WESTERN DAILY PRESS SATURDAY OCTOBER 8 2011 WEST COUNTRY LIFE 19WDP-E01-S318 WEST COUNTRY LIFE SATURDAY OCTOBER 8 2011 WESTERN DAILY PRESS WDP-E01-S3

with ALAN DOWNCleeve Nursery Tips

Outdoors/gardening With Cleeve Nursery’s Alan Down Contact Alan at Cleeve Nursery, near Bristol, on01934 832134. If you would like to ask Alan Down a gardening question, visitwww.cleeve nursery.co.uk and click on the Ask Us A Question tab. Alan can answeronly emailed questions

The recent spell of above averagetemperatures and sunshine may havelulled us into a false sense of securitybut with many tender plants still outin the garden it is essential thataction is taken to safeguard tenderperennials now.

Now there are raft of differingviews on the best way to successfullyoverwinter bedding plants like Pelar-goniums and Fuchsias. To this groupI would add marguerites (Argyr-anthemum) and some of the tenderCape Daisies (Osteospermum). Inwell protected warmer gardens, suchas in cities and in coastal areas, thesemay be left out. Nevertheless, all willbe better off for being wrapped up.

But for the majority of us garden-ers it is necessary to both lift andprotect these plants in frost freeplaces or to root cuttings and overwinter these smaller plants on well litwindowsills, conservatories orgreenhouses. Since all of these plantsproduce roots quite easily, there isstill time (just) to get cuttingsro o t e d .

A bumper harvest of tree fruitsagain this year has made me thinkabout the best way an amateurgardener can preserve and success-fully store this bounty. Commercially,of course, most of this fruit would bestored in atmosphere controlled coldstorage but that facility is distinctlylacking in the Down household!

We have to make do, like most withthe garage. Now I have found that thebest method for us is to pick the fruitwhen it readily comes off the tree inyour cupped hand (avoids those an-noying finger mark bruises you sooften see in shop bought fruits). If youhave to tug the fruit, or it comes offwith a piece of the branch too, then

wait a few days. If you store fruit thatis already fully ripe that doesn’t workeither so timing is very important.

We find that filling thin clear poly-thene bags with absolutely blemishfree apples and pears and leaving thetop open works well. However, whatwe do is to fold the open top of the bagover and invert the whole bag so thatthe top is effectively closed. It is alsoimportant to put a few biro sizedholes in the base of the bag so thatgasses can escape and the fruit canb re at h .

Well you be thinking that it allsounds a bit of a bother to go to suchlengths but when I reveal that wewere still taking perfectly edibleapples from our cold stone garage inthe first week of May this year youmight be persuaded to rethink. OkayI will admit they were not of showbench quality but these were un-sprayed, tasty, sweet British apples!

Alan’s Plant of the Week

AMELANCHIER

Probably better known by its Latinname Amelanchier than either of thecommon names Snowy Mespilus orJune Berry, this is an exceptionallygood hardy large shrub or smallt re e.

With three seasons of garden in-terest and a track record of hardinessand easy of growing that leaves manyplants in its’ wake, I can thoroughlyrecommend making room for anA m e l a n ch i e r !

In spring each branch is covered inmasses of dainty white (sometimespink tinted) blossoms that looks like a

Look after yourfruit and it willlook after you

with FIONASANDERSON

Summer made an appearance asbookends this year, one in April, andthe other last week; apparently it wasone of the worst on record. It beganwith serious drought warnings, thenextreme rainfall, and a strong gale ortwo, before the scorching finale.

A reminder, if we need one, thatwhere nature leads, we must follow,even though we are pretty good atconvincing ourselves that we are inc o n t ro l .

It often seems to me that gardenersare wiser about these ‘swings andro u n d ab o u t s ’ than people who aren’tso in touch with the seasons. We arequite good contingency plannersh e re.

So, which contingency plans will beuseful in October? If I can, I shall begetting in all the onions, garlic andbroad beans as soon as possible,rather than waiting until later in theyear. That way, if the weather doestake a sharp turn, at least they will bein the soil and making the most of thelast warmth while it’s still there.

I shall also aim to be covering upany empty soil with manure, and ourhome grown compost.

A thin spreading of either of thesewill keep the soil below in fine fettle,whatever winter brings, and improveits structure as the worms get towo rk .

It doesn’t have to be a big thickblanket; just a thin mulch over the topof your earth will benefit whateveryou grow, vegetable, fruit or flower, aswell as all the micro-organismswithin the soil itself. I find that ap-proaching this job in a thoughtful‘little and often’ way is so much moremanageable than trying to barrow inheavy loads of steaming muck, and Imuch prefer using our own compost,because I know exactly what’s goneinto it.

Using up the compost now is alsovery timely, as that will make somespace in the bins and boxes. Empty-ing the compost bins at this stage ofthe year, before they take in their lastlot of fruit prunings and spent foliage,means that there is less material toturn in order to get to the good stuff atthe bottom.

Actually, I’ve found that our heapshave been very quick to cook downthis summer, possibly because somuch of the material has been goingin wet. I’m hoping that I can emptyour ‘daleks’ sufficiently this Autumn,to leave one free for leaves. I’ve exper-imented with temporary chicken-wire leaf bins previously, but thesetake so long for the leaves to compostdown, that my better plan is to getthem all into a dalek this year. Then,if we have a mild winter, they can bewell on their way to making the bestcompost for next year.

And if the weather is too cold forthat, well, at least I know the soil iswell protected.

Nature may have control of theweather, but on this plot at least, I canhope to be in charge of the swings andthe roundabouts.

PlotLines

Alan’s Plant of the Week: Amelanchier

fresh snow covering. This at a timewhen every other garden is full ofpink cherries makes a refreshingchange. In early summer tiny redfruits ripen but are quickly hooveredup by the birds and, to them oneassumes, they must be very tasty.

As days shorten in September, eachleaf starts to take on a rich autumnhue and gradually becomes a blaze ofc o l o u r.

Now you might think that youwould have to have special soil condi-tions to get this great display. But nota bit of it, any reasonable soil will doand Amelanchier thrives where per-haps the best known shrub forautumn colour Japanese maplewo n’t, so this is a three season per-former for almost every garden!

Alan’s gardening tipsfor the weekend■ Plant winter flowering pansies butlook for those that are already inflower or have buds showing. Thosewithout buds now may not flowerwell until spring. Don’t forget to takeprecautions against slug and snailattack. Watch for greenfly in winter.■ Plant wallflowers out to provide agreat display and fantastic scent inspring. These traditional beddingplants still provide a superb show andlook fantastic when

under planted with tall tulips.■ Sow Avola or Feltham First Pea forthe earliest crops of garden peas.These round seeded varieties arehardy and reliable. Expect somelosses when sowing at this time ofyear so sow extra seed to compensate.If your soil is a wet and sticky clay itmay pay to sow the seed into a lengthof rainwater gutter filled with goodpotting compost. If you line thebottom with newspaper I find that theyoung plants and compost slideneatly out into a shallow trench in thevegetable plot and the paper soon rotsaw ay.■ Pick maincrop varieties of applesand pears. Choose only the unblem-ished sound fruits to store, the othersshould be discarded or eaten straightaway. Apples can be stored quite wellin ordinary clear freezer bags. Fillthem up and then make a few holes inthe sides with a sharp point (take carenot to jab the fruit). Fold the top overand invert the bag to let it sit upsidedown (covering the opening) in a coolbuilding away from direct light.Check the fruit regularly and removeany that are ripe or rotten. This wayfruit can be stored easily well intowinter but they must be varieties thatkeep well. If in doubt ask us. Pears arebetter stored individually andwatched carefully for the rapid ripen-ing process they have.■ Lift and pot Pelargoniums andtender varieties of Fuchsias beforethe first frost gets them. Trim themback by about half and pot them into agood quality potting compost. Placein a greenhouse with frost protectionor put them onto a well lit windowsill.Spray them with a fungicide or, betterstill, treat them with Compost Tea tokeep them free of diseases (details ofCompost Tea available online atwww.clee v enursery.co.uk).■ Clean shade material off green-houses now. Wash the glass to get themaximum light into your plants. Re-place any broken glass and block upany draught holes.■ Get on with bulb planting now, thesooner they are in the ground, thesooner they will start rooting and thebetter they will perform next year.

Ask AlanQUESTIONI am looking for a climbing rose toplant this autumn against a shelteredwest facing wall. I would like it tohave a long flowering season or arepeat flowering plant, disease resist-ant in a shade of red or peach. Afriend has suggested ‘Golden Shower’but I am not sure its yellow bloomswould be appropriate against a Cots-wold stone extension. Could youplease advise any alternative rose

and whether you would be able tosupply me with same?From Mrs Sheppard, Gloucestershire

ANSWERI would particularly recommend Eng-lish roses for this.

Peach: Shropshire Lad, Leander,Crown Princess Margareta or Teas-ing Georgia,

Red: Falstaff or Tess of theD‘U r b e r v i l l e s.

Alternatively you could grow or-

dinary climbing roses such as Com-passion (peach) or Etoille deHollande and Danse du Feu (bothre d ) .

We stock most of these but areawaiting the new crop that will arrivewith us from our specialist growersin late October (weather permitting).Sales of climbing roses have beenexceptional this year!

An example of CrownPrincess Margareta roses

Alan enjoying his autumn soft fruit harvest at home PICTURE: FELICITY DOWN

Top to bottom: Pelargoniums ready to winterise; mixed wallflowers and some happilyharvested fruit PICTURE: ALAN DOWN

Fuchsias will need attention at this time ofthe year

ForGoodAdvice&Excellent HomeGrown Plants

visit your local nursery!

Cleeve Nursery138 Main Road, Cleeve, BS49 4PW

01934 832134www.cleevenursery.co.uk