April is the real month of autumn when the trees put on their spectacle of coloured leaves. Although we are approaching the end of the growing season for summer fruit, vegetables and flowers, we still have time to prepare the ground for the autumn planting of trees and shrubs.
This is a busy month for bulb planting and for winter annuals such as pansies, violas, polyanthus, primulas, wall flowers, forget-me-nots and poppies.
This month is the transition from summer to autumn and a very busy time in the garden. Nights are cooler and morning dew is on the grass.
Pip fruit harvest time is here with apples and pears at their very best. Choose only the very best, sound fruit for storage over the winter and the second quality fruit for now, or to make into sauces or jelly.
We have had a very dry autumn. The soil is still relatively warm and the small amount of rain has not penetrated deep into the soil. Some bulbs are confused. Narcissus that usually flower in late winter are blooming now. Narcissus ‘Grande Primo Citronaire’ and Narcissus ‘Nylon’, which usually flower in late July, are coming … Read More
Microgreens As always at this time of year I have started off my micro greens. Although most of my garden is looking good, the summer lettuces are about to finish and my aromatic herbs, basil and coriander, are dying off. Hopefully with the garden centres about to open again I can fix the lettuce problem … Read More
May is the month that we see the days getting much shorter and cooler so we need to get the gardens ready for the coming winter.
There is not much to do in the way of seed sowing and seedling transplanting but we can plant trees and shrubs so that they can make new roots and get established before the colder wetter ground of the late winter. Once the leaves have finished falling we can think about pruning fruit trees and getting the sprays on for pest and disease control in the coming growing season.
The last of the spring bulbs should now be planted; be careful to mark were they are so that you do not damage them when weeding near the time that they will be emerging. read more
The corona virus has made much of what we do very uncertain in our every day lives but our gardens go on following the change of season into Autumn unaffected by this pandemic. This may be a good opportunity to spend more time in our gardens and catch up with projects we have wanted to do but other activities have not allowed us the time. Autumn is a busy time in the garden as harvesting fruit and Summer vegetables will be finished by the end of the month and preparations from the Winter must be well under way.
As I write this we are still experiencing changeable Spring weather, but in spite of this there has been plenty of good plant growth. Although we have had some rain it has been intermittent and the warmer temperatures have meant that some watering is still required. The planting of Summer vegetables and bedding plants should be completed by Christmas to give the plants time to grow to maturity. read more…
May is the middle of the Autumn and we now see the trees dropping their leaves. The days are shorter and noticeably cooler so much of the garden work is controlled by the weather.
Report on the March Meeting of the Fruit & Vegetable Circle Speaker: Richard Smith Topic: Pip & Stone Fruit Richard originally worked for the Railways at Tower Junction, then spent some time fruit picking and ended up as their orchard manager. Now he works in management for Countdown logistics – they buy 450,000 cartons of … Read More
April is when Autumn really gets going, the days are noticeably shorter and night temperatures cooler. The trees are starting to colour up and drop so we need to be preparing the garden for Winter.