My Gardening Notes: October 2015

Friday, October 30, 2015

Busy fall days acting like a homesteader

October has been a busy month. I'm into canning and a lot of other homestead lifestyle activities even though I still live on the small trailer lot in the middle of town.

But notice the mesh bag hanging on the deck. That's sheep's wool hanging out to dry. It was tedious work cleaning it, and there are many more bags worth yet to do, but when I am done washing and carding it, I will have enough bats to make a warm quilt. This is a project I started because I am still hoping to get that piece of land and then we are planning on having sheep. The wool was given to me and I wanted to get started learning to use it.

My cottage garden around the trailer has to fend for itself a lot these days, but it seems to be doing well in spite of my being so sidetracked.

We have already had a few light frosts, and even though the roses have been hit, it doesn't prevent them from putting on a show.

While some of the less hardy annuals, like impatiens, have succumbed to the cold, there are plenty of perennials and a few brave annuals like alyssum and lobelia to carry on until the snow covers them.

In my front walk garden, the birds planted a sunflower seed, and it adds a needed bit of color to that side of the house.

So while the garden continues on with it's mums, and munk's hood, and roses,

I'll just keep playing acting being a homesteader, and I'll put up some more jars of tomatoes to help see me through the winter.

Easy Craft - Autumn Votive Jar

As I promised in my last post, here are the easy little handmade votive cups I promised to show you. These were a hit at my last gathering of friends. I made two different kinds; one using the leftover corn kernels from my Indian Corn wreath and one using the corn husks from that same project.

For this craft you will need the following supplies

*Various sizes of glass canning jars – I found mine at Wal-Mart but Kroger and Dollar General Market have them too.

*Indian Corn Kernels (see video in this post)

*Corn Husks from Indian corn (corn shucks for you southern folks)

*Battery powered votives – real ones could defiantly be a fire hazard

*Paper Raffia I got mine from Nashvillewraps.com

*Hot glue for the corn shuck ones

Corn Kernel Votive Jar

Choose the jar you like and fill it two-thirds full of corn kernels. You could use cabdy corn for this too. For both projects I tore one left over corn husk into narrow strips and glued a strip around my battery votives - looks so cute!. Tie a little raffia knot around the jar top and you are done! I used Orange and Kraft colored Raffia but any colors you like will be pretty.

Corn Husk Votive Jars

For this project, I curled the pretty corn husks around the inside of my glass canning jars. I stuffed more husks inside this curled layer to make a place for my battery powered votive to rest. As above, use your Raffia to tie a knot or bow arond the jar. These would be cute on your Thanksgiving table too.

I’d love to see pictures of your votives. Send them to Kathy Green and I will post them and give you credit in a future blog post.

Carol’s Garden of the Month (November)

Carols garden guide for the Oxford College of Garden Design

I first visited Denmans the garden of the venerated John Brookes many years ago on a hot sunny day in July and was so very excited to be there after eagerly devouring every book he had written and attempting to create my own garden around his design principles.

It did not disappoint although sadly on reflection mine was an insult to design and the great man himself!!!!

I have been there several times since as I am now privileged to know John, most recently just last week and it was such a different experience seeing it in late autumn.

At this time of year it is easy to see that It is clearly designed around exactly the same philosophy as is now taught at the Oxford College of Garden Design!

The strong use of ground pattern creates an underlying framework that holds the design together creating a strong and impelling route of flow – similar to my own garden! At last I have a garden that has got it right although I personally take little credit for that!

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Denmans is admittedly 30+ years old and by John’s own admission some of the planting needs updating and plans are afoot to start again in the walled garden area which is exciting!

Nevertheless there is still plenty to enjoy in the plant department with loads of texture and colour as the photos prove! However right now it is a fantastic garden to visit to see the bare bones of a great design but if you are a “plant-a-holic” wait until June or go twice!

The garden is open all year and there is a really nice little garden centre attached to it that sells everything from a primrose to a £3000 full sized sculpture of a vestal virgin (well virgin’s don’t come cheap!)

Also there is a great restaurant with loads of quirky stuff in it (no not the food which is lovely) .

Go and pay homage!!!

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Saving Seeds

I grew many heirloom plants this year and I wanted to save the seeds of the ones I liked best. Several friends gave me heirloom veggies that I wanted to grow in my garden next year so I had to save those seeds for sure.

I have nosy squirrels and feed lots of birds so drying outside is not an option for me. I wanted to save seeds from my tomatoes, peppers and three varieties of Basil. The peppers were easy. A sheet of waxed paper, scrape out seeds of the best mature peppers and they were dry inside on my utility room counter in a day. I used the small enclosure card envelopes that you see above for all my seeds. (I buy mine from Nashville Wraps) Label them with variety and date. I store mine in a drawer in the studio until time to plant. I have sometimes stored seeds in airtight bags in the freezer. This works well if you have more than you need for one year and want to save longer.

Tomatoes are the worst but not hard. I use my tea strainer to rinse these seeds. I rinse and rub them around on the strainer until most of the slimy covering is gone. Then I spread them out on parchment paper to dry. After 24 hours I loosen them from the parchment paper but leave them to completely dry before I store them. I treat squash and pumpkin pretty much the same way.

Basil is easy, wait until the blooms form hard spikes. Cut them off and place in a paper bag to dry completely. Shake out the tiny black seeds and put them in envelopes. The seeds on the plants in this picture are about ready to harvest. My Tai Basil makes little rosettes instead of spikes but when they are dry, I put them in bags to cure like all the rest. Be sure to label your envelopes & drying bags – all basil seeds look alike!

Annual flowers work pretty much the same. Be sure your plants are not hybrid – these will sometimes not germinate or if they do they will revert back to the original wild stock. Marigolds, zinnia, cone flowers, cosmos and angel trumpets are easy to grow from seeds saved.

Why would anyone want to pay $2.00 and up for a tiny amount of seeds when you can save your own for free? Find a friend or two to trade seeds with and everyone is a winner!

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Choosing the right pruners.

Choosing the right pruners. Your hand size and grip strength and the type of pruning you’ll be doing are important factors in choosing a pruner. Pruners can be broken down into two basic categories: anvil and bypass.

Anvil pruners have a fixed flat blade (anvil) and one moving blade that pins the branch in place and then cuts it. It’s much like using a knife on a chopping board. Anvil pruners tend to crush the branch rather that cut it. Anvil pruners are very useful in cutting dead branches.

Bypass pruners cut like a pair of scissors. One sharp blade cuts the branch as it moves by a thicker, unsharpened blade. Using a bypass pruner will result in a cleaner cut and less damage to the branch you’re working on. Hand pruners will cut stems and branches up to 1". For branches that are 1"-2", choose a lopper.

Unlock the pruner and hold it in your hand. It should fit comfortably. Try it out. Ask to cut something with it. The bottom line is pick a pruner that feels comfortable in your hand, that you can use for a long time and one that makes easy cuts.

You’ll be pleased with the results of having spent the time to find just the right pruner for you.

Felco has been making their classic model #2 for decades, but the #6 may be a better fit if you have small hands. Check the chart.

For light trimming and deadheading, consider a pair of Garden Cut Pruning Shears. These shears stay sharp over many cuttings. Bonsai shears offer another choice for trimming and shaping. This one is nice because it has a finger loop to increase accuracy and reduce fatigue. Pruning, trimming and deadheading roses and shrubs is a key part of gardening. Having the right tools makers pruning much easier. Disinfect pruners with a Lysol or Clorox disinfectant wipe or dip your pruners in disinfectant solution to reduce risk of spreading disease among roses or bushes. Once you are doing pruning and disinfecting, spray blades with a silicone lubricant, to keep your pruners in top working shape.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Fall Rose Care Tips

As we head into November, here are some tips for caring for your roses. Keep watering, stop fertilizing and stop deadheading. Deadheading is the act of snipping off the rose bloom as it begins to fade.

We do this so the rose is encouraged to bloom again. As the rose begins to fade and petals fall, the seed pod, called a hip begins to form.

Like any other plant, roses flower in order to reproduce. We want them to bloom again, so we prune the flowers off. When we leave the hips alone, the rose stops flowering. It’s another clue to the plant to slow down and go dormant, which is what we want to happen, this time of year. After our first hard frost, prune the canes down to about 24" to 30".

In late November, after the ground is frozen, apply rose collars around the base of the rose and fill with Soil Pep.

The idea is to keep the ground cold and stable. We can get some warm winter days, warm enough to thaw the soil around the rose. As the temperature cools at night, the ground freezes again. This thaw/freeze cycle can damage the rose to the point it doesn’t come back in the spring.

Mulching will help keep the ground stable and protect the rose. Water your dormant roses every 4-5 weeks during the winter. If you have questions about pruning and mulching roses, stop in and see us. We’ll be glad to answer your questions and show you how to take care of your roses this winter.

New Book by Luciano Giubbilei: Nature and Human Intervention

Nature and Human Intervention is Luciano Giubbilei’s second book. The book details the process behind the 2011 Laurent-Perrier Chelsea Flower Show gold-medal garden,a collaboration between three acclaimed artists-garden designer Luciano Giubbilei, architect Kengo Kuma,and sculptor Peter Randall-Page.

Captured in 250 colour photographs by Steve Wooster and Allan Pollock-Morris and essays by garden historian Kathryn Aalto,the book shows how artists, craftsmen, and suppliers worked together to expose, highlight, and craft beauty from Nature. “We return time and again to the comfortable vocabularies, images, sounds, memories, thoughts and feelings that constitute the boundaries of our experience and expression,”says Luciano Giubbilei.“Yet every now and then, we encounter a breakthrough moment– a rare instant when the daunting constraints of possibility melt away and when we gain the courage to focus through new lenses.

”The book is published as a limited edition of 1000 numbered copies, of which only 500 copies are to be released to the general public. Retailing at £35.00 to purchase a copy please visit www.lucianogiubbilei.com.

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Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Nature and Human Intervention

By garden designer Luciano Giubbilei.

Leading British sculptor Peter Randell-Page and Japanese architect Kengo Kuma contributed to the garden with a sensory bamboo pavilion and three commissioned sculptures.