Saturday, November 05, 2011
TREES: Employ an expert if you intend to get garden trees reduced in their canopies.
Some may need total removal following recent storms. Tree surgery is a more or less unregulated profession and anyone with a ladder, a rope and a saw, can call himself an arborist. For a list of professional tree contractors and consultants, look up the Golden Pages. Be aware of preservation orders and conservation area regulations. Check with local planning before undertaking any work apart from light pruning. If a tree is dead, dying or dangerous it can be felled without permission, but it is advisable to check beforehand with your local council. Not all trees can be pruned at this time of year. Much depends on species, variety, and age. Seek advice first is.
LAWNS: During mild and dry weather, improve soil aeration and drainage on the lawn by removing plugs of soil with a hollow tine aerator. These two-pronged hand-held aerators are not cheap to buy (€80) but at least they’re fairly easy to source. Three-pronged and four-pronged models do not seem to work as well. With your feet, push the tool into the ground at roughly six-inch intervals, and as you progress, plugs of soil will be removed and ejected. When finished, you sweep up or collect the plugs for use in the compost heap. Refill the holes by brushing in a mixture of two-to-one of coarse sand and potting compost. Small areas done with regularity soon complete even the largest lawn.
BERRIES: Since August I have had undamaged bunches of big scarlet fruit on a malus which, though growing in a pot, has been quite untroubled by drought and neglect. It was good last year (I wrote about it as the Christmas berry tree) but this year I have had even better results and already the birds are eyeing it up in anticipation. ! Maybe they are on the run and wary of aggressive wildlife, which we are now encouraged to cherish in our gardens. Developed from Malus x robusta ‘Red Sentinel’, this small tree produces masses of white flowers in late spring followed by yellow-red fruits which later change colour to a glossy deep red. I recommend it to readers as being ideal for a striking autumn and early winter feature in containers or the open ground. Look for it under the name Christmas berry tree.
FREESIAS: If you are one of those people who use the cold greenhouse in winter as nothing more than a store for the bicycle and a place to air the washing, would you not consider filling a few pots with freesias for blooming during January and February? They’re absolutely no bother to bring into the flowering stage. These old-fashioned bulbs are back on trend and while you won’t get them in all garden outlets, be assured that Mr Middleton of Mary Street, Dublin, and Hosford’s of Enniskeane can supply you with all you need. These make excellent cut flowers, come in a variety of vibrant colours and they’re deliciously scented. Stood in a glass vase and displayed in the home they’ll cheer when all is dark and grey whilst clearing the house of musty, winter odours.
LEAVES: A bone of contention for those who do not garden, the arrival of autumn leaves into their garden can be distressing. However, you can do nothing about leaves which blow into your property (from any direction) infuriating as it may be. The same applies to shrub and tree roots. You cannot lop the roots of your neighbour’s plants even if your secret wish is that it will kill whatever the roots belong to. To argue that roots are trespassing is a non-runner for the roots of trees and bushes have their own rights, and while you can do whatever you like with your plot of ground you can’t infringe on the rights of living roots (or wildlife and insects). Instead of cursing the leaves why not look at how magnificently the trees grow, and learn to love and enjoy the extra amenity of your area.
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