February is here and January is out of the way with its typical winter trait, snow and frost. I don’t mind the cold in fact it’s good for the garden in a number of ways, firstly it kills many overwintering pests and sharpens the determination of our garden birds to search them out. If you have a clay or heavy soil a good dose of frost can help break up the clods and clumps, especially if you managed to dig over areas where you intend to plant last November. Typically the vegetable plot but new borders are much easier to work in the spring after a good winters frosting.
You may be thinking, it’s too wet to garden and that may be the case if your borders are heavy and squidgy, but don’t panic about planting trees and shrubs, they won’t thank you for being planted into cold wet soil. Instead keep them in a sheltered place until the soil improves, Try to choose a mild dry day to complete planting, although if your purchases are in pots or containers then they can be planted later, even after they have started to grow, providing their roots don’t get frosted and that they don’t dry out. If you have purchased ‘open ground’ stock (Plants lifted from the field) these can be placed in a trench carefully covering the roots with soil, this will protect them from severe frosts and providing the weather improves before the end of March we can still plant them in their final position. If you do not have space to make a trench, consider ‘potting’ them up into large pots or strong plastic sacks (with a few holes in the bottom). Use old grow bag compost or mix a little garden soil with new compost about 50/50 should be fine.
If you didn’t manage to tidy up your garden over the winter months then you should try to complete it this month. Cutting down perennials and pruning summer flowering shrubs, all the arising’s can be put through the shredder and assigned to the compost heap.
It’s also a good time to prepare your greenhouse for the crops and plants you plan to grow this year. If you had problems with greenfly and whitefly or botrytis and moulds it’s a good idea to take all the plants out and wash the glass and frame down with a garden disinfectant. Your local garden centre or nursery should be able to provide both garden disinfectant and greenhouse smokes. A greenhouse smoke is a little like a candle that can be placed in the greenhouse to fumigate and destroy overwintering eggs of such pests as greenfly and whitefly. Follow the instructions carefully and make sure your greenhouse does not have any broken glass as the smoke will escape.
If you didn’t sow your sweet peas last autumn then you can do it now in the greenhouse, with frost protection. They should germinate in a couple of weeks, once they have three pairs of leaves on nip the top two leaves and growing point out and place in the cold frame. They will continue to grow slowly but will throw strong side-shoots from the base of the plant these will flower much better than leaving the initial growing point, and should be ready for planting out in mid- April.
I like to start onion sets and shallots in modules in the greenhouse this gives them a great start and avoids problems with birds pulling out the bulbs after planting. We will plant them out next month under Cloches to give them a good long growing season.
Next Month, Start sowing in the vegetable garden and complete lifting and dividing perennials. Pruning roses and mulching borders.
Gardening Q & A
This month’s question is from Jeannie Booth, she writes;
Hello, I just bought a Salix willow, I know nothing about it, yet, and should the willows be showing now, in the winter? Also is it safe to plant it outside? Any info would be great.
I never pass up a chance to purchase plants for my garden whatever the time of year. The majority of plants we buy from garden centres and nurseries are now grown in containers and whilst they may be a little more expensive than field grown stock they are much more convenient and can be planted more or less any time of year providing you make sure that the soil is in good condition (not frozen or too wet) and that you water them during dry periods if planted through summer.
But on to the question in hand, a tricky one really, Salix is the botanical name for willow, and there are about 400 different species although I can make a guess at what I think it might be.
Over the past few months I have seen the’ Kilmarnock Willow’ (Salix caprea ’Pendula’) in a number of garden centres, their compact shape makes them an attractive tree for the smaller garden or patio. The other group of plants often seen at this time of year are those with brightly coloured stems, both Cornus and Salix have species and cultivars that make great plants for winter colour and structure in the garden. The other great thing about them is that they can be pruned quite hard so are again a good subject for the smaller garden.
If your plant has been grown under cover or in a cool greenhouse you may find that it is showing signs of growth, if they are then you will have to acclimatize them to the colder conditions of the open garden. If the shoots are quite advanced and showing fresh green leaves then you should keep them in a cold greenhouse until the weather improves. Choose a mild day in early April to plant it out in the garden, that way the leaves should be able to stand any cold days we have at that time of year. If you don’t have a greenhouse then a garden shed or garage should be OK providing you can place the plant near to a window and perhaps bring it out on mild days to enjoy the fresh air and extra light.
If on the other hand the plant you bought is not showing signs of growth or that the buds are just starting to split then you can plant it outside straight away (weather and soil conditions permitting). If a frost or very low night-time temperatures are forecast then wrap the plant with horticultural fleece (available form nurseries and garden centres). Take the fleece off during mild spells.
Almost all of the Salix species will tolerate damp soil many are quite happy growing along the edges of streams and ponds. Their roots help bind the soil reducing the risk of bank erosion where flooding may be a problem. Mix good garden compost with the soil at planting time to give the plant a good start. An annual mulch of well-rotted garden compost in March every year will help keep the soil moist and the soil in good heart.
Some of my favourite willows are those grown for their winter stems, Salix alba var vitellina’Britzensis (Rusty orange stems) Salix daphnoides ‘Latifolia’ (Violet stems)Salix matsudana ‘Tortuosa’ (Twisted, contorted stems). The latter species forms a large twisted tree reaching 12 metres in about 30 to 40 years. The first two however can be pruned hard (‘Pollarded’). The spring after planting, or if planted in spring, cut the stems down to about six inches from the ground. This will encourage strong young side growths which will display a much stronger colour then older branches. Each year in spring, just before the shoots start to grow cut the arising stems back to two buds from where you cut them the previous year, and watch them grow away again. The removed stems can be used to stake herbaceous perennials but take care they can root!!
Happy gardening,
Martin S Walker
‘A Yorkshire Gardener’
For all your gardening questions email;
gardening@yorkshirereporter.co.uk
we will try to include them in a future issue
