Now is the time to divide beared irises, replant sections that have two or more fans on them. Keep watering plants, especially newly planted ones, young vegetables, containers and hanging baskets.
Protect plants from slugs and snails. [Read more…] about June Gardening Tips by Wellie
Hoe weeds as they appear. Dead head spring flowering bulbs as they finish flowering. If daffodils have flowered poorly, lift and divide bulbs, replanting the larger bulbs. [Read more…] about May Gardening Tips by Wellie
Feed rose bushes and check them for black spot. Remove infected leaves and treat plant with a fungicide. The tips of Marguerites, Pelargoniums and Fuchsias can be pinched out now to encourage bushy growth. [Read more…] about April Gardening Tips by Wellie
Dead head daffodils as they fade, but allow the foliage to die down naturally. Feed borders with a general purpose fertiliser. It is best to get supports into borders early, so that plants can grow up through them. [Read more…] about March Gardening Tips by Wellie
I was interested in a previous article by Rick Goater in which he mentioned his grandmother visiting Mrs Doncaster’s garden in 1952. For some years, I lived three doors away in our (then) new house overlooking the green in Merdon Avenue.
I have in my possession, a Royal Horticultural Society journal, published in 1982, which contains a fascinating article about the garden by Roy Lancaster. Mrs Doncaster, at that time, had collected and grown uncommon and ornamental plants for fifty years. [Read more…] about Mrs Doncaster
Prune late summer flowering shrubs that flower on current year’s growth such as Buddleia, Lavatera, Hydrangea and deciduous Ceanothus. Group Three clematis can be cut down to 30cm from ground level. Once winter flowering heathers have finished, they can be trimmed with shears. [Read more…] about February Gardening Tips by Wellie
If the weather is cold and wet, why not sit inside with a cup of tea and a slice of Christmas cake and plan what you would like to do in the garden for the rest of the year. Look at seed catalogues for ideas of what to sow. [Read more…] about January Gardening Tips by Wellie
Clear paths of moss and lichen so that they are not a slip hazard (elf ‘n’ safety!). Check that there isn’t any fuel left in your garden machinery before storing over winter, as stale fuel is often the reason why a mower will not start at the beginning of the following season.
Keep raking up those leaves from the lawn and borders. [Read more…] about Gardening Tips for December by Wellie
Rake up leaves on the lawn. Tie-in long whippy shoots of climbers and wall shrubs. Prune roses to prevent wind-rock. Now is the time to prune most deciduous trees, a lot of deciduous ornamental grasses can be left until the spring. [Read more…] about Gardening Tips for November by Wellie
I love the autumn and its changing colours but this is not a family trait. My maternal grandmother hated the season, seeing it as the time when everything died. Ironically perhaps, she died in a September. [Read more…] about Changing Seasons
It is July 2nd 1949, and Gran is elated after receiving some post:
Today I received a wonderful gift from my American friend Elizabeth Jones. In a parcel containing all manner of good and useful things, there was a copy of Kenneth Graham’s “The Wind in the Willows” illustrated by that king of whimsy, Arthur Rackham. This is a special treasure, for it is published only in America at present and is an enchanting legacy from both author and artist who, unhappily, have passed to higher service. It was Graham’s greatest wish that Rackham should illustrate his book, but he died before this could be accomplished, and some time before the last war American publishers again reminded Rackham of this desire of Graham’s. Although a sick man, and allowed to work only one hour daily, Rackham devoted this time to the illustrations for “The Wind in the Willows”, and handed these pictures to the American publisher just as war was declared. Before they had crossed the Atlantic, Arthur Rackham, alas, had died, but he left behind him what is surely some of his best and most inspired work and a heritage of supreme beauty for the coming generations. Would that I could leave such a memorial when I pass on! And now it is an American who has given this treasure to me, one of Arthur Rackham’s most ardent admirers.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 26)
Start planting bulbs for spring display now. As a quick rule for depth of planting, bulbs should be planted 3 times the height of the bulb.
Prune late flowering shrubs and finish trimming evergreen hedges by mid September to make sure they are in shape for winter. Divide herbaceous perennials if they have outgrown their space or are looking tired. Doing this will improve their flowering and shape and invigorate them. [Read more…] about Gardening Tips for September by Wellie
Summer is in full swing, and to keep your garden looking lovely there are a few things to do this month.
Dead head regularly to maintain flowering, cut back perennials that have collapsed. Continue to summer prune wisteria. [Read more…] about Gardening Tips for August by Wellie
Dead head roses and bedding plants regularly to prolong flowering.
Keep containers watered and fed to ensure continued good performance. [Read more…] about Gardening Tips for July by Wellie
Everything in the garden is in full swing now. Dead head spent flowers so that the plants don’t use all their energy into making seedheads, rather they can produce more blooms instead.
Carry on cutting the lawns regularly, mow in different directions to prevent wear patterns and to encourage upright growth. [Read more…] about Gardening Tips for June from Wellie
Summer is approaching but don’t be tempted to put out summer bedding until the risk of frosts are over, and make sure they have been hardened off before planting out.
Dahlias can be planted out at the end of the month. Stake any herbaceous plants that will flop over or be damaged by high winds. [Read more…] about Gardening Tips for May from Wellie
Prune Chaenomeles (ornamental quince) and Forsythia after they have finished flowering. Check roses for black spot, remove any infected leaves and treat with a fungicide. [Read more…] about Wellie’s Gardening Tips for April
When I was a boy, some houses had cellars. Outside the house a grating covered a chute down into the cellar and the coal delivery man dumped his sack of coal down the chute. [Read more…] about Ferns, what are they good for?
Lift and divide overgrown clumps of herbaceous perennials that were not split in the Autumn.
Overcrowded clumps of snowdrops and winter aconites can be lifted and divided after they have finished flowering. [Read more…] about Wellie’s Gardening Tips for March
Complete pruning of climbing and bush roses before new growth becomes too strong. Once winter flowering heathers have finished, trim them back with shears to the base of flower stalks.
Cut back ornamental grasses and other perennials left for winter interest. Prune shrubs hard such as Cornus and Salix grown for winter coloured stems. [Read more…] about Wellie’s Gardening Tips for February
