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| Go greener |
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| With a growing number of gardeners eschewing chemicals in favour of natural alternatives, we can suggest some effective products from our organic gardening selection |
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| Relax and refresh |
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| Good food freshly prepared daily, aromatic coffee, chilled wine and a grassy play area for the children. What more could you need? |
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| Food heaven |
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| Our Farm Shop is heaven for food lovers! Delicious handmade food, top quality groceries, fresh fruit and vegetables and stylish cookware and gifts. |
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| The Discovery Walk |
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| As thousands of daffodils herald the spring, stroll or stride around our Walk while the youngsters enjoy the Nature Trail |
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Doing the winter wrap!
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| Thursday, 22nd November 2007 |
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IN THE GARDEN WITH PETA MARSHALL
It’s that time of year when those of us with tender plants start to get a bit fidgety. The cold weather can play havoc with some of our less hardy plants.
Will this winter be THE winter? Will we face the arctic conditions we’ve been dreading, with gardens and plants being subjected to weeks of sub-zero temperatures? If so, what can we do to keep our tender darlings safe?
To start with, wrapping tender plants such as cordylines, bananas and some palms in situ is a popular way to help these plants survive. There is only one real rule here – the insulation material you use must allow air to circulate and moisture to evaporate, otherwise things will start to rot. The material can be a temporary covering during cold spells or left in place throughout the winter, but either way it should be porous.
Probably the best material is horticultural fleece. A double layer around the plant will give around two degrees of frost protection, so keep a large roll of it in the shed!
Using bubble plastic, which is often recommended for outdoor plants, could just leave you with a well-protected heap of warm mush by spring! As it doesn’t allow air movement or moisture evaporation, it provides the ideal environment to encourage fungal rots. So keep this plastic for insulating the inside of the greenhouse, or the large pots of such shrubs as camellias (the roots of which may be damaged if they get iced solid).
There are three types of expensive plant that you really don’t want to lose:
Tree ferns – there is conflicting advice on the hardiness of Dicksonia antarctica. The second part of the Latin name suggests that this fern is from the Antarctic, but it isn’t. It is most likely to originate from Tasmania, or even the Australian mainland; nobody knows for sure. The important thing is that it is, in fact, quite hardy. However if you live in a really cold area, plants may benefit from having their trunks wrapped in fleece for the winter.
In milder, drier spells it is a good idea to water their trunks, as drying out can be just as harmful as deep freezing.
Palms – these are better if given protection only when they need it. This weekend bash in three stout canes around your more tender palms and then wait. Watch out for the weather forecasts and, when a cold spell approaches, tie up the leaves with twine and bandage around the canes with fleece. When the cold snap passes, unwrap it and let in fresh air – this will refresh the palm, until the next chilly spell.
Bananas – the hardiest banana is Musa basjoo, but there are a few other types that are more tender. In all cases the most important thing is to prevent the underground portion of the plants from freezing. Heaps of autumn leaves plied over the root zone will usually do the trick.
With bananas you don’t have to wrap the trunks in order to keep the plants alive but it is a good idea if you want the finest, tallest leaves and maybe a flower or two.
After the first frost has hit them, cleanly remove the leaf tatters, leaving a sensible height of remaining trunk. Protect small plants by placing a chimney pot over them and covering the top with a tile. If the site is cold or exposed, stuff straw inside for extra insulation.
Larger stems can be protected with a wire mesh cylinder (made yourself) and double layer of fleece capped with bubble plastic, or chimney flue-liners that look neater and are easier to manage.
Larger multi-stemmed bananas are more of a problem. I think I would adopt the same form of protection as with palms. I’ve seen people stand wooden pallets on their sides to make a ‘house’ around the clump, and then fill the inside with fleece and straw, around and over the tops of the banana stems. They needed an awful lot of straw though!
The biggest banana is Ensete ventricosum, whose huge leaves can span across most small gardens! Even experts agree that these need a different kind of treatment, as they are so tender. These plants are usually dug up at the end of each autumn and moved undercover to a large greenhouse or polytunnel for the winter months. It’s a ‘faff’, but worth doing if you’re passionate about them.
Finally, all of these actions hinge on the weather, and getting the protection in position before any cold snaps arrive. The Met Office website – www.metoffice.gov.uk – gives a five-day forecast for the main town nearest to you and you should keep a check on this. You’ve been warned; now keep your plants warmed! Happy gardening!
This week in your garden
- Plant roses while the soil is still warm. Miniature, patio, shrub, bush, rambler and climber roses should all be planted in well-prepared soil. Mix well-rotted manure compost to the soil, as you plant.
- Continue to plant narcissi, hyacinths, tulips and other spring-flowering bulbs.
- Keep pot cyclamen cool and light, or their leaves will turn yellow.
- Propagate runner-forming house plants such as spider plant (Chlorophytum), flame violet (Episcia) and mother of thousands (Saxifraga stolonifera). Peg them directly into small pots will with a multipurpose compost. You should be able to detach these after about a month, and grow them on.
Peta Marshall is the plant centre manager at Priory Farm in Nutfield. Website: www.prioryfarm.co.uk
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