News - Page 122

Stock up on spring bulbs to fill your garden with colour just when you need it most, as the chill of winter gives way to the warmth of a new gardening year. Plan your display carefully and you can have colour from December right through till May with bulbs you can buy and plant now.

Among the first to peep above ground are winter aconites and of course snowdrops. Add brilliant blue

Stake taller asters as they're top heavy in full flower and very vulnerable to being knocked over by the heavy rain and gusty winds of autumn. A little extra support at this time of year does wonders to keep your clumps perky and upright.

You can use all kinds of material to stake your plants but try to make them as unobtrusive as possible. Something as simple as whippy offcuts from summer shrub pruning...

Protect ponds with netting before the autumn leaves start to fall, as these are the kiss of death for your pond's ecological balance. As leaves rot into the water they release nutrients and encourage algae, as well as creating nasty sludge.

Start by pulling dead and dying foliage from aquatic and marginal plants so the pond's surface is clear. While you're at it, rake out at least a third of your oxygenating plants as t...

Lift and divide perennials this month to thin out overcrowded clumps and keep your plants youthful and healthy. It's a great time of year to do it, as the plants are starting to slow down for winter so you won't check their growth by splitting them, and there's still warmth and moisture in the soil.

Most clump-forming perennials, like crocosmia, daylilies, epimediums and bergenia, get a little crowded a...

What to do in the garden in September:

This is one of the most rewarding months of the year, with apples and pears fruiting abundantly, brilliantly colourful autumn flowers and the weather often better than what we optimistically call 'summer'! Make the most of it with our jobs this month:

General tasks:

Plant new trees and shrubs as there's still warmth in the ground and moisture in the air, so...

Give wisteria its summer prune to keep it within bounds, prevent winter damage and encourage lots of those sumptuous long perfumed flower racemes next spring.

Your plant will by now be sprouting a jungle of long, whippy shoots in all directions: this not only looks messy,  but all that green growth is diverting the plant's energy into producing lots of extra shoots rather than ripening wood to make fat flower buds for next...