Give Your Plants a Head Start

Autumn is one of the best times for planting fruit, roses, shrubs and trees even though containers offer convenience and the possibility of year-round gardening.  At this time of year the soil conditions tend to be right for establishing new plants and the slowed growth rates of most plants result in them being in optimum condition for being moved.  It's also a great time for starting a new project, like establishing a hedge. The glories of the summer garden are past now and you can move about without disturbing beautiful displays.

Once you have been bitten by the bug for producing edible fruit you won't want to give it up. You'll always want something growing in the garden, even if it is just strawberry plants in a pot. Normally fruit species are divided into two major groups: top fruit (everything that grows on trees, including apples, pears, plums, cherries and peaches) and soft fruit (including berries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries). Nearly all the fruit trees that are grown in our climate are members of the rose family.

Soft fruit - Berries
There are many different species and varieties of small fruit and new hybrids are added almost every year. Most of these fail to establish themselves, but some - like the loganberry - have carved out a niche for themselves in the fruit garden over years. Hybrids are often crosses between blackberries and raspberries. Well-known examples are the currants: redcurrants, whitecurrants and blackcurrants.

At Hayes we are stocking a Jostaberry. This is a thornless blackcurrant/gooseberry cross. It is a vigorous upright bush producing heavy crops of large shiny black berries - double the size of normal blackcurrants. The flavour is good and the berries are rich in vitamin C. Why not give it a go and let us know if it is as good as it sounds.

Raspberries
This is a native species (Rubus fruticosus) which has been cultivated for many centuries. The plants are usually trained against wires, to which the shoots are tied. New fruit-bearing branches appear out of the ground every year. The old branches need to be cut back annually. The plants can ‘run' a long way from the roots. Summer raspberries flower in May-June, autumn raspberries in July. Good varieties are the early ‘Glen Clova' (harvest in July-August), the intermediate ‘Jochems Roem' (August-September) and the slightly later ‘Schönemann' (end of August-September). There are also varieties with different fruit colours, such as the yellow ‘Fall Gold' on which the large fruit is ready for harvesting in August. A good autumn variety is ‘Heritage' (harvest in September-October), but the autumn varieties ‘Zeva Herbsternte' and ‘Baron de Wavre' are also widely cultivated.

New Introductions
At Hayes this autumn we have two new introductions 'Glen Doll' and 'Polka'. 'Glen Doll' is a mid-season raspberry with outstanding quality of fruit and flavour. Its firm fruits are also well suited to freezing - so none go to waste! 'Polka' is a superb autumn fruiting variety. Earliest of all the primo cane varieties. It has large, medium red berries with an outstanding shelf life. All our raspberries come in an economical 5 cane bag.

When you get your canes home try to plant them where raspberries have not been cropped before and avoid wet or boggy areas. Remove perennial weeds, fork in some organic matter and work the soil to a fine tilth. Soak the roots prior to planting then plant them to the depth of the old soil mark at 18" spacing in rows 6ft apart, then cut back to 23cm (9"). Water during dry periods and fertilise with Growmore. Mulch with compost or rotted manure. As the canes start to grow erect a post and wire training system and tie them in. As time goes on remove completely any canes which have fruited and train in the new cane. Also remove any suckers which appear from the stool.

Our new season roses are coming in now. We are still stocking 'Munstead Wood' and 'Lady of Shalott' which were exclusive to us and only one other garden centre in the north this year. New to us, we are also stocking a David Austin rose which was new for 2009 - 'Tam O'Shanter'. It has deep cerise pink, rosette-shaped blooms with a light, fruity fragrance. It is a very healthy, repeat flowering, large shrub (approx. 1.5m/5ft high) with long, graceful growth. The flowers open along their length rather like a species rose, however it is more like an English Rose of the Old Rose group.

Always plant roses with the graft (eye) - the thickened part which on grafted roses forms the joint between the grafted branches and the roots - below the soil. That spot is, of course, very sensitive to frost. Ungrafted wild roses do not have grafting point like this. Climbing roses should be planted slightly away from a wall. The soil close to a wall is often not particularly good: full of rubble and with few nutrients. A brick wall also sucks a lot of moisture out of the soil.

Make sure you water your rose thoroughly prior to planting. Choose a new spot where roses have not previously grown and dig a hole as deep as a spade's blade and twice the width of the roots. Rake the hole with a fork and mix in some chicken manure pellets. Mix compost, leafmould or well-rotted manure in with the soil you have dug out of the hole. Ease the rose out of its container, taking care not to disturb the roots. Place in the hole and backfill with the soil mixture, ensuring the bud union (graft) lies 2.5cm below the soil's surface. Heel in the plant, water well and apply a thick mulch of well-rotted manure to the surface.

Hedges offer all the benefits of hard boundaries, with a few more thrown in for good measure. Not only do they demarcate your property and provide privacy, choose the right plants and they will become prickly, intruder-proof barriers that might even result in a reduced home insurance premium!  Added to this, an established hedge is a better windbreak than a solid fence as it filters and slows wind. Hedges also intercept dust, litter and the microscopic particulates in the air that you can't see, but which can cause a range of respiratory illnesses.

There is a terrific range of hedging plants to choose from. For evergreens, conifers are often the first thought most people have. The species and cultivars that are suitable for hedging generally fast growing quickly and therefore quickly produce a dense barrier. They also tend to be fairly inexpensive. Talk to staff at our garden centre about the choice of species, the required growing conditions and the growing habit of particular species. It's all down to what you need for your particular situation. Keep in mind that fast-growing species can become bare at the bottom sooner if the lighting conditions are not favourable and if they are maintained insufficiently or incorrectly. Another consideration might be that in the winter an evergreen hedge can prevent the winter sun from shining into the house. In that situation, it would be better to choose a deciduous hedge.

It's easy and fun to establish a new hedge and the rewards come quickly. At Hayes, we stock evergreens in pots all year and from November we get our new seasons stock of bare rooted deciduous ‘hedging packs' where you'll make a saving per plant from the multiple purchase. Buy sufficient to put a plant every 40-60cm (depending on species/variety and size when planting) along the line of the hedge.  Mark out the desired line of the hedge and cultivate the soil, improving it with organic matter as you do so. Water-in new plants as necessary (and protect from rabbits). Pop in and ask for our hedging leaflet, what are you waiting for?

Wonderful and inspirational - every garden should have one. Trees lend height to the garden, provide shade, create a focal point or more interesting view and above all add life to the garden.

Trees bring more than direct benefits to your garden. They add to the surrounding area and are an investment for future generations. So don't rush into choosing a tree. Decide in advance what you are looking for in a tree, and get good advice; this will ensure you get the right tree for the right place.  Take into account how tall and how wide the tree may spread. The soil type in your garden is also important, plus you can choose from having edible or ornamental fruits and whether an upward, round or drooping, more bower-like crown is what you are after. There are not many trees which remain under three metres: for that you would be better opting for an attractive multi-stemmed shrub. There are plenty of those to choose from.

One tree that we have growing in the nursery and also stock for sale is Liquidambar styraciflua, the sweetgum. It has glossy green palmate leaves which turn a fiery red in autumn - it is looking wonderful at the moment. It is hardy and to get the best display grow it in full sun, however it will tolerate partial shade. Grow it in neutral to acid soil that is moist but well-drained.

Another tree which we are stocking for the first time this year is Sorbus commixta called 'Olympic flame'. This is a lovely mountain ash, with unusually large, shiny green foliage up to 30cm long and 20cm wide with fifteen or seventeen leaflets; the leaves turn an impressively brilliant orange-red in the autumn. Earlier, there are large creamy heads of flowers followed by pear-shaped orange-red berries. The tree grows to about 10m in height and 4-5m wide, is good in exposed situations and its large leaves and large fruits really make it stand out.

The best time to plant a container grown tree is from mid-August to the end of May, unless the ground is frozen. Water your tree well before planting and if it feels lightbefore you plant it, water it again. Dig a hole 2-3 times the diameter of the pot and to the same depth. Make sure the bottom of the hole is broken up into a fine tilth. Mix in a good handful of organic fertiliser, such as chicken pellets, to the soil that has been removed. If the soil is heavy or very sandy, also add half a bucket of compost.

When winter planting a deciduous tree it is advisable to knock as much of the compost away from the rootball as possible and use this to mix with the soil before back filling. Root prune any circulating roots. If the tree is in leaf then the majority of the root ball should remain intact.

There are a number of different staking methods, depending on the type of tree, tree size and method of planting. All stakes should penetrate the soil to at least 60cm (2ft). If the stake moves in the ground, it will not anchor the plant. Stakes should be inserted on the side of the prevailing wind so that the tree is blown away from the stake to avoid damaging the trunk.

Single stake This is the standard method of staking bare-root trees, with the stake inserted before planting. It should be one-third of the height of the tree. This anchors the roots and allows the stem to sway and thicken. With flexible stemmed trees, use a longer stake, cutting it lower in the second year. There should be a gap of 2.5-3cm (1-1.25in) between the stem and the stake.

Double stake This is the standard method of staking container-grown and rootballed trees. Two or three stakes can be inserted opposite each other or equally spaced around the tree outside the root ball and secured to the trunk by long ties or a timber crossbar and tie. This method is also useful on windy sites.

Angled stake An angled stake is used for trees planted on slopes. Drive a stake in before or after planting at a 45 degree angle, leaning into the prevailing wind. Secure with a flexible tree tie.

Now plant your tree and back fill with the prepared soil, firming with your feet as you add it. Tie in your tree to your stake making sure there is room for expansion - check once a year to see whether the tie needs to be loosened. After three years the stake can generally be removed.

Water well and apply a mulch of bark, compost or well-rotted manure. Keep watered for the next few weeks and in times of drought until the tree is established. Ensure that grass is not allowed to compete with the tree for moisture.

I hope this has whetted your appetite for making a difference in your garden this autumn. You will have to wait to reap the benefits - but that is what gardening is all about! Happy planting.