Brighter later (From York Press)

Brighter later

11:27am Saturday 21st November 2009 in

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DESPITE the lateness of the year, there are still jobs to be done in the garden, such as cutting back dead perennial stems, pulling out spent annuals and planting potential new life in the form of tulip bulbs and garlic cloves.

And a dull rainy day can always be cheered up by filling a tub or two with bright winter blooms.

November can be a funny month: one minute a windy downpour, the next an hour of sunshine and warm enough in a sheltered spot to get a few tasks done. This can be a good time to move overgrown plants and to consider getting rid of ones that failed to do well over the summer.

The memory of how the garden looked a few months ago is fresh and most plants are still visible and easy to identify. Soil is workable, although digging can be very messy in late autumn, and usually warm enough for replanted specimens to settle into their new place before winter cold sets in.

Most perennial plants can be moved in November as long as the soil isn’t frosted or waterlogged. The exceptions are evergreens which are best left until spring. I have also found that semi-tender silver leafed plants such as lavender are also best left in situ and very carefully moved once they start into growth in April or May.

Gaps left by poor performers can be filled with new ones; good nurseries and garden centres should still have a decent selection to choose from.

There won’t be much in flower; most pots will reflect our gardens by displaying maybe a clump of leaves or a few dead stems, so go armed with an illustrated reference book as a memory jogger.

Once the choice is made, the plants can be put straight out into the garden, weather permitting. Label clearly and water in. If there is a dry spell, the new plants will need watering as the roots will still be establishing.

Window boxes and patio containers can cheer up areas by the house with colourful displays of cyclamen and violas. These winter-flowering plants are easy to find in garden suppliers or on market stalls and will last for weeks in sunny or shady spots.

These two simple plants can be used in a number of ways to create different feeling displays with contrasting colours.

Pale pink and white cyclamen, for example, look good with a variegated evergreen such as Euonymus ‘Harlequin’ with its speckled and splashed leaves of green and cream. These markings reflect those on the cyclamen foliage and the whole effect is of quiet cool.

An alternative combination would be to go for richer colours by using dark-flowered violas, rich red cyclamen and clumps of strappy black-leafed Ophiopogon planiscapus nigrescens. A big container filled with these deeply hued plants looks smart next to a black or dark-coloured front door.

Pick off dead blooms to keep these late-flowering plants going as long as possible and water if there is a dry spell; it is surprising how quickly the compost dries out on mild, windy winter days.

Avoid over watering, most plants dislike being in soggy cold soil, and don’t water if very low temperatures are forecast as the compost will freeze around the roots of the plants.

Weekend catch-up

WITH the weather continuing to be mild, lawns are still growing and will need to be cut. The problem is finding a day dry enough; we have had torrential rain during this month and the lawn rarely seems to dry out.

Seize the moment should it arise and set the mower blades quite high – the grass is likely to be too lush and green – to get a close shave especially if it hasn’t been cut for a while.

Broken edges and bare patches on the lawn can also be mended this month unless the temperatures suddenly drop and we begin to get frosts. When this happens it is best to leave these tasks until spring.

Bare areas can be repaired by digging out the bald section and cutting a piece of turf to fit. Press it in gently and water well. It’s a good idea to avoid walking on newly laid grass for as long as possible. It is a bit late in the year to sow seed, this should be left until the spring.

Broken edges can be mended by cutting a section of grass behind the damage with a garden spade, lifting the turf and turning it around 180 degrees so the broken edge is in the body of the lawn. Push the grass gently into place and fill the resulting small bare area with a piece of turf.

Gardening TV and radio

Tomorrow.

8am, BBC Radio Humberside, The Great Outdoors. With Blair Jacobs and Doug Stewart.

2pm, BBC Gardeners’ Question Time. A postbag edition with John Cushnie, Pippa Greenwood and Anne Swithinbank. Plus an update on the slug trials at RHS Harlow Carr in Harrogate and the gardening weather forecast at 2.40pm.

Friday.

3pm, BBC Radio Four, Gardeners’ Question Time. Bob Flowerdew, Matthew Biggs, Anne Swithinbank and chairman Eric Robson help out with gardening problems at Mayfield in East Sussex. Meanwhile Bunny Guinness checks out new garden gadgets and gizmos and the gardening weather forecast is at 3.40pm.

Saturday, November 28.

7am, BBC Radio York, Julia Booth. Presenter Julia Booth and gardening expert Nigel Harrison solve horticultural problems in their weekly plant surgery.