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