Thursday, November 21, 2024

Action plan: CIAR BYRNE’s essential jobs for your garden this week

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GIVE NATURE A PRE-WINTER TIDY 

A mild autumn has seen many plants put on new growth and even flower again unexpectedly. Before colder weather arrives, take advantage of dry days by cutting back, pruning and tidying the garden ahead of winter. 

Trim shaggy evergreen hedges, making sure to taper them as you go up, and stand back to check your work. 

When it comes to herbaceous perennials – those plants that die back now and re-emerge in spring – they will also benefit from being cut back, helping to boost flowering next year. 

Remove all dead and decaying material and add it to the compost heap. Then mulch around the base of the plant with well-rotted organic matter. This will protect it, put nutrients into the soil and help suppress weeds that compete with perennials. 

You can also cut ornamental grasses to between 10cm and 25cm above ground. 

Before colder weather arrives, take advantage of dry days by cutting back, pruning and tidying the garden ahead of winter

Leave the pruning of perennials with woody stems such as penstemons until the spring to protect the crown of the plant over winter. 

it is a good idea to reduce the length of leggy rose stems now to protect them from storms

it is a good idea to reduce the length of leggy rose stems now to protect them from storms

You may wish to keep some seedheads for their attractive appearance – and for birds and wildlife which use them for food and shelter – such as globe artichokes, globe thistles and sea holly.

PROTECT TALL ROSES FROM WINDROCK 

The main pruning of shrub roses should be carried out in late winter, but it is a good idea to reduce the length of leggy stems now to protect them from storms. 

Windrock is when roses sway around in gales, damaging the roots. Remove a third of the stem, cutting above an outward bud. Put any foliage with black spot in council green waste. 

SWEET PEAS, SOW EASY! 

November is an ideal time to get ahead with sweet peas (pictured)

November is an ideal time to get ahead with sweet peas (pictured)

You may think it’s too late to sow seeds in November, but now is an ideal time to get ahead with sweet peas. 

Choose heirloom varieties or cultivars ranging from palest blue to deepest purple. 

Fill 9cm pots with compost and plant three seeds in each, 2cm deep. Water and keep in a greenhouse or on a sunny windowsill before planting out next spring. 

PLANT OF THE WEEK

ABELIA GRANDIFLORA 

Abelia Grandiflora (pictured) is one of the few garden plants still flowering in November

Abelia Grandiflora (pictured) is one of the few garden plants still flowering in November

This evergreen shrub is one of the few garden plants still flowering in November. 

From summer through to late autumn, it is covered in masses of small, pale pink, bell-like blooms that have the most delicious fragrance as you pass. 

For this reason, it is best planted by a path or at the front of a house where people walk by. 

Happy in most free-draining soils, it prefers a sunny, sheltered position and will not tolerate a cold, windy spot or somewhere its feet are sitting in water. 

There is still time to plant one now before the temperature drops. 

READER’S QUESTION

Why has my monstera gone all floppy? 

Katie McBride, Durham. 

Monsteras (pictured) come from the Mexican rainforests and like humidity, so will benefit from misting with a spray bottle

Monsteras (pictured) come from the Mexican rainforests and like humidity, so will benefit from misting with a spray bottle

There could be several reasons why your monstera, or Swiss Cheese Plant, is drooping. 

Have you moved it recently? If so, make sure it is not sitting in a cold draught. The ideal temperature is 18c to 25c. 

Is the soil too dry? It may benefit from a good soaking. Place in a sink filled with cold water for 45 minutes or until the soil feels moist. If it remains dry, water from above. 

Monsteras come from the Mexican rainforests and like humidity, so will benefit from misting with a spray bottle. 

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