topgardensuk.com :: Gardens,Garden Tips 6 Articles
Hi everyone
What another wonderful week we have had, being able to have an evening drink in the garden with the sun still giving out its warm rays of sunlight. We even had the barbecue out twice in the garden making the most of this year’s late warm sunshine, the mosquitoes have been enjoying it as well and it looks like they had our youngest daughter on their menu- she has been bitten all over even though we were burning the good old citronella candles.
The met office was certainly right about the Indian summer and may it carry on as long as possible, even though it is cooler in the mornings now and we need to clean the windows on our vehicles before setting off to work, having summery days is a blessing.
Rusty our dog is still running up and down the garden chasing after his beloved ball. For every one that’s interested he is a cross between an Alsatian and a Doberman and there is a picture of him on the home page of TopGardensUK.
Garden Tips
This is a great time to get other things done in the garden apart from looking after the remaining plants and tending to the lawn. This is the perfect time to do your maintenance on your garden sheds and fences.
Now this is a great tip, before you attempt to re-stain your garden shed or fence, if you have a power wash use it to wash down the panels or rails removing algae, moss and bird droppings. You can use a garden hosepipe but you will not get as good a result. Leave at least a day or two before staining to allow the wood to dry out. You will be absolutely amazed by the results and can end up looking like you have had a new garden shed or fence installed. Brilliant and easy!
Even though we are enjoying a fair bit of sunshine at the moment to help ripen up fruit in the garden, it is always best to give mother-nature a helping hand by removing leaves that block the suns rays this late in the season. Grapes should be ripening nicely now and some of the leaves will already be turning yellow, just carefully take away any leaves shading the grapes allowing the beneficial sun clear access.
We do this every year and have found this is more beneficial for our black grapes as the sweetness and ripening is affected by the amount of sun, the white grape does not seem to need quite as much sun. Also figs need the same treatment if you want to enjoy more of the fruit this year, allowing the sun and air to them helps them mature more quickly. This year has been excellent for figs and our tree is absolutely laden with fruit, while many of these will hang on and ripen next year we would prefer to be able to eat them now, but a lack of sunshine through august has slowed ripening and the fruit has been consistently smaller than other years.
The runner beans we planted up in pots are happily twinning themselves up their canes and have produced flower buds, but have yet to open. They are still standing outside at the moment, but with temperatures likely to drop over night soon, may have to be moved into the greenhouse or I will use a cover of thin plastic sheeting, that will in the evening and removed first thing in the morning.
Another good tip is to get down to your garden centre and pick up some really good late deals. At this time of the year you can often find shrubs, clematis or perennials in large pots knocked down to bargain prices, which you can plant up, if they have small plants they are still a good buy as you can pot them up and keep in the greenhouse or sheltered area for planting in the spring.
Small plants that you are growing on might need to have the growing tips nipped off to make a nice bushy specimen. Often the plants have been a little neglected with the roots growing through the pot, when they should in fact have been potted on, these are generally sound but might wilt a little after moving, but given a good soak in a bowl and let to drain will perk them up. Then just trim and tidy the plant up and pot up with some good potting compost. Again leave in the greenhouse over winter or a sheltered spot under a carport or porch.
That’s all from Gardens, Garden Tips
Ted & Sandra