Autumn category < back
Gardening and bulb Tips for November
15th Nov:
This time last year winter had well and truly arrived, this year nature is giving us a greater opportunity to complete those outstanding gardening task.
Traditionally November is a busy time in the garden especially with regards to planting (bare-rooted and/or root balled hedging, trees and shrubs.
• Remove fallen leaf from lawn areas and use to make leaf mould, an excellent compost for planted border. Simply dampen collected leaves and store in a black plastic bag. Pierce bag and set aside for 6 months
• Check and remove (rake/scarify) any moss and thatch from lawn areas
• If temperatures remain mild, grass will continue to grow, wait for dry conditions before giving the lawn a trim
• Apply autumn/winter lawn feed (high in phosphates and potash) to encourage good root development
• November is a good month to take a critical look at the garden, correct any mistakes, determine and plan changes for spring and try something new
• With a mild Autumn so far there is still time to plant your spring flowering bulbs. Here at some suggestions for some last minute bulb planting:
o Tulip Montreux, Tulip Fantasy, Leucojum aestivum, Nerine bowdenii and Fritallaria meleagris.
• Daffodils don’t have to be boring, here are some stunning and unusual suggestions:
o Narcissi Ambergate, Narcissi Audubon, Narcissi Rip Van Winkle, Narcissi Polar Ice & Narcissi Cum Laude.
Conkers
1st Nov:
You don’t have to be a tree hugger to care and we have all enjoyed a game of conkers at some stage in our lives.
The horse chestnut tree has been hit by two diseases. The first hit is a bacteria, bleeding canker, which infects the bark and cuts the water supply to the crown off. The second hit is an ‘alien’ leaf-mining moth which is relatively new in the UK and comes from the Balkans. Its indiscriminate, attacking workaday horse chestnuts and grander trees alike, weakening them which results in smaller conkers.
You may have noticed the leaves turning a deep shade of brown and thinking this was just autumn protocol but up close the leaves are marked with the infestation of the leaf miner, if you look close enough you can see the caterpillars embedded in the leaf. The tree hit by this infestation will not die immediately but it does have long term implications. A big tree can contain up to 2 million moths with the caterpillars eating through the leaves turning them brown earlier than they would naturally therefore reducing its ability to photosynthesis meaning the tree has less energy stored for the winter months. This makes the tree severely weak and if on top of the moths the tree is hit by bleeding canker it could easily die.
There are a few ways to stop the leaf miner. Some tree have been sprayed, it is also important to clear leaf litter from underneath the tree, this removes the moths habitat therefore reducing its numbers. There have also been some experiments with small wasps that feed on the moths.
If you would like to take a more active approach to finding a way of saving the conker tree you can join the likes of Steven Fry and download the free app from www.conkertreescience.org.uk. You can upload your findings of trees in your area straight on to the website therefore enabling the ecologists to plot how far the leaf miner has travelled, how many trees are being effected and hopefully a way to protect the tree for generations of conker players to come.
Bulb List- Autumn 2011
26th Sep:
At Harrington Porter we stock a fantastic range of bulbs, and now is the time to get busy. Cheap, plentiful and rewarding…
