The Hampstead Gardener: Tues Tip: Christmas Tree Removal Tips

With Christmas behind us, we'll soon be helping clients get rid of their Christmas trees and taking down garden lights and other decorations. The best way to avoid a mess removing your tree from your house is to place a large tarp under the tree before you start removing decorations. After all the ornaments and tree stand has been removed, pull the tarp up around the tree and carry it outside. If some needles escape and scatter inside, it's better to sweep them up as needles can clog vacuum cleaners.

The Hampstead Gardener: Care for hardy herbaceous plants

Following on from some of the work Autumn work, Dec/Jan is a good time to continue to tidy flower beds and borders, digging between plants, turning the soil and cutting back invasive roots of trees and hedges. At The Hampstead Gardener, we're also identifying worn turf and grass near beds and borders, digging over areas to be seeded in the spring and noting places where we need to spread fresh gravel for future visits. Where branches and trees have grown over and are shading beds too much, they can be cut back and pruned, giving the flower beds more light now that the sun is starting to get higher in the sky again.

The Hampstead Gardener : Spade/Shovel Care and Maintenance

Servicing and storing your garden tools is an important part of ensuring they stay in good condition and last for years to come. Regular cleaning and oiling will prevent rust, keep them sharper and help the handles stay solid and strong. Wet and heavy soil left on a spade will lead to rust. When the blade is rusty and not smooth, more moisture and soil sticks to the blade, making digging even more difficult. Ideally you should clean your tools after each use, but even at The Hampstead Gardner we sometimes don't get around to doing this all the time. This makes a comprehensive tool maintenance in December even more important.

To clean a spade: 

1. Safety first! Wear gloves, goggles and dust mask when working on tools.
2. Remove any dry soil with a stiff wire brush
3. Give your blade and handle a good scrubbing with water to remove any remaining mud and grit. Dry with old towels and leave them to dry overnight to avoid trapping in any moisture.
4. Sand wood handle to remove any splinters or chips in the finish.
5. Use a metal file to lightly sharpen the edge of the blade. The key is to give it a nice clean edge.  Beware not to grind away too much of the metal.
6. Lubricate the blade with vegetable oil rubbing the oil into the blade in a circular motion and whipping off any excess oil. The oil will prevent rust
7. Add several coats of Danish oil to wooden handles, making sure to let previous coats fully dry before applying next coat. If your handle is metal, brush off as much rust as possible and paint 2 coats of hammered enamel paint.
8. Hang up your tools rather than standing them on their edges.

The Hampstead Gardener tip: Turning over a new leaf

December is the time of year when there's little sunshine and rain and gales are common. Cold spells start to creep in which makes garden work difficult in December. But it's important to care for your garden this month to make sure it looks its best over the course of 2016.

Therefore every effort should be made to clean and tidy up plots and prepare the ground for the weather to come. At The Hampstead Gardner, we're breaking out the pitchforks, limbering up our backs and turning over the soil at our clients' houses. Winter digging alleviates soil compaction and allows the frost to break up the soil, improving soil structure. Make sure your garden soil has the best chance of storing up the most nutrients by turning over your soil in the coming weeks.

Photo credit: Shutterstock

The Hampstead Gardener: Key jobs for December

Top 10 jobs for December:

1. Dig up heavy, compact ground
2. Add organic material to your fruit and veg patches
3. Prune and cut back acres, birch and vines. Vines can be pruned back to 2 buds of last year's growth.
4. Take root cuttings of perennials like phlox and oriental poppies
5. Put a rubber ball in ponds and fountains to ensure an air hole for fish
6. wrap water pipes or turn off water supply entirely if possible to prevent pipe freezing
7. Service and maintain your equipment
8. Repair fences, pergolas and trellises, replacing any loose posts that can blow over in stiff winter winds
9. Use a lawn rake to rake up any leaves or grass cuttings that have accumulated on the lawn. Be careful to keep off the grass when it's wet.
10. Clear and clean gutters

The Hampstead Gardener Tips: Till death do us part

Because of the late onset of Autumn weather, we've been able to continue planting hardy plants in what we call 'fill-in' spaces -- spaces where plants haven't made it through the season for one reason or another.

No matter how good the weather, or how good a gardner, sometimes some plants just don't make it. Sometimes they've been in a while and have died naturally. Other times, it's something else. Fluke positioning or micro-climate issues in a garden can mean that some plants thrive and others nearby don't. We see this in almost every garden to some extent. A plant in more sun gets larger in time while the same plant two or three down the line struggles in part shade.

At The Hampstead Gardner we try to work with the natural environment as much as possible to ensure our client's garden look great and we aren't having to replace plants too often. At the end of the day, a dry loving plant isn't going to survive in a wet spot just as a sun loving plant will balk if it gets too much shade.

No matter how wonderful a design drawing looks on paper, if the plants don't like their position when they're planted, it's best to find an alternative spot for them while you have the chance and try a plant that is better suited to that particular spot.

Hampstead Gardener Tips: Care for Hardy Herbaceous Plants

You can continue to deadhead around your garden as perennial growth has slowed but is still continuing uncharacteristically late into the season. Where you continue to see a few new growth buds, you can deadhead (removing the dead flowers only) and where stems of blooms have totally died, you can take the tops off in 6-12in lengths. Where perennials have grown large, stake them (if you haven't already) so they don't fall over. As leaves start to fall, pick up leaves lying on plants, but leave a small layer of leaves on the ground to protect tender plants and leave a haven for wildlife.

The Hampstead Gardener Tip: December Lawn Care: Increase the height setting on your mower

You may think that November and December are dead months for lawn care, but you'd be wrong! With the mild autumn and winter we've been having in London, you may still need to do a few light mows this month. At The Hampstead Gardner, if it's not too wet, we're mowing our lawns on a slightly higher setting than we do in the spring and summer. Don't be afraid to mow the grass if it's getting long, but make sure you do it on a dry day and pick up all the clippings. Never let clippings lie in the winter. While moss is usually at it's worse, leave it alone for now; it's better to deal with it later.

We're also inspecting our clients' lawns looking for earthworms, leather jackets and of course leaf cover. With the mild weather we've been having many trees in the gardens we look after are still in the process of losing their leaves, so we're still getting the rakes and leaf blowers out, adding fallen leaves to client composts heaps.


Photo credit: Shutterstock

Key Jobs: November

Top 10 things to do in the garden in November

Though the horror of Halloween is now behind us, November is far from a dead month for gardening. Though most plants should be dead or dying off by now, our mild weather has meant that Autumn gardens are still very much alive and kicking (at least, at the moment).

You never know exactly when old man winter will show his head, however, so at The Hampstead Gardner we're focusing on the following 10 things this November:

1. Clear fallen leaves: We leave some leaf cover on the ground for wildlife, but we're making sure we pick up all diseased leaves for burning (adding them to the compost heap only spreads disease next year).
2. Lawn Mow: Lawns are still growing, if a little bit more slowly now, so we're mowing less frequently.
3. Plant tulips
4. Deadhead flowering perennials
5. Store/cover lawn chairs and tables
6. Clean or throw out old pots
7. Dig over empty areas of soil
8. Plant new climbers
9. Divide overgrown perennials
10. Planting containers for winter colour

Photo: Shutterstock

North London Jet Spray Service

After and before: Jet spraying can bring your garden furniture back to life.

Garden Tidy Service from The Hampstead Gardner

Is your garden looking a little unloved? Need a garden tidy? Contact us today!

Garden Maintenance: Bamboo

Put a heavy mulch of rich compost around the base of Bamboo. It will help produce longer, thicker canes.

Garden Maintenance: Jet spraying can bring new life to furniture

Does your garden need cleaning and disinfecting? Let us help bring your furniture and garden back to life.

Jet washing garden furniture

Before and after: What a difference a jet wash can make

Wildlife and Gardening

Mr Robin is giving us a hand today

London Garden Clear and Tidy

Birds love it when we turn the soil during our garden clear and cleans!

So do Clients!

North London Lawn Care: Move perennials away from turf

Lawn tip: If any perennials have spread too close to the lawn edge: Lift, divide and replant where needed.

Lawn Care: Cut little and often

Grass stays healthier and greener the less grass is removed each time it is cut. Small cuts more frequently.

Garden Maintenance: Make sure to water new plants well

After spending hard-earned money on plants, don't let them go short of water for at least 12 months

Garden Maintenance: Lay mulch over wet or moist soil

When mulching never mulch on top of dry soil. Water dry soil first. Mulch can keep water out as well as in.

Irrigation Installation: Highly recommended for most planted gardens

Automatic watering systems can save money in long run. Expensive plants & turf often die from lack of water. It can be a false economy to scrimp on irrigation system after spending a lot of money on a garden design or replanting plan. Plants do better with a little water, often. With all the good will in the world, it's very difficult to make the time, regularly to water a nice garden. 

Lawn Care: Tips for patching small area of turf

Patch small areas of turf by taking a bit from a less visable area. Cheaper than buying new, and colour will match.

North London Lawn Care Tip: Prepare soil well before seeding

To prepare soil for grass seed: fork surface, breaking down lumps, and rake to produce a fine crumbly surface

Garden Maintenance: Get rid of paving weeds with salt

Get rid of weeds in paving cheaply and effectively with standard table salt. Safe with pets and children!

Garden Maintenance: Clematis

This is the ideal time to tie in shoots of climbers like clematis. as they will start growing fast soon.

Planting Design: Primrose and Polyanthus

Q: What's the difference between a primrose and polyanthus? 
A: Polyanthus forms a rosette on a single stem.

Hampstead Heath Garden Maintenance

Tulips and euphorbia are blooming in a client's Hampstead garden. What signs of Spring are showing in your garden?

Garden Maintenance: Primulas

Split primulas after flowering. They will flower better next time...so you get lots of new flowers for free!

Highgate Garden Prune and Clean

Before and after garden tidy. Need help? Contact us 

Garden Maintenance: Lungworts (Pulmonaria)

Early-flowering ground cover like lungworts (Pulmonaria) can be freshened up by pruning spent flower stems. If the leaves get a bit of mold on them, you can cut them back and they will also regrow. 

London Lawn Care Tip

The ground is warming up so you can sow grass seed in next few weeks. Make sure to prepare the soil well first!

Garden maintenance: Erythronium dens-canis (Dog-tooth violets)

Clumps of Erythronium dens-canis (dog-tooth violets) can be lifted and divided, replanting the long roots singly. Dog-tooth violets do well in borders, but are also happy in thin rough grass where daffs would thrive.

Garden Maintenance: Lavender Care

Lavender don’t like being hard pruned, or pruned into old wood so it’s wise to prune now using shears. To trim lavender: go over whole plant, trimming off 3-5cm (1-2inches) of growth using shears for speed.

 

Garden Maintenance: Ferns

As new fronds begin to unroll, now is a good time to transplant ferns. To transplant ferns, cut dead fronds, soak well, and plant in new compost and bonemeal mix.

Planting Design: Nice plant combinations

Twisted Hazel with Erysimum and Daffs make a nice combination:

London Garden Maintenance Tip: Organic Matter improves soil

Organic matter will help soil retain moisture and improve soil quality. Spread some on plant beds now before spring growth starts

Plant advice: North London

Garden tip: cut herbaceous perennials back to let new growth thrive.

Garden Maintenance: Winter Heather

If you haven’t already, now is the time to trim winter flowering heather with shears.

Belsize Park Garden Maintenance: Laying new turf

Has winter played havoc with your lawn? Maybe it's time to lay new turf:

Before and After:

Watch out for Hedgehogs

Please look out for hedgehogs and other wildlife when using strimmers and other garden machinery. Leave a small patch of leaves and organic material for them to hide and make a home.

North London Garden Design Ideas: Pleached Trees

A row (or two) of pleached trees make a great privacy screen in an urban garden.

Wisteria Pruning North London

Time to prune Wisteria: Cut back last season's long growth to 2-3 buds at base.

The best gardens mulch!

Mulch, Mulch, Mulch! Arguably the best investment you can make in garden

Remember to feed when you prune

Plant tip: Plants that require hard pruning also need generous feeding. Apply slow release fertiliser to hedges, clematis, and hydrangeas.

The Hampstead Gardner Maintenance

Now is the time to Jet spray paths and patios or scrub with soapy water to clear off algae and winter slime and disinfect.