Here we go again, a new year, new challenges and no doubt, there will be a few surprises for us in the garden. The weather continues to be remarkable in our corner of the north-east, as I write there is a blue sky, the few clouds are high and wispy and the birds are very active, almost as if they are reacting to the bright light!
Several shrubs are brightening the scene too. The orange flowers of Hamamelis ‘Jelena’ are opening slowly on the bare stems, the perfumed pink flowers of Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ situated by the gate have been catching the eye for a month or more and a couple of yards away the gorgeous yellow-flowered sprays on Mahonia ‘Charity’ continue to delight.
Conifers are dull!
Oh yea? Who said so? All I can say is they must walk around with their eyes shut or wear dark glasses permanently. A recurring theme of mine is the effect of the low angle of the winter sun, mind you the down side of all that incredible weather we have been enjoying, has been that sun as it affects driving conditions! In the morning I always seem to be driving east and then back home again later in the day, driving in a westerly direction. It isn’t just the direct sun shining into your face that is troublesome, sometimes the ‘bounce’ of light off the road surface is equally as disturbing, it’s nae fine! I wonder sometimes how many accidents are caused by drivers being temporarily blinded?
Back to the garden, part of the scene I was describing earlier is a Lawson cypress – Broomhill Gold which I moved from the old garden four years ago. It is now 2.5m high and being on the east side of the house, it comes alive every morning as soon as the sun comes up. Dull? Never!
Homespun cures
Part of the success of this philosophy, using salt to kill weeds and dropping nasties into boiling water, is in ‘nipping the problem in the bud’ now, there’s a well-worn phrase but it really is so true. The motto or resolution is to be watchful and to really examine your plants closely on a regular basis. You can stop an aphid attack from developing into an epidemic if you catch it early enough – using finger and thumb to squash the little varmints! You must be fed up hearing me describe the McColl system for growing whitefly-free fuchsias without chemicals! (Yep, you are going to get it again).
In the previous residence, our fuchsias spent the winter on a shelf in the garage and by this time of year they were breaking into growth. That was the signal for my head gardener to start her weekly examination of every individual plant. She would examine each one minutely; the top of the leaves and then underneath and I’ll take a bet now she would find one or two precocious whitefly. They would receive the finger and thumb treatment. By the time the plants were moved into the glasshouse, the examinations became more intense! Watchfulness is the word. You will note that all of this section is in the past tense! Since down-sizing, the number of fuchsias being overwintered has been drastically reduced, the present few spend their winter in the ‘Garden Room’ with pelargoniums, streptocarpus et al, where they can be watched – daily!
When it comes to battling pest and disease problems, there is another phrase that comes to mind from the Boy Scout movement ‘Be Prepared’. Here is a seasonal example. The disease Peach Leaf Curl (Taphrina deformans) not only affects peach trees, other members of the Prunus (Cherry) family may also be affected and as the botanical name suggests, the leaves become seriously deformed and discoloured red and yellow, it is a debilitating disease. Well now, infection usually happens before bud break in the spring and if you wish to protect a vulnerable young tree, cover it with fleece NOW and keep it covered until after bud break. That is how nurserymen protect their young trees in order to be able sell healthy specimens.
Get to know about the problems that beset your plants by doing a little research when you are likely to have a wee bit of spare time, then you can be ready to act – at the right time!