A couple of sunny days & he's back with his blooming gardening tips. !!

[Gardenman]

Hello folks. I've been busy over winter getting gardens ready for spring for those of you who are kind enough to read my tips. It got a bit cold & wet there for a while, but as I always say, there's no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes!! 😲 . It's looking like spring has come a bit early again this year, so beware a few mor frosts to come, but that's no excuse not to get out & feel the sun on your face when it does shine 🌞🌸😊

We've got a lot to get through, so no falling asleep & pay attention at the back!!

1. There is still time to prune apples & pear trees, ensuring air flows through the centre of the tree & any crossed branches are cut out. Use a clean saw or secuteurs & use a pruning paint to seal the branches to keep out disease.

Also still time to prune back evergreen hedges before the birds start nesting, but check anyway.

Also prune any winter flowering shrubs if they haive finished flowering.

WISTERIA. I get asked about them a lot. There are 2 pruning times for wisteria & now is one of them. For flowers in summer, cut back the whips ( long straggly stems) to 3 buds from the main branch. With older plants cut back worn out growths or branches especially over windows, gutters & those extending too far out. If you have had to prune hard, avoid feeding until later in the year. If not give a good potassium feed now for hopefully 2 flowerings this summer.

2. LAWNS. You can start mowing now, but only the tops of the grass & only if dry. Brush off any worm casts & aerate with a fork or if you're posh an aerator every 6 inches & 6inches down. Do not feed yet. This is a great time to lay a new lawn, as it gives it time to establish before spring when you should be able to walk on it. Make sure the Earth is well rotovated to get air into it & new topsoil is added. Give it a feed in a few weeks when I shall bore you with how to cut it to keep it strong.

3.when your snowdrops have finished flowering divide the clumps in half & re plant. You can do the same to your herbaceous plants too. FREE PLANTS 😋

Cut back deciduous grasses for new growth to come through & feed. Plant up summer flowering bulbs now available in nurseries & shops. Choose a lovely matching colour palette. Also sow hardy annuals in pots ready to plant out in May

Cut back old leaves on Hellebores ( Christmas roses) to give more length to flowering time.

Cut back Cornus ( Dog wood) & willow to keep them a reasonable size

And to save you a summer of weeding, dig out as many weeds as you can see now. You will thank me later. Cards, gifts proposals of marriage all welcome 😊

4. V important. Still a good time to plant hedges. Be imaginative, there are many to choose from. Box ( yawn!) Photinia lovely red leaves from new growth. Yew, ( very slow growing) Beech, Pittosporum ( one of my favourites) variegated green & white leaves, something different & many more, all in stock at the nurseries now, but not for long & the best time of year for growth.

Really good time for buying & planting fruit & flowering trees. Especially my favourites Japanese flowering cherries. Choose according to your garden size & match with dwarf or full size trees accordingly. If tight for space, you can always buy espalier ( for growing flat along the walls)or patio trees. Check if you want fruit or you prefer the flowering variety. I can get most varieties if you want me to. More about that later 🌳🌳🌳

5. Still with me? Well done. You can still prune your Roses, but only lightly as spring is a bit early as I said. Make sure you give them a good feed & nip off any black spot leaves putting them in the bin as it is a fungus 😱

6. Nearly there!! Lastly put out bird boxes on the shady side of trees & structures so they don't get too hot if & when we get a really hot one & keep them away from those pesky cats, or I'll bring Barney the cat chasing Jack Russell of mine!!! He loves cats, but couldn't eat a whole one 😂

Put out a good quality feed for them while they are building their nests & producing their young.

That's it if you're still awake, and to say as always, if you don't have the time please use one of the experienced & recommended gardeners on the forum & I do mean experienced. I've had two customers already telling me of plants being destroyed, cut down, pruned at wrong times & poor workmanship & knowledge. I don't wish to put anyone out of work, but go & learn your trade first with a good gardening company. It is starting to get busy & if you want your garden ready for summer, get in touch with us gardeners now, not when it's warm & sunny & we are up to our necks in decks, lawns & water features!

Just to let you know, I have opened a little shop in Church Rd Crystal Palace. I couldn't afford one in Dulwich😮 I have a new garden designer as well as my self & we are doing free garden designs for the month of March. I also supply & take orders for plants, shrubs & trees. And for those of you who work too hard ( too many of you) I am organising summer retreats out in beautiful Kefalonia Greece for families, singles & ladies that yoga long weekends. They will shortly be on thebigcalm.com website, or come into the shop & have a chat or come & have a meditation class or yoga next door.

Happy Gardening

Nigel. Exterior Design Gardens & The Big Calm holistic holiday

07961888253

Sunderland Court

SE22 8 jx

[Gardenman]

It seems Doris did quite a bit of damage to our fences last week! Was it something I said???

So, a few tips about fences:

The posts must be at least 18-24 inches in the ground. The cement around the post should be sloping away from the post to avoid the post getting too wet & rotting early.

Treated timber should always be used & regular maintenance will help your fence last longer.

Your fence timber is normally guaranteed for 15 years with care.

Don't use met posts, they often do not go in straight when hitting a stone or concrete & blow over far too easily!

Always try to have gravel boards fitted, this will again stop the fence rotting at the base.

There are multiple choices for design the most popular being feather edge & waney lap. Also now becoming popular & more contemporary are slatted horizontal fences in soft or more expensive hard wood for a lovely finish.

Make sure your tradesman knows his stuff. Last year, I had to go & re-do two fences that fell down shortly after being erected.

[Gardenman]

Forgot to say. Ideal time to get tree surgeons in if tree removal or surgery required, as the trees are not in leaf, making it much easier to do & easier as they are not too busy this time of year. I used to do this, but I had to wait til autumn to come down!! 😁😁😁

[stringvest]

Hello. Had bad experience of ADT monitored alarm at neighbours in that it kept going off and was never fixed. They kept phoning my old parents on their list of key holders to go and investigate, or me "lone woman at 3am". What an 88 year old or I could do finding a burglar I hate to think. Had to get neighbours to take us off the list.

My parents had Impulse alarm in both their business premises and at home. Some of my friends have impulse alarms. We have always got on very well with the company. They do a yearly maintenance check, but this is handy, replacing the battery etc, and complies with the insurance having a "maintained system". What you spend on your alarm can save on your insurance.

Thanks

[Gardenman]

Errmm!! Thanks string vest.

[southeastelectric]

Each post breaks the rules of this forum .

I'm not going to report it as even the admin don't care and I'm quoting his message "stop reporting" yes it's a multiple advertising which is in breach with the forum rules so why one post gets removed for having done it twice and other gets 5 chances that nobody can see ?

[EDAus]

I use Nigel's tips all the time - they are a good reminder of what needs to be done when, it is easy to get busy and forget.

We have also used Nigel services before to do work on our garden when we were busy and were very happy with the results/work.

Nigel also gathered together items from around East Dulwich for the refugees in Greece and then drove them all the way to Greece in his own time.