flowers, no lawn, just the tarmac and path areas.
So, although I have a large garden and a husband who dislikes gardening, it`s not all hard
work...
Batten down the hatches
October is a really busy month in the garden, preparing for the long winter
months ahead. It is time to cut back perennials that have finished
flowering, remove summer bedding plants, take out any dead growth of shrubs
and prune them lightly to make them look neat over winter. Finally, give the
borders a good hoe, to make them look well tended.
 Prepare
your lawn for winter now with an autumn feed which will encourage a deeper
longer root system, and harden off growth to help the grass withstand the
colder weather. You will notice the lawn going a dark green fairly soon
after application.
Sweep up piles of leaves before they collect in a slippery heap and someone
falls over them and gets hurt..
Once you`ve cleared away the debris, your garden will probably look a bit
sad, bleak and colourless, so nip down to the garden centre to buy some pots
of winter plants, already planted up and in flower, to dot around the
garden. Try window boxes too - plastic or wood, painted with Cuprinol Garden
Shades, underplanted with all sorts of beautiful spring bulbs and topped off
with trailing ivies, evergreen herbs and heathers. It`s surprising how a bit
of bright colour will cheer you in the winter months.
Check that tree ties on young trees are secure and not too tight..
 Don`t
forget to put out food for the birds, either on a bird table or in feeders,
and keep them topped up throughout the winter as they will come to rely on
you feeding them, especially in the really cold weather when supplies
are short...
Finally when you`ve put your feet up at night, relaxing with a glass of wine
in front of the blazing log fire, you can browse through the seed catalogues
that have been delivered, and plan next year`s summer display, with perhaps
some extra perennials. My all time favourite seed company is
Thompson and Morgan, who regularly send out beautiful comprehensive
catalogues, take seed orders on-line and accept credit card payments.
Some seasonal web sites of interest to gardeners:
Carry on gardening website wins national award
www.carryongardening.org.uk
has won the 2001 'Getting the Message Across' top award, for outstanding
achievement in the provision of information for
 disabled
people. The annual awards are given by the National Information Forum
www.nif.org.uk. They are awarded to individuals and organisations
who have made significant contributions to ensuring that disabled people get
the information they need, when they need it, and in an appropriate form.
The judges' unanimous decision on the site was "terrific". They felt
that Carry on Gardening was "an accessible database which is very good fun
and easy to use". The award will be presented by Trevor Baylis, the wind-up
radio man and a former award winner, at Channel 4 in London on 23 October
2001. TV gardener Monty Don fronts the site, and celebrity endorsement has
also been received from Rachel de Thame and Gay Search. The
Lottery-funded website was launched at the beginning of this year, and to
date has attracted nearly 100,000 visitors.
www.edenproject.com
The living theatre of plants and people
The Eden Project is a gateway into the world of plants and people. A
meeting place for all to discover how we depend on plants and how we can
help to manage and conserve them for our mutual survival
Finally, a little indulgence if I may..
The founder of
www.maple-landscapes.com
is my eldest son.. give him a call if you live in the Leicester area of the
UK and need his services..
I am
leaving the following paragraph in situ for a little while longer as Foot
and Mouth has reared it`s head again, and caution is still the order of the
day for the countryside..
So If you are visiting a National Trust garden or any other garden or event,
do check that they are not closed due to Foot and Mouth disease. More and
more footpaths and other venues have been opened but, for general advice and
up-to-date details of restrictions, look up the website for the appropriate
local authority who will have information about closures. Alternatively look
at the following websites:
www.nationaltrust.org.uk and
www.maff.gov.uk who will have Foot and Mouth up-dates.
Have a look at previous
editions of Gardener`s Diary
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