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Care for winter containers

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Propagate your succulents

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Plant an apple tree

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Care for ponds this autumn

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The depths of winter can be a trying time, and even with the hardiest of plants, there’s a danger of compost freezing in the pot – this will be extremely bad news for them and may kill them. Wrapping pots fully with layers of bubble wrap and fleece will go a long way to help.

If you’re worried about any of your containers being a little too exposed, put them in a frost-free greenhouse or a relatively cool conservatory to protect them a little more. Remove plant saucers in winter so the soil remains free-draining, and make sure you don’t feed any winter containers outside. Dormant plants don’t need it, and any growth on other plants may be vulnerable to the chill. Plants that are still in growth, such as conifers and other evergreens, may still need a little watering over winter during dry spells, but everything else should be able to cope as it is.

If snow is forecast, it’s not nearly as devastating as a frost, which will creep into plant stems and roots and kill them. Snow, as it lays on the surface of your beds and pots, can actually be quite warming for them.

Asking someone if they grow begonias is a bit like asking them if they grow plants! The word covers such a range of different forms of flowers and leaves. There are tough begonias for bedding, colourful foliage houseplants, tasteful, small-flowered plants for summer pots and large-flowered trailing plants for hanging baskets. If you’ve always thought of begonias as just small bedding plants and never given them a second look, it’s time to discover some new and incredibly useful plants that can add interest to the garden for months.

One thing that begonias have in common is that they’ll be killed by frost and can be damaged by cold temperatures, so now’s the time when they can finally be planted out in the garden to be enjoyed for the rest of summer and into autumn.

The beauty of begonias is that they grow and flower well in cool, semi-shaded conditions, as well as being able to cope with warm and dry spells in summer (although it’s best to keep them damp if you can). Most outdoor types will start flowering now and keep going until the first frosts; the cool, damp of autumn is no threat to their performance.

In containers outside, grow begonias in a mix of three parts multi-purpose compost to one part John Innes potting compost. This mix should allow for good drainage, which is needed for best results, and the John Innes compost will provide more nutrients and prevent shrinkage of the compost through summer. Soil-based compost alone, though, will be too heavy and can become waterlogged if we have a wet summer.

In the garden, plant begonias into rich soil that has ideally had well-rotted manure or compost added to it in the previous autumn or spring. Once begonias start to flower, feed them weekly with half-strength tomato fertiliser to encourage large, healthy blooms. Water in dry spells. Leaves will start to lose their colour at the edges if they’ve been allowed to dry out, but they’ll bounce back.

These are some of the shortest begonias, growing to no more than 25-30cm (10-12in) in height. They’re incredibly drought-tolerant and if you’re looking to create a bedding display in shade that will look as good as your bedding plants in sun, then this is the best option. The key is to be generous and plant them close together, to create a mass of flowers that hides the soil. The plants don’t spread much and they lose their impact if spaced a long way apart. Plant so they’re almost touching and you’ll have a full bedding display that looks good all summer and autumn.

If you’re looking for a large-flowered bedding begonia, try ‘Lotto Mixed’, which produces flowers in red, white and soft pink.

● Begonias can be some of the most colourful trailing plants you can grow and they’re perfect if you want to create a very full ‘ball of colour’ in a basket. One of the best for this is ‘Apricot Shades Improved’, which produces a gradation of colour from orangey-red to sunny yellow, and because it flowers well in part shade you won’t have to rely on functional but uninspiring ivy as a trailing plant in shady baskets.

● Altogether more refined but also superb for a basket is begonia ‘Inferno’. True to its name, it produces flowers in fiery orange and they truly engulf the plant through summer. The blooms are slender, with long, finger-like petals, and the leaves are thin and shield-shaped. For some cooler colour in a hanging basket, try ‘Million Kisses Elegance’, which is very similar to ‘Inferno’ in growth but produces flowers that are a mix of white, cream and rosy pink shades.

● For a big show of colour in pots through leaves and flowers, ‘Glowing Embers’ is a wonderful hard-working, top-performing plant that never seems to have a bad day in summer and autumn. The shield-shaped leaves are an unusual mix of purple and dark green, with a prominent network of veins. The intense colour of the leaves contrasts well with the bright orange blooms. It will grow and flower well in shade and produces slightly darker foliage to create an even starker contrast between leaves and flowers.

Rex type begonias are enjoying a resurgence in popularity as houseplants, with their intricate patterns and colourings capturing the imagination of a new generation of gardeners. These houseplants are easy to grow. Just grow them out of direct sunlight, which can scorch the leaves. Low light levels produce the best silver colouring on the leaves so try them on a north-facing windowsill.

These begonias can tolerate drying out but they need high humidity around the roots to grow best. If you’ve got a leafy begonia that has gone brown around the edges, it’s a sign the humidity in the room is too low. Place in a tray of damp gravel to raise the humidity and trim off old leaves so new ones take their place. These plants will grow best if grown in peat-based compost and need a minimum temperature of around 15C (59F), although the large-leaved ‘Silver Spirit’ can tolerate lower temperatures, so you could grow it in a cool, shady corner of the patio.

Another that can cope with lower temperatures is ‘Evening Glow’, which produces leaves with frosted grey margins and a blackcurrant centre, with attractive purple staining.

Begonia luxurians is a striking example of the wide variety of begonia species. It’s a cane-type with tall stems that can reach up to 2m (6½ft), with tiny, white, fragrant flowers and palmate foliage with long ‘finger’ leaves. They need warmth to grow tall and prefer high humidity, so nestle among other plants. Feed regularly and keep out of direct sunlight.

This is a fun job and so easy because succulents such as sedums, sempervivums and echeveria, for example, are keen to reproduce – they do most of the work for you!

They either produce little plantlets that just need potting up or are able to be propagated from their own foliage.

Succulents are defined as having fleshy leaves and keep themselves moist by carrying water in them – a characteristic often needed in their native dry, hot, sunny countries.

They’re really tolerant plants, keeping themselves pliable and happy to be moved about and disturbed – almost as if they want you to pull them apart and replant them so they can spread themselves about more easily!

Some, such as kalanchoe and aloe vera, are tender and need to be kept indoors in a frost-free place and a bit of warmth in many cases.

But the propagation process is easy – simply create or buy some good, well-draining compost and fill little pots with it.

Then it’s a case of transferring leaflets or rosettes to the pots, which often fall off into your hands readily, putting them on a windowsill and watching them do their thing!

Also be sure to repot pot-bound plants in spring.

1.  Pick off a healthy looking ‘leaf’ or a small plantlet from your succulent.

2.  Leave the offshoots out on kitchen paper to dry a little for a couple of days.

3.  Use a well-draining compost with small handfuls of Perlite and grit.

4.  Plant a few leaflets into a pot of compost and water lightly, place in a light spot.

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## Get one in the ground now and look forward to fruitful days ahead!

It’s prime tree-planting season – the perfect time to put in an apple tree, and at this time of year you can plant them as bareroots or potted trees.

You’ll need a stake and tie and some compost to improve the soil. It’s also an advantage to add some RootGrow or other mycorrhizal fungus when you plant to help the tree establish well.

Apples grow best in full sun and it’s best to stay away from exposed sites or those that are especially frosty in spring to avoid damage to the early flowers.

Something else you need to consider is pollination of the flowers because most apples are not self-fertile. In urban areas this isn’t usually a problem because a tree in a neighbouring garden may fertilise your tree. Crab apples are also good pollinators for culinary apples. You could also choose a ‘family tree’ with three varieties grafted onto one. This solves the pollination problem and should provide a range of fruits.

Other things to consider are resistance to disease such as scab, which spoils the look of fruits, and when the fruit will ripen. Early apples such as ‘Discovery’ can be picked in August but don’t store well. Most apples are ready in September and can be enjoyed for a month or two. Late apples are usually not ready to eat until October but may store well right through to the New Year.

Bulbs are the arguably the easiest to plant – give them good drainage, plant them the right way up and the right depth and you’re on to a winner! But it’s the care after they’ve flowered that’s key to their continued success, year on year.

Once daffodils and tulips have finished flowering they are ready to tuck themselves away for another year, so they need some TLC to produce the same sort of displays again. Neglect them now and they’ll be weak, may fail to flower or simply not emerge at all.

Deadheading is essential, to prevent the plant putting energy into seed production. Decide if your plants need lifting and dividing, being moved elsewhere to expand and thrive. Only do this if they’re unhealthily congested and the bloom display was less good this year.

To encourage good flower and foliage growth next year, water and feed with a tomato feed to help them take up moisture and nutrients for six weeks, and leave the foliage to die down. Don’t tie up the leaves as this restricts them – leave them to die down naturally and then cut down when it’s yellow and crispy.

**1) Deadhead** – Cut down old bloom stalks, diverting energy to growth.

**2) Feed** – Feed bulbs after flowering so they can glean nutrients for next year.

**3) Water** – Water bulbs up to six weeks after flowering, so they continue to take up moisture.

**4) Leave foliage** – Leave your bulbs’ leaves for a minimum of six weeks after flowering.

Sweet potatoes are related to morning glory and convolvulus, so it’s no surprise they look good with that pedigree. Their leaves are beautifully heart-shaped and scramble fantastically as a foliage plant over the edge of a pot. Plants love lots of warmth, shelter and sun. **How to grow** If you can get hold of plants or slips now, set them outside in pot and they’ll get going from next month.

Related to Florence fennel, this is the perennial herb version, which grows very tall with equally feathery leaves and lovely flower umbels in summer. Used for its leaves, it adds a lot to fish dishes with its aniseed aroma, but it’s equally at home in either green or bronze versions in the flower border. **How to grow** Sow now, prick out and pot up plants outside. Plug plants are also available now from the herb section of garden centres.

Chard comes in a catwalk-worthy selection of colours, and is a reliable plant. It works well as a perennial, holding its form and all its stalks for months, unless you harvest them for stir fries of course. Makes a colourful border plant in rainbow hues, deep red, pink yellow or white. **How to grow** Sow now or plant plugs in full sun, but watch out for hungry slugs! Use as a medium-height border perennial with tasty

Runner beans are generally attractive plants, with lovely heart-shaped leaves and pretty flowers, but this exciting heritage climbing variety is very different. It’s got lovely salmon-pink flowers which you can eat, a departure from the usual white or red. **How to grow** There’s still time now for sowing runner beans, which you can plant out in a few weeks to romp away for the rest of summer

Sorrel is a fantastic herb anyway, adding citrussy tang to fish dishes and livening up a salad no end. The red-veined variety is particularly pretty, though, rivalling even the most beautiful heuchera! Grow one or two plants in their own patio pot just outside the back door in sun or light shade. **How to grow** Sow now, prick out and pot up plants outside. Sow every couple of weeks this and next month for a continuous harvest.

A large, dramatic border perennial with beautiful purple flowers and huge serrated leaves. Place plants in sun at the back of the border where you can almost forget it’s actually meant to be a crop! Leave some to flower for appeal, but harvest small heads for eating before they flower. **How to grow** Plant plugs out now bought from nurseries or garden centres.

**Stefan says:** You have two bay trees at the front of your house in what amount to brick containers. The house is north-facing but receives early morning and some evening sun. You go on to say the trees suffered badly in a cold snap last winter. One of them has new shoots arising from the base while the other has leaves on the branches which are now looking rather sickly. You’ve been nursing them with regular watering and feeding, but need advice on what to do next, particularly with the new shoots.

First things first. The situation is not ideal because early morning sun in cold winter weather can be very bad for plants that have frozen tissues. It causes them to thaw quickly, and this can be really damaging. In fact, rapid thawing is much more harmful than severe frost.

I suggest you cut out the stem that is obviously dead but don’t do any pruning of the new leafy shoots. In saying this, bays do have amazing powers of recovery. I remember during one bitterly cold winter many years ago and a truly intense frost, one of our trees that had been about 3.5-4.5m high was browned to a crisp. We cut it back to the stump and glory be; it’s now 3.5m-4.5m high again.

I would add something else, however. Your trees are sharing their containers with a mass of other plants, and this is not helping. Bay trees may be tough, but yours are really having to fight for their existence. I suggest you move the other plants to a different spot and top up the container with a good quality soil-based compost and a handful of slow-release granular fertiliser. Then keep the base clear of any other plants or weeds.

Chives are easy to grow. Just keep plants well watered, especially during long dry spells in summer.

A hardy annual easy to grow from seed each year, mostly grown for its leaves but you can harvest the seeds too.

A great herb to have in the garden, but remember it spreads, so is often best grown in a container.

Another herb that is easy to grow and doesn’t die off in winter so you can pick leaves all year round.

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Here’s what to grow through the cold months for a fresh and healthy harvest

**Words** Greg Loades **Photos** Shutterstock

While that spring feeling of being able to start growing literally hundreds of edibles may have passed, there are still a lot of crops we can begin growing now. There are so many benefits, from having something to nurture during the ‘off-season’ to having something healthy and homegrown to harvest, just when our immune systems could probably do with a winter boost!

You may well have winter-hardy veg growing in the ground that will stand through the season to crop next year, such as those indestructible broad beans, garlic and overwintering onions. But add some of these winter salads to provide a crop during the coldest days and the grow-your-own season really never stops.

Temperatures are still high enough for salad sown now to get established and well-rooted before the winter months arrive. Extra heat and good light levels are the key to getting a good crop and this can be achieved in different ways. If you have a greenhouse you can sow direct into greenhouse beds, or fill some troughs or deep trays with multi-purpose compost and sow on the compost surface. The following crops will grow steadily in an unheated greenhouse if covered with a cloche, which can be removed during the day on mild, sunny days when the temperature outside is 10C or above. Or you can grow on a well-lit windowsill indoors.

In mild areas, you could have a go at growing the plants outside under plastic cloches or fleece but results will vary depending on the severity of the winter. A sheltered corner in well-drained soil will give the best results.

Some garden centres and specialist nurseries will currently be offering plug plants of hearting lettuces or endive, which have already made sturdy young plants, and will steadily mature if grown in a greenhouse. Protect them with a cloche once temperatures start to drop in winter.

The easiest way to sow is to scatter seeds of a salad leaf mix on the compost surface of containers or greenhouse borders, to harvest as a cut-and-come-again crop because no thinning of the crop is necessary. Just pick the leaves when they’re big enough for you by picking the leaves at the base, from the outside of the row or block first and leaving others to keep growing. You can cut the whole crop down with scissors but regrowth can be very slow.

Fill module trays with multipurpose compost and sow a few seeds in each module, then leave the strongest two to grow on and be harvested in their modules when they’ve reached a good size. This works well for salad leaves such as rocket and mizuna. If you want to grow hearting lettuce, thin them to one seedling before planting in the greenhouse border or individual small pots when they have made a sturdy young plant.

Super healthy spinach is a source of fibre, vitamins and antioxidants and is a very useful salad leaf because of its versatility, being good to add to hot dishes as well as a salad garnish. Sow a hardy variety such as ‘Perpetual’, which also has good resistance to bolting and is a fast grower.

Perhaps best known as a thick-stemmed vegetable, chard also makes a good ‘baby leaf’, and colourful varieties such as ‘Rhubarb’ will give you something pretty to look at over winter, too. Plus it’s a good source of iron and vitamins A, C and K.

If you grow one salad leaf outside through autumn and winter, this ultra hardy veg is likely to be the most reliable. Better known for its tough mature leaves that look so beautiful when captured by frost, you can start to grow them now to harvest as juvenile leaves for salads through winter. And it’s rich in Vitamin C, too.

A good source of vitamins A and K, this full-flavoured leaf will develop its distinctive taste best when grown in full sun. Keep picking off the outer leaves as they slowly develop through autumn and winter. Along with kale, this is another brassica, so both are best not grown in soil that has had manure or ericaceous compost added to it.

Packed with antioxidants, this small leaf is big on flavour and just a few small pickings will give your food a big boost when it comes to taste! If you’ve still got some leaves left by spring they will mature into large leaves that can be used in soups and stews as you would use spinach.

A good source of iron and calcium, peas are surely the easiest winter crop to sow! Growing this crop is a good task to do with children, pushing the seeds into modules of multi-purpose compost. If you’ve got any Roottrainers spare, they will be effective for raising a winter crop of pea shoots. Snip them off with scissors once they are about 10cm tall. Add them as a garnish to a dish and pretend you’re eating at a fancy restaurant!

A source of vitamin C, this is truly a cold-busting crop, tolerant of low temperatures as well as helping keep you healthy in winter. Sow it in a block in a large pot or trough and harvest leaves from the outside as they develop. Enjoy its fresh, nutty flavour!

Loose-leaved lettuce can be sown in rows or in pots (at least 25cm wide) for a leafy crop but hearting butterhead lettuces, such as ‘Arctic King’, can be grown to mature towards the end of winter. Look out for them sold as plug plants, ideal for planting in greenhouse borders.

A source of iron and folate, this tasty Oriental salad vegetable is good for outdoor growing because it can tolerate temperatures in single figures. Just cover it with fleece or a cloche if temperatures below freezing are forecast. This is also a brassica so avoid growing it in manured soil.

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## Some basic maintenance will protect any wildlife and keep the water healthy

Ponds provide tremendous habitat for wildlife but after an active year, autumn is a good time to carry out any maintenance, such as checking filters.

If algae, blanket weed or duckweed are smothering the pond’s surface, remove as much as possible with a net or rake. Let the weed drain of water, then place it on the side of the pond. It’s likely pond skaters, snails and small fish will get caught in the haul, so carefully turn the waste and work through the pile to release trapped creatures; look out for any that may need a helping hand to get back in the water.

As trees shed leaves, inevitably some will fall into ponds, so skim the water’s surface to remove debris, then cover it with a net. Try and prevent leaves from sinking to the bottom as decomposing leaves increase water nutrient levels, which helps algae and pond weed bloom.

Algae growth can be slowed by floating a bale of barley straw in the water. As the straw rots it creates a chemical reaction, which naturally stunts algae growth.

Over time decaying material accumulates into a thick sediment, so try running a fine mesh net along the bottom to remove some of this material. Water with low oxygen levels will cause a build-up of other gases potentially toxic to fish, so if your pond smells of rotting eggs, act now!

**1** Algae and blanket weed quickly accumulates. Gently rake the weed and lift it out of the water.

**2** Leave waste material on the side of the pond so wildlife caught in the weed can jump back into the water.

**3** Thin out congested plants. It helps light penetrate the water and ensures the surface isn't clogged.

**4** Remember to put back any nets. This prevents herons from eating fish and leaves falling in the water.

#### Bring fresh colour from flowers and foliage to see you through the colder months

Now’s the time to refresh your autumn pots with a burst of colour, texture and interesting foliage. You could go for a complete remodel or just edit existing pots and plant a few new seasonal additions.

After months of flowering, compost may need refreshing; so replace the old stuff with fresh peat-free compost. If you’re sprucing up an old pot, just remove the first 5cm or so of soil and top dress with fresh compost. Keep your eyes peeled for signs of vine weevil damage.

Make sure the conditions and soil type suits all the plants. Think about light and shade, and use ericaceous compost for acid-loving plants.

Autumn and winter pots are prone to waterlogging, so raise pots up onto ‘feet’ to help rainwater drain away rather than pool at the base. Combine structural evergreen shrubs, ferns and trailing foliage with showy blooms and contrasting colours. Or how about an edible pot of purple sage, rosemary and oregano or, for something completely different, try colourful ornamental cabbages.

Extend your pot life even further by planting layers of spring bulbs to see you through to next year

Try slow-growing, evergreen flowering shrubs such as skimmias ‘Rubella’ or ‘Globe White Dwarf’ (pictured) or _Sarcococca hookeriana._

English ivy is a useful filler. Its evergreen trailing stems look good spilling over pot edges. Try a variegated type.

Plant pittosporum, _Nandina domestica_ and heuchera or grasses such as carex ‘Bronze’ or ‘Everest’ or _Festuca glauca_ (pictured).

Plant hardy _Cyclamen hederifolium_ (pictured), winter pansies and chrysanths for a riot of orange, deep purple, yellow and rich red.

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**Stefan says:** You’ve taken down a small tree and now have an empty plot of roughly 12.5 sq m and wonder if this is the right time of year to rewild the area and what preparations might be needed. A wildlife area isn’t easy to maintain if it is not to turn from being an attractive and interesting feature to being a wilderness where unwanted and aggressive grasses and invasive weeds take over. And the smaller the area, the more likely this is to happen.

That said, I would give you every encouragement, although you have made things slightly harder for yourself by saying the plot is in partial shade and on a clay soil. Provided it really is more or less empty and weed free, however, I see no reason why you shouldn’t start this autumn, and I suggest you sow an appropriate native plant seed mixture.

You’ll need to prepare the soil for sowing, especially as you say it is clay. Choose a time when the ground is relatively moist and find some means of agitating and breaking up the surface. This could be with a fork, although that will take some time, or by using one of the simple hand-operated soil cultivators.

Then sow the seed. I’ve always bought my seeds from Landlife Wildflowers (:a[wildflower.co.uk]{href='https://wildflower.co.uk' }) and find them excellent. They offer a mixture for heavy clay soils and for your 12.5 sq m, you’ll need around 100g. I always mix the seed with an equal amount of sawdust, which you can obtain from pet suppliers. The larger volume and the colour make it easier to spread and to see. Then either rake the surface and/or scatter a cheap basic soil-less compost to prevent the seeds from drying out. Then keep the area well watered.

### **Four wildflowers to sow in clay soils**

This has thistle-like blooms from June to September and is a magnet to all kinds of butterflies.

Often seen in meadows and pastures, this is a well-behaved buttercup, not spreading like others.

Cowslips are an early source of nectar for insects, including bees, beetles and butterflies.

A favourite among butterflies, honey bees and bumblebees, blooming from May to August.

## With summer now behind us, it’s time to put plants to bed for the cold season

At this time of year, with the days shortening, nights getting cooler and a distinct autumnal scent in the air, we instinctively know without even looking at our plants that things are changing.

We’ll soon see summer-growing plants going dormant for the winter, but before they do, there are many that put on a pretty autumn display of colourful foliage, such as _Crassula perforata,_ or string of buttons, which is tinged with pink.

This is now the time to prepare for winter and there is still plenty to occupy us before we look at seed catalogues in front of the fire. With dwindling light levels, it’s an ideal opportunity to clean the glass of greenhouses to ensure as much of the sun’s rays as possible can reach our plants. Wash off all greenhouse shading or remove shade nets.

It’s also an ideal time to clean all the nooks and crannies, as this is where pests and diseases lurk waiting to infect our plants later. Remove as much detritus as possible (dead leaves, flowers or stems) that will otherwise be a host for mould or bugs later in the year. Have a good look for pests such as mealybugs so you can treat them before plants start to contract and the intruders become more difficult to spot.

Now’s also the time to check heaters and make sure you’re ready for some cold nights. Insulating a greenhouse with bubble wrap really can save a lot of money. Most cacti and many succulents can survive in a frost-free environment provided they are dry at the roots. What we need to avoid is a cold, damp environment where fungus spores can thrive; on a sunny winter day, allowing fresh air to blow through the greenhouse is very beneficial.

Our cacti and summer-growing plants should now be allowed to dry for a winter rest. If you grow your plants in a centrally heated house, then an occasional water over winter is something that may help your plants from shrinking too much, but otherwise dry is the safest option. Nothing encourages flowers next year better than a cool, dry period for our plants.

If you grow a few plants outside (some are hardy enough) make sure there is plenty of drainage and, where necessary, protect them from rain and excessive wet soil.

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