After the winter, March is when gardening starts in earnest and one can only feel enthused to work outside as the days get longer and warmer.

The delights of spring will be popping out of the ground and unless it gets very cold, slugs will be on the march after anything new and juicy to munch so it’s a good idea to protect new growth being careful to use animal friendly deterrents.

Pots and tubs may need watering to keep moist (not wet) even at this time of year and may benefit from a top dressing of John Innes compost removing some of the old compost.  A topping of grit will deter slugs. Keep winter pansies deadheaded regularly and they will carry on well into the spring.

Look at your perennials and if the clumps have become too large, lost their shape or are flowering poorly lift and divide them to give them a new lease of life.  Ask your friends and neighbours if they would like a clump.  Most of the plants in my garden have come from friends and family.  When you have made a bit more room now is the time to plant summer flowering bulbs making sure they have good drainage.

Erect a wigwam and in mid March, plant sweet peas or plant plugs once they have been hardened off. Give all beds a weed and apply a mulch to control future weeds, this job saves hours of work when done early in the season. Cut back the old leaves of hellebores to prevent leaf spot and expose the wonderful new flowers. Alpines are apt to rotting around the neck but this can be prevented by a top dressing of grit or gravel. Prune bush and climbing roses. 

Finally feed borders with a general-purpose fertilizer at the rate advised to give your garden a spring boost for their new growth.

Enjoy your outdoor space,
The Tidy Gardener

Gardening is not an exact science, even experienced gardeners make mistakes. Novice gardeners should not be intimidated by rules. Follow a few tips and you will soon be enjoying a new hobby.
 

• Choose the right plants for your soil. Is it light and sandy or heavy and clay?
  Many plants thrive better in one type than the other. If you are not sure take a look what is growing in your neighbour’s garden.
  

 

• Give plants enough space. If you place young plants too close together not all will survive. Crowded plants are also more susceptible to disease. Read plant labels for advice on how much room they need.

 

• Be gentle with new plants. If you remove new plants from pots by pulling their stems you are likely to break or bruise them .Gently squeeze the pot sides, turn it upside down, using your other hand to catch it as it slides out.
  

 

• Plan ahead with your design. Start by looking around the garden and see the bigger picture. Put your ideas down on paper. Place your young plants and bulbs on the soil surface first. Stand back and move them around until you are happy with the arrangement. Then plant them.
  

 

• Soak the roots. Thoroughly soak the roots of a new plant before you put it in the soil. The hole should be larger than the root ball. This is necessary because the roots need to spread out to get the best chance of tapping water and the soil’s nutrients.

 

• Water plants in. Keep them watered until established, especially in a dry spell. Once established, water carefully. Plants are meant to live outside and draw moisture from the earth without the need for daily watering. Tubs and hanging baskets need daily watering. As a rough guide, poke your fingers about 2 inches into the soil around the plant. If it is very dry, add some water.
  

 

• Label, label, label
  It is easy for first time gardeners and the more experienced. to forget what is planted and where. Make your own labels or use those supplied.
  

 

• Be brutal with weeds. Weeds are the gardener’s worst enemy. Weed regularly, making sure you remove all roots. If there are seeds on the weeds do not put on compost or you will reseed your gardens with more weeds when using the compost.
  

 

• Have fun. Allow yourself to experiment with new things. If you have planted something in the wrong place and it is unhappy, you can move it at a later date. Most plants and shrubs, even young trees can be uprooted and replanted with care.
  

The most important tip is enjoy!                  
                                                                                                                                       
Hazel  Wyatt

Please keep putting food and water for the birds especially if there is frost or snow. The shortest day is behind us and we can still do jobs out in the garden to prepare for spring.
 
Clean pots ready for new planting and the greenhouse if you have one, I have always found Jeyes Fluid very good. Empty and clean out water butts if possible and repair any leaking piping or taps.
 
If not done already then apple and pear trees can still be pruned and if lucky enough to have rhubarb it can start to be forced now under an old chimney pot or a forcing pot from a garden centre. Although expensive, they are a lifetime investment and can be most attractive.
 
On a cold wet day there is nothing more uplifting than looking at plant and seed catalogues and planning what to include in your garden later in the year. Buy seeds early so you are not disappointed. On fine days look around the garden and enjoy signs of new life emerging from the soil.  
 
When the festive season is over and if you have a real tree please recycle by chipping it for use on the garden or take to the recycling centre.

Happy New Year, keep warm and don’t forget to look after your inside plants.
The Tidy Gardener

Winter is upon us but there are still jobs that can be done before the hard frosts arrive.

• Harvest any vegetables and put them in store or make soups and put them in the freezer.
• Turn off the water supply to outdoor taps and after opening the tap insulate with a cover or some bubble wrap. 
• Also protect tender plants and pots from the weather.
• Prune apple and pear trees, if not sure how to do this the RHS website is excellent. Acers, birch and vines are best pruned before Christmas as the sap starts rising early to swell the new buds ready for spring.
• This is a great time to plant or transplant deciduous trees and shrubs to add some new structure to your garden for 2020.

Then there is the garden inside your home. Christmas isn’t Christmas without a poinsettia but they are fussy.  Keep them in a warm room (16-24C) away from draughts and don’t overwater. 

Indoor azaleas and cyclamen need an almost unheated area like a hallway or conservatory with regular watering so the compost does not dry out. 

Christmas cacti need a similar environment but can be dry on the surface of the compost before re-watering. 

If you have forced hyacinths or daffodils remember to turn them regularly as they will lean towards the light.  Treat forced bulbs as annuals and dispose of them when they are over.

Now is a wonderful time to enjoy walking in the countryside when there is not so much to do in the garden.  Many of the open gardens like Westonbirt, Tyntesfield and Stourhead are a treat at this time of year and a great way to blow away the winter blues.
 
A very Happy Christmas to you all,
The Tidy Gardener

The nights are longer but it’s still good to get out in the fresh air. Although the garden is slipping into winter hibernation there are still jobs to be done and little gems popping up out of the ground to bring a smile like cyclamen.

Rake up the fallen leaves regularly particularly from lawns, beds and ponds and add to the compost bin or put in a black bag in a spare corner for wonderful leaf mould.

If you are thinking of adding a rose, shrub, tree or bulbs to your garden try and plant them early in November before the ground loses its warmth. If your garden is small, plant a few pots up with tulips, small narcissi and crocuses and add a top of wire mesh to prevent squirrels. The display of bulbs will bring such joy in the spring. If unsure of what to do when planting anything there is so much information on line and the RHS site is very helpful indeed.

Now is the time to take the lawnmower to be serviced rather than leave it until spring, clean and oil gardening tools for winter storage and have a general tidy in the garage or shed.

Another useful job is to sort through pots and seed trays. Washing them and stacking in sizes helps enormously when the planting begins in the spring. Clean pots help prevent pest and disease problems and aid propagation.

Lastly, if you are lucky enough to have an apple tree apply a grease band to prevent winter moth, prune long stems on roses that might catch the wind and cause wind rock and please don’t forget our wonderful birds by feeding them through the winter. 

Happy gardening,
The Tidy Gardener

The domesticated apple (as opposed to the wild crab apple) has its origins in the fruit forests of the Tien Shan (heavenly mountains) on the borders of western China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. 

Evolving there over countless millennia, the apple was then spread westward by bears, horses and man, being documented in Greek and Roman times.  It was probably brought to us by the Romans, although Celtic mythology may have us think otherwise.

Fast forward to today. Nature and the horticulturalists from the 18th to the early 20th century left us a legacy of apples with mouth-watering tastes to suit all palates. These cover the season from early August to the following April or May: Irish Peach, Beauty of Bath, Worcester Permain, Discovery, St Edmund’s Pippin, James Grieve, Lord Lambourne, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Egremont Russet, Ribston Pippin, Blenheim Orange, Ashmead’s Kernel, Rosemary Russet, Orleans Reinette, Laxton Superb, Kings Acre Pippin, Winston, Cornish Gilliflower, D’Arcy Spice, Sturmer Pippin to name but a few.
 
But today's main offers are of Braeburn, Gala, Pink lady, Jazz and Fiesta with the availability of Cox decreasing year on year.

As written as long ago as 1944, ‘…….the opportunity has been taken to recommend varieties to plant in fields and gardens……and these are very different things. You sell the one and the others should be so good that you would wish to eat them.’

Therein the difference: those grown today have mainly been bred abroad, thrive in warmer climates and are still largely grown abroad. They are more suitable for providing high yielding and reliable crops, more suitable for long-term storage thus fulfilling yearly contracts while maintaining crispness and flavour (and, arguably, still suit customers preferences).

But more are being grown here. This year, already, I would have been able to buy English Junami and Cripps Pink (stored), Discovery and Scrumptious (fresh from an independent store). In 2018 a new variety, English bred and grown for fresh eating, came to market, Sunburst. And trees of older varieties are readily available for the individual to grow and savour the best of English apples.

by Alan Caswell ...

September brings a change in season as autumn approaches, the leaves start to turn golden and the temperature starts to drop. There’s plenty to keep you busy in the garden this month.

Autumn is a fantastic time of year to plant your spring bulbs, feed your lawn or prepare for your winter vegetable planting. Buy spring bulbs and plant bulbs for colour at Christmas and spring, dead head roses as the plants will still give dead heads nutrients that could go into new flowers, give your lawn some tender loving care by raking, aerating and feeding with an autumn lawn fertiliser or its time to sow or lay new lawns.

As the temperature drops, it’s a good idea to protect border plants by mulching (organic mulches include formerly living material such as chopped leaves, straw, grass clippings, compost, wood chips, shredded bark, sawdust, pine needles, and even paper). It’s best to apply when the soil is damp or wet and make sure you weed first. It will help your soil from drying out, improve its texture and help protect the roots of tender plants such as dahlias or Verbena bonariensis (purpletop) from frost. A good two inch layer is best. There should always be room in your garden somewhere for a compost bin and don’t forget the woody materials too.

If you have violas, now is the time to take cuttings and start to bring those tender plants in from the garden. September is a great month for collecting seeds for next year now the flowers have gone over and the seed heads formed and dried. Extend the colour through to the end of the season with plants such as chrysanthemum, aster, daisy and sedum. You can also start to divide up large border perennials as the temperature cools to fills gaps next year. Don’t forget to water them in though.

Tomatoes and outdoor lettuce should be in abundance and the winter vegetables should really be coming into their own. Leeks, swede and parsnips should be almost ready to pull. Enjoy curly kale and cavolo nero for that first taste of delicious brassicas. Late crop potatoes should be out away from the slugs and the greenhouse prepared ready for autumn crops such as hardy lettuce and try a late crop of French beans. Make room in your greenhouse and pot up your parsley, mint and chives and they will keep growing over winter. Protect your fuchsias and pelargoniums and water sparingly over the winter months.

Lastly you must take time for your garden to bring you joy! Gardening and your garden can be a great help in ensuring that not just your physical but your mental health is looked after. Stop, look and listen to what is going on and just enjoy what you have created with the help of nature. Big or small, it doesn’t matter as long as you can enjoy what you have.                                       

Alan Caswell

We are all being advised to help the environment and recycle household waste. One of the campaigns being launched is to encourage homeowners to create their own compost.

It is easy to start a compost heap anytime of the year but late summer to early winter is the peak time for composting. At this time of year there is a lot of end of season garden waste to dispose of which can be the basis of composting.

Compost is a collection of food and plants that decomposes over several months before finally turning into humus which is an extremely nutrient-rich soil. Generally speaking you only need three things to start: water, browns and greens.

Browns refers to tree matter, like dead leaves, flowers, stems and twigs. Greens refers to grass cuttings, food waste. potato peel, fruit, vegetables and tea and coffee grounds.

Never put meat, dairy, bread or left over cooked meals in the compost as these would attract vermin.

Making compost is not difficult, just follow these instructions.

1. Select a container. The local council will advise you on this. It should be placed on a grassy, relatively shady part of the garden. It should have no bottom so that the compost heap is touching the ground. Pile a few inches of branches at the bottom to help aerate the heap. Air flow is critical to stop the compost getting too wet and therefore smelling.
2. A general rule is that the smaller the ingredients the quicker it will break up, so chop or break any big chunks. The ingredients for a successful compost heap are an equal balance of nitrogen -found in green materials, carbon in the brown matter and water. So start putting your dried leaves, grass clippings fruit, vegetables, dust from vacuuming, old herbs and spices, shredded news paper, human and pet hair, old wine and wine corks in the compost instead of your green bin. 
3. If you notice it is not decomposing or looking dry, add a little water.
4. Once a week aerate the pile slightly by using a spade to mix the materials around. 

The compost should be ready to use after a few months when it will be warm to the touch, develops an earthy smell and turns to a dark brown colour. This is one of the most powerful ingredients to feed the garden and making it helps with re-cycling waste.

Hazel Wyatt

The very first mistake is to believe your friends that gardening is easy and relaxing. It is hard work. When you visit gardens you will see many benches or seats to sit on. These are not for the gardener but the visitors!!.

Here are some mistakes to be aware of:

• Clueless watering - many new gardeners kill their plants by either drowning or letting them dry out too much too often. Know your plants moisture requirements.
  
• Over feeding - plants need to be fed especially pot grown plants but too much fertiliser is as dangerous to a plant as an overdose is to us.
  
• Forgetting about sun, shade and soil requirements - we are all guilty of buying plants we like and planting them where we want them and  wonder why they do not thrive. Read the labels.
  
• Planting too early - we have an unusual spell of early warm weather and get very excited. Supermarkets and garden centres entice us with bedding plants. We rush out  and plant them, then the weather changes to frost and even snow, which means the plants do not survive.
  
• Planting too close together - each plant needs its own space depending on its final size. They also need space to take nutrients and water from the soil without competing with their neighbours.
  

I am sure like me you will make many more mistakes but hopefully learn from them and have many years enjoying your garden and telling new gardeners how easy and relaxing a hobby it is.

Hazel Wyatt