January Tasks

Regularly check greenhouse heaters are working, and insulate the greenhouse where possible.
Keep an eye out for wind damage on tall plants, check tree ties and stakes.
Drain down or insulate waterpipes. Even full watering cans left out can become damaged through ice expansion.
Book machinery in for a service early in the new year.
Make the most of ‘indoor days’ to plan for next season, with seed catalogues and a layout of the garden.
Use warmer days to walk round the garden, looking at the shape and structure of the plants, and planning any projects for next year.
Dig over the veg patch on sunny dry days, and add manure if not growing root crops.
Prune back grape vines before the end of the month
Cover rhubarb crowns with straw and a forcer to grow early stems.(This cannot be done every year as it weakens the plant).
And don’t forget to feed the birds, ensuring they also have access to unfrozen water.

Snowy Worcester or Sunny Jamaica?

We are very lucky where we are in worcester, almost in the middle of the country as snow seems to be hitting all the coasts. But last night we did have a -7c. Tonight we are forecast a -9 c and the thermometer outside the messroom door registered -11.5c earlier in the week. Very chilly, but not as bad as Scotland thankfully. I must admit that one of my favourite times is when I go to tend the conservatory boiler at the weekend when the garden is crisp and white; there is no sound and looking down I can see all the tracks of animals I never get to see during the normal working day.

Many people ask what a gardener does when it is snowing. If the weather is really bad we will do maintenance work inside on chairs and benches, or weed the greenhouses, but generally there is always something to do outside. Gritting the drive and checking gutters etc, collecting leaves from sheltered corners, having a bonfire, pruning the more robust shrubs, checking tree ties, checking veg in store etc.... the list is almost endless.

Debbie has been in Jamaica on holiday for a week, and is not due back for another week. Lucky girl! She is missing all the cold weather. Her brother is getting married out there and they are making a trip of it.

I did mention at the beginning of last month’s diary that new puppy Millie had escaped through the garden gate and we thought we’d fixed it with corrugated plastic. We were wrong! One afternoon Millie had the desire to get out and follow my husband, and just bashed through the plastic! There is now strong wire netting covering the gate.

December Tasks

Check overwintering veg, tubers and bulbs for vermin damage and set traps if necessary.
Good periods of dry weather can be used to dig over and manure areas of the vegetable patch
Float a ball in the fish pond to reduce the pressure of ice on the structure, and to prevent total freezing.
Ensure the potting shed is clean and tidy, and all pots and trays are washed, ready for next season.
Now is a good time to prune back roses that are likely to be loosened by the wind.
Tie in whippy shoots of climbing roses before they are damaged
Rake up fallen leaves and store them in a pile or black bag to rot down into leafmould.
All dahlias and cannas should have been lifted by now, after the frost has blackened the top foliage.

Trouble comes in threes....

Not the easiest of months.... we acquired a puppy from my brother in law who had purchased it about 2 months earlier. 5 month old Millie proved to be a lot livelier than they had imagined so we took her in to add to our two collies. Millie is a lab/staffie/whippet mix, and is a very strong, happy little pup who likes to chew anything from the phone charger to slippers, the corner of the settee to an entire packet of dog biscuits. She broke our garden gate, climbed the pallet put there temporarily, and when we installed a lovely wrought iron gate she squeezed straight through the gaps! We now have the bottom of the gate covered in corrugated plastic. Not pretty, but finally effective.

For anyone who is interested, you can see one of our other dogs on youtube: put in ‘tree climbing dog’ and watch the BBC Midlands Today report.

In the gardens the leaf colours have changed and some of the acers are really beautiful. (see pic). Autumn has truly arrived. However, it is a little disheartening to clear an area of leaves only to return the next day to do it all again. I know that we will get to the end of it but this time of year can be frustrating as jobs don’t seem to stay ‘done’.

One of the more satisfying jobs has been the clearing of the next section of the South Border. All the plants have been removed and those for keeping have been potted up. We will repeat the process we undertook last year, with the first section we cleared, and hope to radically reduce, or even eliminate the bindweed etc. by the end of next year.

That short, sharp frost that occurred in the middle of the month gave us an opportunity to test out the new conservatory boiler. It certainly worked a treat and is holding heat and water as it should, finally! It was a serious cause for concern last year. We have also lifted, fleeced or frost protected the tender and susceptible plants around the gardens so hopefully we won’t see a repeat of last year when the really cold weather killed off several plants.

Of course the sharp frost meant that we were able to lift the dahlias earlier than we have done for the last few years. They are now all neatly stored away in a frost free shed. The cannas however are a different story: we lost nearly all the canna purpurea, a couple of variegated varieties and a few of the canna Robert Kemp whilst they were in storage last year, so we have stored them in a warmer room in the main house this year, hoping to avoid a repeat.

Best wishes

Kate

Topical tips for November

Check through stored apples and veg, discarding any that are damaged.
Use any spare space in heated greenhouses for quick crops of lettuce etc.
Keep an eye on the greenhouse and ventilate on warmer days.
Ensure that all tender plants have been taken into the warm, or protected by fleece or straw as we are just starting to get those nippy nights.
check guttering/drains and keep them clear.
lift and divide borders, so that perennials are regenerated for a better display. Then top dress the borders with well rotted farmyard manure, or garden compost.
Lift and store the last remaining dahlias, cannas, and gladioli bulbs.
Plant wallflowers and other winter displays, on warmer dry days
Keep an eye on ponds and ensure fish have a breathing hole by placing a pan of boiling water on the ice. Some people float a tennis ball to absorb the pressure of the ice and prevent damage to the pond.
Lift the last remaining dahlias, cannas, and gladioli bulbs.
On dry breezy days continue to cut lawns with mower blades set high, but try to avoid walking on grass when the weather is frosty.

Why are moles so good at hiding?

Last month saw the start of a new gardener to replace Richard, who had left to set up his own business. Chris started at the beginning of September and was thrown straight into the hedge cutting. And not just any old easy hedge, but the West Border crennellations...the ones that go up and down, and have a ditch to one side. It was a bit mean but Chris rose to the challenge admirably. It takes between 4 and 6 weeks to cut all the hedges at Spetchley and can be monotonous, so I have also been trying to ring the changes a little and mix up the jobs.

Last week Chris helped Debbie for a couple of days to sort out the new planting for the South Border where we had removed all the plants to try and eliminate ground elder and bindweed from the area. Well, we are now planting up and although a few small pernicious weeds are still showing, they are weak enough to be eradicated before the new planting becomes too large. A blog reader from Germany has suggested a specific control method which we are looking into. We will soon be taking the next section of border out, ready to repeat the process.

The damp, warm weather has also meant a lot of grass cutting, and the emergence of mole hills all over the gardens, in places I have never seen them before. This is particularly frustrating as I have limited sucess with mole traps. If anyone has a tried and tested method of mole control I would love to hear from you.

Isabelle Roberts, and her daughter Mary have been visiting for the last couple of weeks, as part of a month holiday in England from Alberta, Canada. They have been visiting all the friends that Isabelle made during her quarter century living in Gardeners Cottage at Spetchley. It has been lovely to have them stay and we are already planning next year’s visit. When Mary called her daughter at the weekend she was told that there was 8 inches of snow! We had had a lovely sunny day at the Avoncroft museum of buildings near Droitwich. ( A facinating place, you must go). Alberta winters can get down as low as -40º c, which I don’t fancy at all.

This month’s picture shows the ‘knees’ of the swamp cyprus, slightly altered by Clive Bagley, who ran the Tea Rooms about 4 years ago. Have a really close look....

October Tasks

Prepare the garden for winter: keep drains and ponds etc free from leaves and debris, clean and store garden tools, ensure that greenhouse glass is clean, and that any shading has been replaced by insulation.
Lift dahlias after the first frosts blacken their leaves.
Order spring bulbs for next year.
Feed roses with sulphate of potash to ripen the wood and make the plants more disease resistant.
Check tender plants for infestations of insects, and treat before returning them to their winter quarters.
Put frost protection round any plants that will be staying out for the winter.
Store undamaged apples and pears in a cool, dark well ventilated room such as a garage or garden shed.
Take hardwood cuttings of deciduous shrubs, and gather clematis seed for sowing in a cold frame.
place netting over ponds to catch leaves.
Change the plantings in hanging baskets for winter interest.
lift and divide herbaceous perennials.