NOVEMBER 2011 NEWS FROM THE NURSERY

We have now had enough rainfall to moisten the soil. This has been encouraging our landscape customers to get planting. Previously the ground was so dry it was difficult to get the plants established.

Grasses have been one of our best sellers recently and their popularity is well deserved. At this time of year they add so much to the autumn and winter garden. They associate well with Asters (Michaelmas Daisies), Kniphofias, Phlomis russelliana and Salvias.
Try combinations and see what works, or visit gardens with borders where you can see the effects of an established planting scheme.
Cornus alba Varieties are looking especially good at the moment with their bright red stems, as are many of the grass stems like Molinia caerulea arundinacea Moorhexe.

Fleece is excellent for covering plants to give them protection from frost and wind chill.
The early cold spells that were predicted have not arrived, but unfortunately they will at some time. So instead of panicking at the last minute, make sure you have a space cleared in a sheltered spot for putting your tubs of plants that don't like too much winter wet. This could be by a house wall for example - in the lee of the prevailing wind and rain.
Bubble wrap to put around the outside of pots - Agapanthus do not like frozen roots. Bubble wrap can also be used to line greenhouses to keep the temperature up and stop the loss of expensive heating if used.
Make sure there is still the option for ventilation on warmer days to combat mildews and moulds, which would quickly appear on any foliage damaged by cold weather.

Try to get any summer bedding filled containers replanted before it gets cold, so that new plants get established. Plant evergreens, perhaps with bulbs to come up in the spring.
Empty pots can look a bit depressing in the winter, so tidy away any not required in a frost free place to save them from being cracked if the weather is really cold.