Eeek! Here we are trying to come across all professional and wise and we plain forgot to mention autumn fruiting raspberry canes in our newsletter this month.
So, the point was: if you have autumn fruiting raspberry canes, prune them down to the ground now to get a good crop later this year.
P.S. Thanks to My Tiny Plot for the reminder!
We’ve checked out a trial copy of a digital plant library called Horticopia here in the office – after all, not everyone here is a plant nerd and us real nerds have better things to do than answer questions and enjoy the sound of our own voices sounding smart all day.* It has all the info that you would expect from a quality plant encyclopedia, loads of pretty printable piccys and it can go everywhere with you on your laptop.
We would like to know if anyone in the landscaping or horticultural world has used the full product and which add ons of extra groups of plants they bought for it.
You can get a trial Horticopia CD for about £6 here: http://www.horticopia.com/
*Well, not many things.
At Ashridge Trees HQ, we have a very advanced system for logging all the queries that come in from our customers. Her name is Frances and we’d be in deep trouble without her, so please be nice to her when you give us a call.
One question that she’s heard a few times is about which of the three famous laurel bushes to use in a particular site. Cherry or Common Laurel, Portugal Laurel and Bay Laurel will all do well in shady spots, although Bay Laurel won’t be happy in very deep shade.
Cherry Laurel has the largest leaves and makes the best roadside hedge for blocking out the light of passing cars and muffling traffic noise. It won’t grow on chalk or by the sea and can struggle in the coldest parts of the North and Scotland.
Portugal Laurel has a ruddy tinge to the new stems and leaves and is the only one that will succeed on chalky ground. It is also the hardiest, so if you live in the far North and Scotland, this is definitely the one to go for.
Bay Laurel is the same plant that provides bay leaves for the kitchen and is the tenderest of the three. It will be fine in the dappled shade of a deciduous tree, or in a spot that misses the sun during winter, but isn’t recommended for a year round shady spot. There is quite a bit of varied opinion about how well it does in exposed sites – it may have a problem further North as the wind gets colder and more drying but down here in Somerset it looks great atop a blustery hill.
If you have any more questions, please drop us a comment!
We are having a nice warm autumn with just a few cold nights. If you are thinking about planting a hawthorn hedge this winter, now is a really good time to strike a blow for the good guys and go after a few weeds. Perennial weeds like bindweed, docks, thistles, dandelions, ground elder and the rest behave just like any other deciduous plant as they head towards winter and dormancy (which is the plant equivalent of hibernation). They build up their food reserves to see them through the winter and to fuel the surge for growth that happens in Spring.
A well planted hawthorn hedge can take care of itself, once it is established and it will shade out almost all weeds. But newly planted hawthorn is a completely different matter – the combination of a weed infestation and a dry spring can decimate Britain’s most durable native hedging plant. So now really is the time to get out your systemic weedkiller (any one containing glyphosate is fine) and, following the instructions, water or spray it on the area where you intend to plant your hedge. We would always recommend using a watering can with a fine rose as you can control exactly where the weedkiller goes. It will be taken by your weeds, from the surface of their leaves, deep into their root systems as sap fall and leaves die. And it will kill them. This is probably the best time of year to go after deep rooted perennial weeds.
Do it in haste or repent at leisure.
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