Forty second edition
- October 2004
Most places in the UK will
probably have sorry looking gardens following the
batterings and storms of the last two months! They
will recover, but it would be prudent to check
that all your boundary walls or fences are safe before
the winter arrives. Check the trees too, for broken
branches.
It's a great time of year for
planning ahead; the supermarkets and garden centres are
full of tempting packs of bulbs, all colour
co-ordinated of course: packs of winter flowering
pansies and my favourite
wallflowers.
It is time once more to batten
down the hatches for another year, so I shall press on
with your jobs for the month...
Happy gardening!
Autumn chores
It is time to cut back
perennials that have finished flowering, and 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, so
they look well tended. You could apply a mulch if
you make your own compost.
 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 from
lawns and paths before they collect in a slippery heap
and some unsuspecting soul goes flying..
(Remember that hedgehogs could be sheltering in
piles of leaves and wood ready for November's
bonfire..)
Check that tree ties on young
trees are secure but not too tight..
Once you've cleared away the
debris, your garden will probably look a bit bleak and
colourless, so nip down to the garden centre (or
supermarket) 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.
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...
If you like birds, here is the website for
you...
Don't neglect the wildlife and
fish in the garden pond. Make sure there is enough
water, and any dead foliage is removed.. Remove
the leaves that drop in the water too.
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. 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. I try and grow something
new from seed each year - this year it was
Zinnias. I remember these showy bedding plants
from my childhood days and was delighted with the
results. I am looking for a different variety to grow
next year.
I sometimes get asked to recommend a website, and
this is one of them, well three in one
actually! A young but thriving business that
I can thoroughly recommend.. Some great ideas for
Christmas presents perhaps..
www.waterfeatures2u.com
Seems they are finally thinking about older
gardeners, with this product...
 EnvirOmower; Cordless
electric environmentally-friendly lawn mower...
No more arm-yanking cords or power leads. You'll never
need petrol or oil again with the ENVIROMOWER;
an environmentally friendly, cordless battery-powered
lawn mower. FREE DELIVERY in the UK.
See their website at www.enviromower.co.uk
Laterlife is pleased to support the project
below:-
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http://www.sensory-garden.com
Designed to
stimulate the senses and provide a haven of
peace, a place to chill-out and unwind from the
stress of modern living. A garden designed
specifically to be "Positive About Disabled
People" and raise funds for people with Multiple
Sclerosis.
Take a
virtual trip around the garden, through different
countries, its monthly photo galleries &
artwork, explore and discover the plants, birds
and wildlife, water features and wind-chimes, as
we endeavour to describe the sights, sounds,
smells, tastes, and touch of the various
areas.
We
hope you enjoy your visit to the Sensory Garden
Project
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And some places to
visit...
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.
Kew Gardens two
locations:-
http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/
Tel: 020 8332 5655 (24 hr)
Fax: 020 8332 5197
Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 3AB
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Tel: 01444 894066 (24 hr)
Fax: 01444 894069
Royal Botanic Gardens
Wakehurst Place
Ardingly
Nr Haywards Heath
West Sussex
RH17 6TN
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The National Botanic Gardens of
Scotland comprise:
Royal
Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Scotland's Premier Garden
Benmore
Botanic Garden, Argyll
Argyll's Magnificent Mountainside Garden
Dawyck
Botanic Garden, Borders
Wonderful Woodland Garden
Logan
Botanic Garden, Galloway
Scotland's Most Exotic Garden
 The National Botanic Garden of Wales
www.gardenofwales.org.uk
The star attraction here is the 91 metre long domed
glasshouse, that houses landscapes normally found in
the Mediterranean. This would be a super place to visit
on a chilly day...
Keep
the e-mails with your gardening problems coming
Have a look at previous
editions of Gardener`s Diary
Some websites of interest to
gardeners:-
www.alantitchmarsh.co.uk
Alan Titchmarsh MBE, TV
gardener, writer, broadcaster and thoroughly nice
person. Just a few choice words to describe him. See
his website....
 Thompson and Morgan:
A growing resource for gardeners worldwide. The site
includes the international online seed catalogues, the
young plants catalogue (UK only), the wholesale seeds
catalogue, together with the award winning Germination
Times and a host of other useful information.
www.carryongardening.co.uk
Gardening is an important part of many people's
lives. You don't have to give up gardening because of
accident or illness, the onset of disability or the
problems associated with growing older. The information
on their website is designed to provide you with the
information to Carry on Gardening.
Carry on Gardening was initiated by the horticultural
charity Thrive and is funded
by the National
Lottery Charities Board. It brings
together information on easy ways of gardening gathered
over 23 years by Thrive and research carried out since
the early 1970s by Mary Marlborough Centre, Oxford, on
tools and equipment for disabled and older
people.
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 have need of his
services..
Good reading:-
"The Yellow Book" contains information
of all Gardens of England and Wales open for charity,
and can be bought priced £5 from National Gardens
Scheme www.ngs.org.uk
National Trust Gardens Handbook is
£6.99 and the new edition is out in May
Telephone 01394 389 950 or see their website www.nationaltrust.org.uk
RHS Garden Finder is £12.99 from
Dorling Kindersley www.dk.com
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Gardener's Diary is a regular
feature of laterlife.com run by Rosemary
Martin.
