What strange times we live in, as I pen these notes in early November the sun is warm, the borders still have plenty of colour & the lawn still needs mowing!. I know it is an illusion, for soon we will “enjoying” frosts as Winter takes it’s icy grip. It has been an unusual year with the early Spring & hot days through the Summer, with everything maturing early, which made life difficult for our two annual shows, but members rallied round giving us great shows in spite of what nature threw at us. As Christmas approaches , you can take it a little easier this month, without any risk to your garden as basic maintenance is the most important thing until Spring . Of course if you are looking to keep up the pace of your gardening there are plenty of smaller jobs that you can do. In keeping with the Christmas theme, why not try to grow your own mistletoe?, if you are lucky enough to have one of the host trees, apple, hawthorn, lime or poplar, then growing mistletoe should be fairly easy. When you buy your mistletoe, remove some berries & rub them into the cracks in the bark. Hopefully the seeds will germinate, and the misletoe will flourish taking it’s nutrients from the tree. It is time to plant new fruit trees, December is your last chance to plant bare rooted fruit trees & bushes, secure the tree loosely to it’s stake , to prevent Winter winds loosening it in the ground, do not forget to water in dry spells. Net cabbages & other Winter crops to stop hungry pigeons & other birds trying to eat them. Protect salads, herbs & other crops with cloches. Leave parsnips in the ground, they taste much better after being frosted. Tomatoes if not turning now, are unlikely to ripen further, use them to make green chutney, perfect for serving on Christmas day. Don’t let Ivy be a pest, it may seem like any other climbing plant, usefully covering bare walls & fences. Unfortunately, no matter how much you try to keep it in bounds, ivy has a way of escaping . It has a habit of smothering other plants & annoying the neighbours, so make sure you keep cutting back those escaping shoots, or get rid of it altogether. Another problem at this time of year is root rot, affecting plants in containers, make sure the drainage holes are clear by raising the containers off the ground, move them into the rain shadow near a wall or fence. Prevent fallen leaves accumulating round your roses, to stop the spread of rose black spot. Now is an ideal time to hard prune your trees and shrubs, looking out for flaws such as split or broken branches, cutting back so they are healthier next year, pruning now, reduces wind rock loosening plants in the ground, this also applies to roses, although only cut back half way, wait until the Spring, looking for new buds before cutting down hard. On a final note, remember to replenish & add water for the birds to drink, also watch out for bird’s nests when pruning . put out some food out for them, many gardeners assume that birds are not hungry, when they look plump; birds actually fluff up their feathers to minimize heat loss from their bodies, when they are seriously hungry.

This month is a quiet time in the garden, with short cold days & long often frosty nights. Due to the dropping temperature & lower light levels, November often tends to be foggy, as well as cold & wet. Most plants are now dormant & require little attention, but now is an ideal time to split up herbaceous perennials. But there are some tasks that never go away, such as raking up fallen leaves, digging the ground over for next years planting, do this when there is a suitable break in the weather. This is an ideal time to start off your runner bean trench , dig this out and fill it with compost & kitchen waste over the Winter, this will provide good soil conditions for the plants and help retain moisture when they are growing next year. This month we can also expect some strong winds, so check all those stakes & ties on your trees and shrubs, this will greatly improve the look of the garden, while carrying out these checks, inspect your fences the odd nail or screw now most probably will prevent a whole panel being blown down. This month is a perfect time to plant bare rooted & container grown trees & shrubs. With bare rooted stock, if the ground is frozen, just dig a trench & heel them in, with container grown stock put under cover, until the weather improves. Fruit canes, fruit bushes rhubarb & strawberries can be planted out, weather permitting! Any plants in the greenhouse may still need an occasional watering, unless you heat your greenhouse the air is likely to be damp & cold, a perfect environment for fungal diseases to spread, ventilation is important, balancing out requirements between fresh air , draughts & sudden frosts. If you do not have too much in your greenhouse, now is a good time to wash down all the glass, inside & out, with the glass clean give the staging and the path a good watering of diluted Jeyes fluid, this will kill off any overwintering bugs and diseases. Keep filling up the compost bin with alternate layers of soft & fibrous material, also adding torn plain cardboard, this makes good compost, if possible the compost will greatly benefit from being occasional turned. Do not be tempted to add fallen leaves as these take an awful long time to break down. On the subject of fallen leaves, if you intend burning these, take two things into account, firstly that there are no hedgehogs hibernating in the pile , especially around November the 5^th!, secondly, check your local bylaws for the rules governing the burning of waste. Try and keep some water unfrozen in the garden, these are hard times for the birds. For a really early crop of broad beans, start them off now, in pots, under glass then later to a cold frame before planting out. If you have grape vines , once the leaves have fallen they can be pruned back, over the course of the next few months, do this now, if you leave it until next year, they may bleed sap profusely. Also with these plants, they can greatly benefit from having all the old bark scraped off , this will remove any hiding places for overwintering pests. Do not forget to insulate your outdoor tap against freezing , wrap with “bubblewrap” & cable ties, simple! It beats fiddling around on a freezing cold day with coldwater! Outdoor containers also benefit from being wrapped in “bubblewrap” too, also lifting them off the ground and placing on feet greatly helps.

It is that time of year again, the days get noticeably shorter and cooler, not forgetting the clocks go back an hour at the end of the month and we can probably expect frosts this month, but on the bright side there are all those wonderful Autumn colours to enjoy. This month bring us the annual, joy of repeatedly clearing up fallen leaves, where do they all come from? Collect them up cut them up with the lawn mower, put into a black bin liner, with a few holes in, and leave for a year or so & you will have some nice leaf mould, do not be tempted to put dead leaves in your compost bin, it just slows down the decomposition of other material in the bin. Give priority to those jobs that won’t  wait, then try to get the Winter digging  done so that the ground gets the maximum benefit from being turned & exposed, weathering during the Winter helps break down heavy soils, plus expose soil-borne pest for predators such as birds to eat. This month is a good time to lay new turf, if you do not want to wait until the Spring, there usually plenty of rain to help the lawn become established before the really hard weather of Winter sets in. Established lawns can be give their final cut, remembering to raise the blades, also do not neglect your mower, give it a thorough clean & oil the blades before you put it away for the Winter. Other tasks this month, harvest fruit & vegetables. apples & pears should  be picked, at thelatest, by the end of the month, main crop carrots & potatoes should now be lifted & stored for Winter. Sow hardy annuals, sweet peas and lettuces to overwinter under glass . Sweet peas can also be sown direct into the ground and protected by cloches. Plant Spring flowering hardy annuals and biennials as soon as possible, also now is an ideal time to plant all evergreens, including conifers but no later than the end of the month. Plant up containers and baskets for Winter interest . Lift tender bulbs corms and tubers,  such as dahlias and gladioli, clean off all the soil and store in a frost free place. If you have planted bowls of bulbs for indoor flowering, keep an eye on them and do not them dry out  or get too wet.  Bring in pelargonium’s and half hardy fuchsias that are growing in tubs and pots outdoors. Net pools to prevent fallen leaves contaminating the water. Lift & divide perennials , potting up some for selling at our “plant sale”  next May. Prune climbing & rambling roses & tie back to prevent damage from Winter winds. Now that the beans and peas have finished, remove any seed pods & save for next year’s seed, cut down to the ground leaving the roots in this provides a natural fix for the nitrogen in the soil, compost all the haulms.  When you harvest your cabbages, leave  the roots in, make a nice cross cut on the stump to encourage a nice flush of tender young leaves. If you have not already done so, cut out all old wood from Summer fruiting raspberries & loganberries , tying in all new growth to wires or canes. Now is a good time to plant up any strawberry runners you have taken or order new plants. Divide any congested rhubarb clumps with a spade re-planting the healthiest looking pieces. The days may be getting shorter but work in the garden does not!

Club news; on Monday 21^st of August, our speaker for the evening was Rosy Hardy, gold medal winner at this year’s Chelsea flower show, from Hardys cottage garden plants, with a talk on herbaceous perennials, Rosy had brought along a large selection of plants from her nursery, near Whitchurch in Hampshire, to talk about each in detail. All the plants were divided up into three groups, shade loving, semi-shade and full sunlight locations, going on to explain the various growth habits and propagation of each of the plants, which was very useful, later when the plants were available for sale, most of the plants Rosy had brought along were quickly sold. In addition there were seeds available for many of their plants & many heritage varieties that are difficult to find  elsewhere.  This month our speaker, on the 16^th will be a welcome return of Eva Rogers, with a talk on “Herbaceous borders”.  The member’s competition will be” any vegetable”, we all have something growing in the garden so just bring something along to make this a good competition. Do not forget we are looking for nominations for committee members to join our hard working committee and have your say, and bring new ideas to the Club.

This years Autumn Show will be held on Saturday the 23rd September 2017 at the Ellendune Community Centre.

Come along to see the best of locally-grown flowers and produce!

New exhibitors are always welcome, and advice for showing your exhibits to their best advantage always available.

Admission 50p, Members of W&DGS and Children FREE.

From 2pm

Refreshments, Plant Sales, Auction & much more

For schedules & more information click below, or contact:
Julie Dowsett 01793 814118
Jess Bailey 01793 812267