My monthly account of my plans for the forthcoming month and the tasks that I have ahead and me.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS
DECEMBER 9TH.
Well, here we are again at the end of 2011 that has been a strange year weatherwise, bits of everything as we would expect but not at the time that we normally expect. As I write the weather is quite calm and mild but two days ago we had what the weather man called "A weather bomb". A mix of snow and rain with winds up to 90 MPH that caused quite a lot of damage.
December is a very quiet month in my garden, thank goodness as Christmas brings its own very busy time with present buying and wrapping, cards to write and send, food to plan and buy and battling the crowds in the shops, sometimes I think it would be a good idea to have about 40 days in the month.
We all lost a lot of shrubs last winter and that has been expensive so we must be aware that this may happen again this year so consider the protection items that are available in your garden centre such as bubble wrap and fleece. It is worth knocking the snow from the branches of trees and shrubs to prevent damage from the weight.
Keep your eye on your winter hanging baskets to prevent drying out but don't over water and trim extra long trailing plants to prevent wind damage.
A little quiet time is required over this busy season of good will, the ideal time to sit back and look at garden catalogues, planning for next year and that lovely garden that you will have.
With all my best wishes to all friends and visitors for Christmas and happy gardening in 2012.
Hazel.
November 1st.
The garden has been tidied up with the removal of the summer annuals and some quite heavy pruning of some of the shrubs, ( see phot below ) there will not be much to do now that winter is just around the corner if what we hear from the weather man is correct. October ended on a drier period with reasonably mild days but quite cold at night.
I have removed the old half tub that had my herb garden and now creating an area for shrubs in one of the beds, the half tub was very old and rotten and had been promising to burst its side at any moment. There are not many herbs that will last the winter here in Scotland and I will have to aquire those that I use in my cooking from the local supermarket.
The new shrub, Fatsia Japonica, ( picture below ) is a nice looking addition to the garden, this is not the flowering variety but said to be frost hardy, we will see, here we keep our fleece very handy for that very cold weather, frost in the roots is not good for any of my plants.
This is the time to collect those catalogues from the garden centre, unfortunately I do not have the space for everything that I would like, but it's enjoyable just looking at the photographs.
The bulbs have been planted ready for, hopefully, the spring display, and the battle with the squirrel starts again, so far, with the help of the steel mesh that covers them, I am the winner, but, I will be watching them very closely.
That's about all the news for now from Hazel's garden, just keep an eye on the hanging winter baskets that are in the "rain shadow" and make sure that they do not dry out. See you again in my December diary. Hazel.
Above, November 1st, the garden ready for the Winter now that the annuals have been removed and the shrubs trimmed.
Right, my new plant, Fatsia Japonica. Evergreen shrub. Said to be frost hardy but protect from strong winds, requires fertile well drained soil.
OCTOBER 1st 2011.
Here I am again and very happy to have you visiting "Hazel's Garden".
What a crazy year this has been. Today, here in Scotland, the temperature climbed to 25 degrees and the "normal" is about 14 degrees. Is anything with the weather "normal" any more.
A couple of days of warmth has lifted the garden that was starting to look a bit worn out but maybe the plants don't realise that we have not had winter yet and that will probably kill of all of those buds that appear to be showing too early and then what will happen come spring. Professional gardeners have been noting this effect for a while now and are finding ways to get around it or new plants that will be able to accept these changes.
The winter baskets are now in place and will only occasionally need to be looked at, summer basket and container plants are really hard work with the continual watering. The climbing rose has had the shears taken to it to tidy it up and quite heavy pruning on shrubs that have put on much growth this year. I have dug up and disposed of the Kilmarnock willow that I planted in early spring, for some reason it has not flourished and looked very sad spoiling the garden, the exciting bit will be planning what I will replace it with next year.
My latest aquisition is a "Fatsia" that looks good in a large pot, it is supposed to be hardy but I will watch over it as though it was a new baby.
Lets see now what October brings in the way of weather, the forecast has not been good but they can, and often are, wrong.
Please come back again, and don't hesitate to post a comment, tell me what you are doing, any hints or tips would be appreciated, but for now, it's time to take my steak and mushroom pie out of the oven,
Bye, Hazel.
Above. That steak and mushroom pie that I mentioned above looks good enough to eat, even if I say that myself.
Left. Lavatera shrub that has its summer dress on in October.
SEPTEMBER 6th 2011.
Hello again to all friends and new visitors to "Hazel's Garden".
August went out like a lion and September has come in like TWO lions. Strong winds, heavy rain and quite chilly here in Scotland.
Not a lot to do out there in my garden and from the window I can see the flower heads bent down by the weight of the rain. There have been a few times that I ventured out and started the pruning of the shrubs that seem to enjoy this weather and contiue to thrive in their growth. My gentleman friend did at last get the opportunity to get out and cut the grass in the ground at the back of the fence, it was still very wet and the hover mower had to work very hard with several halts to let the motor cool down. He also started to prune the trees that are out there and just growing a little too high.
The Pak Choi seeds that I planted last month, ( see photo below ) have come to nothing, maybe the slugs or perhaps just a little late in planting due to the inclement weather. I'll wait for Spring and try them again. The Buddleja that I referred to back in the Spring has been in good flower and I have glimpsed the odd butterfly, ( photos in "Picture Gallery").
The Summer hanging baskets are just about coming to the end of their days and I have been preparing the Winter baskets to replace them.
Looking back over the past 6 months I am not dissapointed in how my garden grew, like all gardeners, especially us amateurs, the rebuilding of the garden after that very bad Winter went quite well, yes, of course, some losses, but that is to be expected. The new shrubs that I bought seem to be doing well and will provide the back bone for next seaon.
I have posted below a youtube clip of "100 flowers in 100 seconds", nice back ground music and some lovely pictures, many of them from "Hazel's Garden".
Please keep looking in, maybe not so many flowers for the next few months but time to spend on a little cookery.
Till we meet again next month, keep gardening when you get a chance. Hazel.
13 th August.
Above is a photo of the Pak Choi that I planted as seeds just 14 days ago. It is still not too late to do so, I attempted to grow this at the begining of the season and I don't know if the plantss were incorrectly labeled or not but they never turned in to the Pak Choi that I expected.
Visiting my local garden cebtre I saw the seeds on sale at half price, so, here we go again. They may not develop as I hope but the leaves will be used in the stir fry that I enjoy often.
AUGUST 7th .
The last 7 days of July were beautiful, long days of hot sunshine and a little shower of rain overnight, absolutely ideal as far as I am concerned. The baskets and pots required watering twice a day, this is a really hard way of gardening but the results of my work are showing up in the display that they give me.
The climbing roses that gave a good display have been pruned, well, had all of the top growth cut with a hedge trimmer, maybe a second bloom if the weather works with me, there is still a display as the ever lasting sweet pea that I planted in June is clambering through them and providing the colour. (See photo on picture page. )
I am filling plastic bags with the pruning of the many shrubs, this goes to the civic amenity site, it would be nice if I could compost them but there is not enough room in my garden.
The geraniums were looking very poor but the sun and warmth have at last made them put on a show, the white ones look really well and are shown off perfectly with the addition of the blue lobelia that is in the planter.
My friend gave me an Acer that I now have growing in a large tub with a Buddha and small lights that come on in the evening, looking quite nice.
Sowed Pak Choi seeds in a tray that have popped up in three days, they will be planted out and hopefully supply leaves in to October, still time to do the same if you hurry, and watch out for the slugs.
Well, not much time for this website at the moment, watering calls again. Keep gardening and keep enjoying your garden. Hazel.
Picture on right dead look ing stalks of the lavender. See entry below for July 26th on how to re-claim this plant.
JULY 26TH.
Not quite August yet so Month-by-Month has made a small change. There is so much to do in the garden at the moment, all of it to keep the garden looking its best. Dead heading is very important, pruning the roses to try to get a second flush, weeding, my gosh, they grow so well.
I would like to give you a wee tip about Lavender. It is so lovely to be met with the scent as you get closer to the plant, but, are your growing and leaving below that mass of stalky old plant with discoloured leaves, mine is. There is a solution. Get a man, maybe a local gardener, gentlemen friends are the cheapest option, after the flowering is over prune the tops down to a couple of inches above the dead looking stalks, never cut right down to them as they will never recover, dig the whole plant out leaving some soil on the root, now make the hole deeper so that the lavender can be replaced with the dead looking parts below the surface, replace the plant and fill in the hole so that only the green part is showing above the surface. Bingo. With all the hard work just now remember to take every opportunity to sit and enjoy your garden. Hazel.
On the left the Honeysuckle has climbed up the dead branches of the "lost" Olive tree, above the climbing Rose that has burst through thanks to the hot spell of weather.
JULY 4TH 2011.
Hello again, and here we are in July, over half the year has flown by already but we are now in what are usually the warmest months. After such a miserable June, rain and dull but temperatures around 16 degrees that seemed to make the green stuff grow but without anf flowers, July has come in wwith the first three days of lovely sunshine with the temperature of up to 23 degrees. Long may it last.
The weather seems to have suited the two "P"s, pansy and poppy, both have flowered their heads off and the colour appears stronger than in previous years, maybe with the pansy it is a new type but the poppies are the wild ones that come back every year, just keep on dead heading.
This is the second year that I have bought the ever-lasting wallflower, I had to replace last years due to the terribly bad winter, I have the purple one and again, dead heading is the secret to a long flowering period.
Absolutely hundreds of roses on the fence that have now come into bloom after a month of wondering if the buds would ever open and the honeysuckle has climbed up through the branches of the old olive tree that I lost making a nice display.
Now it will be pruning the shrubs that have put on so much growth during the spring and regular trips to the dump, but remembering that this is the time to lay back in that chair and enjoy the sights and smells of the garden.
Have a good month. Hazel.
JUNE 5th 2011.
Coming up to half way through the year, time seems to fly as you get older. April weather was the wettest ever April in the area that I live and garden in with strong, often gale force, winds.
One day, so far, we have had a hot sunny day and right now it is dry but dull and still those cold winds. I know that we can do nothing to change the weather, and if it was possible we would make a mess of it, but for us gardeners a little more sunshine would be a great thing.
Surprising results on the one days heat that we did get, buds that were closed at at breakfast time were fully opened by tea time as the Papaver ( Poppy ) was and four large blooms on a Clematis that the wind appears to want to carry off. Watching from the breakfast room window you realise just how tough the fragile petals of the flowers are.
With the inclement weather I have given more time to my cookery books and recipes. A great success was an easy recipe for Jambalya that came from the BBC good food web site. ( I forgot to take a photograph ) but will be making again soon and will post a pic along with the recipe.
Well, that's about it for now but I hope to come back with a half month report and pictures of the flowers that , although they are hiding at the moment, I am trusting to mother nature. Happy gardening, Hazel.
VINCA. A frost hardy evergreen that is great for ground cover and needs to be controlled by lifting and splitting the roots each year. OK for shady parts of the garden but flowers better in a sunny spot.
I don't know the name of this geranium, I call it Raspberry Ripple.
Sunday 1st May. Hello again, well, that's one third of the year gone by and we are now well in to Spring, the daffs have gone over and are now dead headed, I have tried to tie a knot in the leaves as they look very untidy and they must be left to get the goodness back to the bulbs. The weather has been very warm for the last 7/10 days of April, about 6/7 degrees above what we usually get and this has bought many shrubs in the garden to life.
I believe that the frosts are past now and on Saturday I bought the first of my bedding plants, white geraniums that will go along the back of the long troughs with the dark blue trailing Lobelia in front, now it will be a regular visit to the garden centre as the month goes by.
Unfortunately I do not have any space for cuttings and have to buy new plants every year, there is one exception to this, a geranium with beautiful flowers that I nurse through each winter ( photo above) this is a cutting that I potted up last October.
Happy gardening to all visitors to my garden. Hazel.
Saturday 9th April. What a beautiful day as temperature reached 19 degrees, that's about 67 in old temperatures. Big hole in this months budget when I paid for the items in the picture below that included a Yuca, Rhododendron, everlasting Sweet Pea, three wee fir trees "PICEA GLAUCA ALBERTIANA GLOBE" that takes ten years to reach a height of 30 cm so they will be suitable for pots for a long time, 2 Polymoniums, three Sisirinchium, a pack of Lettuce, a small fir and a Sage.
April.
The weather is warming up, the first two days have been glorious, and the weeds are coming on nicely so it is time to get down on my hands and knees and with my trusty hand trowel yank them out before they get a chance to spread their seeds and multiply. Break up the surface of the ground and scatter some bonemeal.
The small white flowers are appearing on my Cotoneaster evergreen that survived the hard winter and later these small flowers will become red berries. The climbing Hydrangea has started to show signs of life as has the Lonicera ( climbing honeysuckle ) that is scrambling up the old, lost and loved, Olive tree.
There are small catkins on the Kilmarnock Willow and although they do look at bit sickly the beautifully scented Wallflowers that were, at one time, thought to be lost, are showing a little yellow from the flowers that will come.
Then I have the job of power washing the slabs to remove the winters dirt, not a job that everyone will relish, but well booted up and old clothes it gives me some thinking time that I enjoy.
Happy gardening to all of my visitors. 2nd April.
Added 3rd April, woke up to a miserable day sleet and very strong cold winds. Warning to myself, wait a little while till investing in new plants at the nursery.
The orange and yellow leaves of the shrub Spiraea bring brightness to the April border
April pots for the patio are filled with Primulas that have been flowering throughout March they have a wide variety of colours to brighten the early Spring.
March.
I have started to think about the hanging baskets that will be required for the summer. The two very large ones that hang out side my front door will, as usual, be obtained from my local garden centre as there is a great deal of work in preparing these and facilities are required for them to grow before hanging. I have a good relationship with the staff and the baskets will be made to my wishes.
I will be seeking the bright hot red trailing chrysanthemum that you see while on holiday in Italy to fill the half baskets that are attached to the fence and then hope for a good hot sunny summer to see them at their best.
2nd March.