Garden Checklist ...

Good Morning!
Here's a few things you can be doing in your garden over the coming days.

1. Lawns - Autumn is the time to give your lawn a little bit of maintenance! One of the things you can do after mowing is give it a good rake through to remove any moss that has built up, trust me there will be soon! This will improve the health of the lawn. You can also aerate it with a fork and remove any weeds you see growing through.

2. Planting - Autumn is a good time to get plants in the ground before winter. The ground is still warm over the next couple of weeks so if you have any evergreens, hedging or shrubs sitting around waiting to be planted, now is the time to do it.

On the flip side of this now is the time to dig up and move any tender perennials that need protection of winter before the frosts come! We've already had a couple of light frosts this week.
You can also lift and divide any congested Perennials and re-plant in various areas of the garden!

3. Healthy Plants - To keep your plants healthy keep checking them over for anything that can prevent them happening. For example as you can see below there are some faded flower stems that need pulling out and a sneaky snail that has climbed into one of the flowers!

Alstroemeria - Inca Ice 'Koice'

4. Harvest - Plants such as Chilli's are still ripening and ready to harvest, snip them all off once they are ready and store in a freezer if you won't be using them right away.

5. Over Wintering - If like me you are over wintering various plants, I like to reduce them in size around about now, such as with my Pelargoniums. In my personal experience I find by reducing the amount of foliage it helps prevent the chances of grey mould, which in a bubble-wrapped greenhouse can occur quickly. It also reduces the amount of water the plant needs to take in and the energy it uses. You can also re - pot into smaller pots if you are tight on space.

6. Roses - Keep collecting fallen rose leaves from around the plants base, especially if they are affected with blackspot. If they are left the spores can lay in the ground and raise the chances of the plant getting blackspot next year. 

Thanks for stopping by, don't forget you can find all the previous Checklists on the page tab above.

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Weekly Garden Checklist ...

Good Morning!
It's time for my Weekly Garden Checklist ...

1. Dead Heading - I know I may sound like a broken record but don't forget to keep up with the dead heading. Not just the with the Bedding plants either, Perennials such as Astrantia's and Phygelius as you can see below need it to. It will also encourage more flowering.

2. Roses -Keep an eye on Roses for signs of any Pests & Diseases, remove any affected leaves with Blackspot and if needed, spray the Roses with Rose Clear every 6 weeks. When spraying make sure you do it either early in the morning or late at night to limit the chances of it affecting any Bee's.

 Also don't forget to pick up any fallen leaves as that can help spread disease.

3. Lavender - Another plant to dead head is Lavender, as you can see here my French Lavender has finished flowering so it needs cutting back. When doing so make sure you cut back into growth where fresh growth is still visable, if you cut back into the woody growth there's no guarantee that it will grow back again.

4. Damp Down - If you are finding that your Greenhouse is reaching high temperatures during the day, damp it down by spraying the floor with a hose pipe. This will increase the humidity and help prevent pests such as red spider mite which thrive in those conditions.

5. Stake - Stake and help provide supports for plants such as Dahlia's and Lilies that can get a battering in the wind & rain, what looks good one minute can look like a bomb has hit it within a few minutes!

Finally I thought I'd leave you with a photograph that proves that a Reindeer isn't just for Christmas ...

Thanks for stopping by, don't forget you can find all the previous Checklists on the page tab above.

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Weekly Garden Checklist ...

Good Morning!

Here are just a few suggestions that you could be getting on with this week ...

1. Weeds - Weeds such as Dandelions are popping up all over the place, especially in lawns, dig the weeds out and if you want to, reseed the patches with grass seed.

2. Pot On Seedlings - Seedlings such as the Antirrhinums I pricked out a few weeks ago should be about ready to pot on, a few of them are still in the trays needing a little longer, but as you can see quite a few of them were ready to go into 9cm pots. They will also need pinching out to help promote bushier growth.

3. Roses - April is usually the time to start spraying roses with a product such as Rose Clear to help prevent Pests and Disease. When using the spray do so either around 8am or 8pm to help prevent any harm to bees when spraying as this is the time they are least about, also avoid spraying in full sun. Repeat this process around every 6 weeks.

4. Pots & Containers - Permanent Pot Plants that live outside could do with a bit of a spruce up at this time of year, as you can see here by Hardy Fuchsia had developed moss on the surface of the compost. Simply scrape back the surface and revitalise with a fresh layer of compost. Not only does it help the plant but it's also much nicer to look at!

5. Support - Plants such as Clematis have leapt into growth over the past week which requires support. Why not place a few stakes together, tied at the top with string for them to clamber up. Once the plant has outgrown this support I will be replacing it with something larger, but for the time being it does the job and adds interest for the eyes!

Thanks for stopping by, don't forget you can find all the previous Checklists on the page tab above.

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX