News - Page 81

Collect autumn leaves

Collect fallen autumn leaves and you can use them to make gardeners’ gold – also known as leafmould, one of the best soil improvers you can’t buy.

Prune your blackcurrant bushes

Prune blackcurrant bushes to encourage lots more fresh, young growth next year and bumper crops to match.

Test your soil now to get to know it and understand fully what it is capable of. You can do two types of test to find out about what’s under your feet: the texture test, and a simple pH test using a kit from the garden centre here in Stocksfield, which will tell you how acid or alkaline your soil is.

Cheer up your doorstep or patio!

Plant up winter pots to cheer up your doorstep and patio right the way through the coldest months of the year.

More successful breeding in the UK

Wildlife-friendly gardeners may be encouraging birds to grow longer beaks according to scientists.

Plant of the week: Cornus Alba

Of all the winter-stem dogwoods, Cornus alba shines out for its reliability, easy-going nature and sheer brilliant vibrancy.

What to do in the garden in November?

November is the season of cosy evenings gathered around the bonfire, toasting marshmallows and watching fireworks sizzle in the cold night air while warming your hands against the flames. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty to do in the garden though: so here’s our list of jobs to do this month.

Autumn and perennials

Divide congested clumps of perennials during autumn and you’ll give them a new lease of life, rejuvenating them and improving future flowering.

Making compost

Autumn is the perfect time to make some compost and turn all those spent plants you’re clearing out of the veg garden into lovely crumbly organic matter that’s the best soil improver there is.

Planting wallflowers? Yes!

It’s time to plant wallflowers ready for them to spring into brilliantly colourful flower from spring onwards. Sweetly-scented wallflowers have been a favourite for centuries, prized for their robust constitution and their generous flower displays.

Plant of the Week: Solidago

Colours this late in the season are look-at-me bright: a last ditch flourish to remind you how fabulous a plant can look before you sink into the sepia tones of winter. Solidago is one of the flashiest of them all, a fireworks explosion of yellow that erupts from a hot-coloured exotic border like so many rockets.