It’s A Love Thing

This is the time of year when lovers send each other flowers, however nature too bestows us with gifts of flowering blooms.

Looking out of my living room window I can see my garden beginning to stir from its winter slumber.

Groups of purple-blue dwarf Iris reticulata, are starting to give a welcome splash of colour to my back garden. In my front garden I have the bright yellow dwarf Irises.

I really adore these lovely early flowering bulbs and I have to admit that the Iris is one of my favourite flowers.

Around this time you can expect Crocuses to put on a lovely cheerful show and as they come in a wide variety of colours they are super to grow in front of a sunny border or perfect for naturalising in grass.

One shrub I’m on the lookout for to plant in my garden is the Stachyurus praecox. This is a deciduous shrub that can grow up to about ten feet. It has wonderful arching red-purple shoots, which this time of year have strings with lots of really pretty little lime-yellow bell shaped flowers which are up to four inches long.

If you are looking for a small garden tree to give you some early colour then you could go for the Cornus mas, common name of Cornelian cherry which can grow up to fifteen feet. This time of year it will have lovely cluster of frothy yellow blooms on bare twiggy branches and in late summer this tree will produce bright red cherry-like fruits.

Rhododendrons can put on a magnificent display of colour and that’s why they’re a favourite for many people. If you would like a showy vivid rose pink one for February colour, then you could go for an early flowering one like Rhododendron dauricum. I would advise that you plant it in a large pot, with lime-free, peat soil.

The Pulmonaria is a useful plant for any cool shady spot and the Pulmonaria rubra ‘Redstart’ has redish funnel shaped flowers and has a long flowering period from late winter to mid-spring. This is an evergreen perennial which is very useful to grow as groundcover and so help cut down on weeding.

So, whether you’re giving or receiving flowers this Valentine’s day, look out for some wonderful colourful gifts from Mother Nature herself.

Until my next blog, do have a good week, take care and don’t forget that you can visit my website at
www.gardendesigner.co.uk

Subscribe Free To This Blog By Clicking Here

© Copyright Judy Fenyvesi

#gduk 94

Goodbye January!

I don’t know about you, but I’m always glad to see the back end of January. It always feels such a long dull month, however as we’re now into February, the days are getting noticeably longer and spring is just a month or so away.

The crown of bulbs and herbaceous perennials are now starting to break through the ground, which is a welcome sign that the garden is starting to stir and wake up after its winter slumber.

As the days hopefully get a little milder and warmer we can start to get out and potter in the garden. There’s always the general tiding up that can be done anyway this month, and if you haven’t already, then you can now cut back your herbaceous perennials.

At the moment my own Clematis armandii has such a lot of new buds on it and I know it will look gorgeous next month when it will be covered with scented white tinted with pink flowers. This Clematis is a vigorous evergreen climber and only needs to be pruned to keep it in the shape that you want, whereas late-flowering Clematis should now be pruned back hard to a strong new bud about twelve inches from the ground.

One question that I am quite often asked is when and how to get a Wisteria to flower? A young Wisteria plant can take up to seven years to flower and the way to get it to produce more of its wonderful scented pendent flowers is by pruning twice a year; now in February and then again in the late summer.

Check your fruit trees this month if you haven’t done so and prune out any damaged or diseased branches or any stems that are crossing and rubbing together. You can then prune to give your fruit tree an improved shape, the aim being to open up the centre of the tree to allow in more light and to allow more air circulation in order to keep the tree nice and healthy.

This month we can already start some lawn maintenance and when the lawn is dry enough to walk on, it’s worth brushing off any worm casts. Another job worth doing this month is to dig over flower or vegetable beds so that the soil can settle during the winter rains.

If you’re keen to get your vegetable garden going early then you could buy or make your own cloches with strong wire and polythene. Use cloches to cover up the soil to allow it to warm up for some early sowing of your crops.

If you have any shrubs that may have outgrown their place, then this is a great month to move them to another part of your garden. This week in my own garden I’ll be moving a large Hebe and after the long January we’ve just had, it’ll be great to get back outside into the garden, dust off those winter cobwebs and get some fresh air.

Subscribe Free To This Blog By Clicking Here

© Copyright Judy Fenyvesi

#gduk 2-145

Do You Dig It?…

I am always glad to see the end of January as it feels such a long dreary dull month. Now we’re in February the days are getting noticeably longer and spring is thankfully just a month away.

One welcome sight I can see from my kitchen window is my evergreen Clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’, which has now developed lots of new buds and will give me a mass of early slightly scented pinky-white flowers to admire.

At my local supermarket I noticed a wide selection of seeds for sale which included vegetables, flowers and easy-growing seeds for children. So why not use the time now to plan your vegetable bed and stick to your healthy eating New Year’s resolution by growing your very own organic produce?

Does your flowerbed need a bit more colour with flowers in it? Well with a bit of early forward planning and with a couple of packets of seeds you’ll soon have a blooming colourful garden by the summer.

If you feel the need to get out into the garden and get some fresh air and exercise after the long winter months, around this time you’ll find there are already jobs you can be doing and you’ll soon warm up with the exercise. Another way of sticking to your healthy New Year’s resolution!

One job that will definitely keep you warm and fit is forking compost into your soil. This will benefit it by improving the texture and also help keep it free draining.

After the winter months (if you didn’t dig over the garden in the autumn) the soil will have become compacted by the winter rains and by incorporating organic matter into it, you’ll help any new plants to establish a healthy root system. But if digging is too much like hard work, then you can simply leave the compost on top of the soil and the helpful earthworms should pull the compost down into the soil for you.

If you are planning to plant some vegetable into the garden the earlier you start planting the earlier you’ll get your harvest. If you haven’t got a greenhouse, one way to achieve is to buy a cloche, which is a mini polythene tunnel, or make one yourself with wire coat hangers bent into arches and cover with a strong clear plastic sheeting. If you do this soon enough you will ensure that the soil is warmed up and nice and ready for your early crop sowing.

Until my next blog, do have a good week, take care and don’t forget that you can visit my website at
www.gardendesigner.co.uk

Subscribe Free To This Blog By Clicking Here

© Copyright Judy Fenyvesi

#gduk 93

The Beauty Of Bonsai

Before Christmas I noticed that more and more shops were selling bonsai trees and Bonsai growing kits.

Bonsai is the art of growing miniature trees in shallow containers, which originated from China.

Whenever I go to gardening exhibitions, I always marvel at their stunning beauty, it certainly is a work of art creating such a splendid living sculpture.

Bonsai trees are ‘real’ trees so therefore they need to be grown outside, however there are trees that naturally grow in a warm climate that could be suitable to be grown in the dry atmosphere of the home.

There are three main methods of miniaturising a tree. The first is to grow it in a shallow container and to keep it in that same size container. Bonsai trees also need to have their roots pruned.

The top pruning of the miniaturised tree is to achieve the framework and overall shape required.

Top pruning will also produce smaller leaves and help produce more denser foliage.

Even though Bonsai is mainly an oriental passion in Japan and China, you don’t have to use exotic trees as many of our British trees will respond to this technique.

After you have chosen your tree you will need to choose which style and shape that is best suited to the tree’s natural design.

There are several main design styles that a tree can be grown into. Formal upright types have their trunks growing straight and upright. Informal upright types grow to their natural form.

Slanting types grow at an angle, but the branches need to be pruned so the tree doesn’t look lopsided. Cascade styles look as if they are naturally growing cascading downwards on a mountain’s side.

Windswept designs make the tree look as if it has been exposed to strong winds, similar to trees growing in windswept coastal areas.

To achieve many of these shapes and design styles, a wiring method is used. The trunk and branches can be wired and then gently bent into the desired shape with the wire removed at a later stage.

Bonsai is not a short-term hobby and it will take many years and even decades to produce the appearance of a mature Bonsai tree, but the rewards will be tremendous.

That’s it again for this week.

Until my next blog, do have a good week, take care and don’t forget that you can visit my website at
www.gardendesigner.co.uk

Subscribe Free To This Blog By Clicking Here

© Copyright Judy Fenyvesi

#gduk 92

Planning The Year Ahead!

It’s during this time of year that many of us plan our next summer holidays and possibly reminisce about our last summer’s break.

When I’m on my summer holidays in my favourite parts of the world, I often think how nice it must be to live in the part of the world where the sun shines most of the time, and then I realise how much I would miss what we have here…

… seasons.

It’s with the seasons that we’re lucky enough to have such a wide variety of plants.

I know that most of us hate the dreary winter months, but natural beauty can still be found in our winter gardens. A winter garden shifts its emphasis from the focus and details of leaves, flowers and colour to more of the outlines of solid and definite geometric shapes.

There’s nothing like a cold frosty morning with the garden sparkling and glistening as the sunlight shines on the plants creating a vivid winter wonderland. I think our gardens take on a completely new dimension in the winter, particularly when it snows and it all looks neat, clean, crisp and uncluttered.

If you’re lucky enough to have outdoor lighting, don’t just use it in the summer nights when you’re outside with friends, turn it on in the winter evenings and enjoy your stunning night-time winter garden. The forms and structures of a garden such as deciduous trees and pergolas become striking canopies covered with frost or snow, and the winter’s low sun angle will create artistic silhouettes and shadows.

Clipped hedging and topiary create prefect shapes and I think they’re the backbone to a winter garden. A well placed statue or an decorative bench will create a focal point and add interest to dull corner and in a winter garden and will come into its own when most of the surrounding plants will have lost their softening foliage.

Certain plants look so lovely when touched by the frost such as the fine foliage or feathery plume seed heads of ornamental grasses or the frozen long pendent catkins that look like hanging Christmas tree decorations of the evergreen shrub Garrya elliptica.

It’s always interesting going abroad and seeing the native plants and even the weeds; some of which we here regard as tropical plants, however it’s always good to come home to my own garden… and of course, the British seasons.

Subscribe Free To This Blog By Clicking Here

© Copyright Judy Fenyvesi

#gduk 2-144

January’s Offerings

If you take a close look at your garden you will notice that new growths are beginning to emerge. This is a true sign that spring is around the corner, but there is still some way to go.

Early flowering bulbs are starting to push through like Snowdrops, dwarf Irises, Crocuses and Narcissus to give the garden some much-needed forth-coming cheery colour after the dull winter.

A lovely flowering plant for this time of the year is the Hellebores, also known as the Christmas rose, but despite its name it seldom seems to flower in time for Christmas… something to consider for next Christmas

The flowers of this plant are pendent saucer shaped and come in a variety of subtle colours from white, cream, pink, purple or green. Most Hellebores’ prefer shade, and have evergreen leaves. I think this is a super perennial for winter interest and have several in my own garden.

There are several winter flowering shrubs to choose from to liven up the garden at this time of the year, such as the Hamamelis, Witch Hazel, with its lovely spidery yellow scented flowers blooming on bare branches.

How about the Scarcococca, Christmas Box with its sweet scented small white flowers? Other fragrant flowering shrubs are Chimonanthus praecox, Wintersweet with waxy looking yellow flowers on bare stems or the Lonicera fragrantissima with small creamy white flowers.

Another good shrub for the winter garden is the Daphne odora, which is evergreen and has a sweet, delicate perfume of pink flowers. Another early flowering shrub is the Chaenomeles, Japanese quince; this comes in a variety of colours from white-pink, deep rose-pink, orange, scarlet and red, and can look really super grown against a wall.

If you’re looking for some vertical interest, then you could opt for the winter flowering Clematis, Clematis cirrhosa, which is evergreen and has small bell shaped cream flowers with red flecking on the inside.

Other winter interest in the garden can be provided by the beautiful six to eight inches long grey-green pendent catkins of the Garrya elliptica, Silk-tassel bush or by the catkins of the contorted hazel, Corylus avellana.

For architectural foliage in a winter garden, I think that evergreen ferns look especially stunning when they’re dusted in frost. I think that trees also take on a special magic during this time of the year when the attractive trunks of deciduous trees can now be seen clearly, like the polished mahogany looking bark of the Prunus serrula or the snake patterned bark of the Acer capillipes. The peeling bark of the Acer griseum is particularly tactile.

If you haven’t got enough going on in your garden this month, then do some armchair gardening and plan where you would like some special winter colour and interest in your garden for next year.

Until my next blog, do have a good week, take care and don’t forget that you can visit my website at
www.gardendesigner.co.uk

Subscribe Free To This Blog By Clicking Here

© Copyright Judy Fenyvesi

#gduk 91

In The Cold Of Winter

I feel that there is always a special beauty in a winter garden, especially when the frost is glistening on the plants or if there is a blanket of snow covering the trees and shrubs. It never fails to make the garden seem all the more magical for me.

But how do plants survive when temperatures drop so low and they are covered in snow or frozen by the frost? Snow can actually act as insulation for some plants protecting them from the freezing cold.

The damage snow can do to plants is to break branches or stems with its weight, so if there is snow sitting heavily on a plant then simply brush it off. In harsh weather some plants shut down and become dormant to protect themselves. Many plants will reduce their moisture levels or water movement during the wintertime to help avoid frost damage. Most plants are not resilient to cold weather, so they develop hardiness as the light levels decrease and as the length of days shorten. So a sudden hard frost early autumn or late spring will do more damage to the plant injuring un-hardened tissues.

Underground parts of plants such as the roots, or bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes are less resistant to the cold as those parts above ground as soil temperatures do not fall as low as the air temperature. These underground parts of plants also act as storage organs for both food and water supply for the plant. The composition of the food material also helps prevent these organs for being frozen by freezing temperatures.

Some plants, such as alpine plants, have adapted well to growing in harsh cold conditions by growing low in compact or mound form as this helps them to withstand the weight of heavy snow. Plants in containers outside may need some insulation for extra protection, as there is not so much soil around it to protect it.

Slightly tender perennials or shrubs can be given extra protection form the frost with a good layer of leaf mould or a layer of straw packed around the base and steams of the plant. We may not be very busy in our gardens at the moment, but we can enjoy, appreciate and marvel at the different natural qualities our garden takes during these winter month.

Until my next blog, please do visit my website at
www.gardendesigner.co.uk

Subscribe Free To This Blog By Clicking Here

© Copyright Judy Fenyvesi

#gduk 90

Adding Colour In January

Even in this cold month of January in the gloomy winter season there are plants that can liven up more or less any garden and even make it a flowery, scented and colourful winter wonderland.

One of the first perennial bulbs to pop up around this time of year is the Galanthus plicatus, otherwise known as the Snowdrop. A carpet of Snowdrops with their dainty nodding delicately scented white flowers look so lovely grown beneath trees and shrubs or naturalised in turf.

Another plant worth having in our gardens around this time of the year is the Lonicera, or the shrubby Honeysuckle, with its wonderfully scented flowers. This shrub grows to a height of six feet with clusters of small white flowers and likes a sheltered spot in sun or dappled shade.

The Sarcococca hookeriana, the common name being Christmas Box or Sweet Box, is a useful small shrub for a small garden as it only grows up to two feet in height. This is an evergreen shrub with lovely dark green glossy leaves and clusters of very small honey-scented pink-tinted white flowers and prefers growing in a shady site.

If I had to choose, then I would say that my favourite winter flowering shrub has to be the Chimonanthus praecox, Wintersweet, because of its glorious powerful scent. It also has interesting small waxy-looking yellow flowers and will grow to a height of twelve feet.

Another winter stunner is the Hamamelis, Witch Hazel, which has super, fragrant, spidery, yellow flowers on bare branches and it truly is a good choice for providing winter interest in a garden.  It can be either grown in a shrub, border or as a specimen plant.

An attractive ground cover for winter colour is the Eranthis hyemalis, the Winter Aconite, which is a vigorous spreading perennial. With its attractive round rosettes of leaves with a bright yellow cup shaped flowers in the centre, it will really brighten up any garden that looks a little sorry for itself around this time of the year. Grow this perennial in full sun but under the canopy of a deciduous tree or shrub, so that the soil isn’t too dry during the summer months.

A winter flowering perennial that I adore and think is a “must” for lovely winter flowering interest is the Helleborus niger, which is also known as Christmas Rose. This beauty has white saucer shaped flowers that are sometimes tinged with pink and it flowers from winter to early spring.

The Helleborus orientalis, better known as the Lenten Rose, comes in a variety of interesting dusky colours and flowers from mid-winter through to spring. After the Helleborus have finished flowering, they continue to provide evergreen interest for the rest of the year with their architectural leaf form.  Helleborus prefer a dapple shaded site where the soil doesn’t dry out too much.

So those shady spots in the garden can really come to life with some winter flowering plants to provide colour interest in the garden for winter.

Subscribe Free To This Blog By Clicking Here

© Copyright Judy Fenyvesi

#gduk 2-143

It’s In The Stars!

Whether you believe them or just read them for fun, the newspapers this month are full of our horoscope predictions for the coming year. What will be our destiny?  What are the predictions for our wealth, health, career, romance… or how about gardening?

Now it might surprise you that there are schools of thought that suggest the astrological movements in the heavens can actually affect plant growth and help with gardening.

It is said, that as the moon moves through the signs of the zodiac every couple of days, it can govern as to what chores are best carried out in the garden at the best time in order to achieve the optimum result.

As we know the moon has a gravitational effect on the earth and causes the oceans’ tides to rise and fall as well as having a gravitational effect on the fluids in plants. Therefore plants that bear fruit above ground and need the fluid drawn upwards are best planted at New Moon and plants that bear fruits below ground that need the fluids to flow down to the root system should be planted in Full Moon.

Astrological gardening is another step on from planting by the phases of the moon. As the moon orbits around the earth and passes through the twelve signs of the Zodiac, it is said that as each sign belongs to one of the elements of Earth, Air, Fire or Water, each sign will have its own characteristic influence on gardening.

When the moon is in the earth signs such as Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, these signs are said to be very ‘fertile’ and therefore good for planting.

When the moon is in water signs such as Cancer, Pisces and Scorpio, these too are fruitful and productive signs. Scorpio is also a good sign during which to carry out pruning.

The moon in air signs such as Aquarius and Gemini means that the time is barren, very dry and will only work for some plants. Libra is an exception to the rule as it is semi-fertile.

Fire signs too are dry and barren; these are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. When the moon is in these signs it is a good time for weeding and to harvest.     Apparently, when the moon is void it’s time to take a break and enjoy the fruits of your labour.

So, taking into account as to which zodiac signs promote growth and which are barren, together with the actual phases of the Moon, it becomes apparent that there are ideal times to carry out certain gardening tasks.

So, whether you’re hoping to meet that tall dark stranger or hoping for a bumper crop in your garden, the fate of your garden may be in the stars!

******************************************************************************************

© Copyright Judy Fenyvesi

#gduk 2-142

“A New Start…”

I always regard January as being the month for armchair gardening.

It’s the time to browse through seed and gardening catalogues or books and plan the garden for the next growing season.

Unfortunately many people don’t think about planning the garden until spring and wish for a perfect garden by the summer, which is not always possible, so now is the time to get planning if you want that lovely garden to enjoy later in the year.

In this weather there’s no better place to plan you garden than by the fireside.

However, if you do feel the need to get out into the fresh air and do some gardening exercise to burn off a few of those festive calories then there are always a few jobs that can be done in the garden.

To start with, rake and sweep up the last of the fallen autumn leaves to keep good hygiene in the garden. You may also find that the frost may have killed off perennials in your flower borders, so these need to be cut down and cleared away and of course there is always a bit of weeding that can be done if you can the brave the winter elements.

Pick a mild day to prune fruit and deciduous trees, cut out dead, diseased or any crossing branches to maintain a healthy tree. Also this is the time of year to plant bare rooted trees, shrubs and roses and again chose a dry mild frost-free day and never plant into frozen ground.

If you need to stretch your legs, then there are so many gardens that you can visit, just wrap up warm and enjoy a bracing walk to blow away the winter cobwebs. You can contact the National Trust and the Royal Horticultural Society and they can give you details of which gardens are open during the winter and details of the opening times.

Most of these gardens will have a restaurant or café where you can enjoy a hot drink to warm up while you get your ideas for your own garden. I think that winter gardens can be very attractive and interesting is planned well.

That’s it again for this week.

Until my next blog, do have a good week, take care and don’t forget that you can visit my website at
www.gardendesigner.co.uk

Subscribe Free To This Blog By Clicking Here

© Copyright Judy Fenyvesi

#gduk89