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Sue Kinnear sits in. Gardening advice from 11am with Colin Evans - 0345 900 1041 (local rate).

3 hours

Last on

Sun 26 Oct 2014 11:00

Colin Evans gardening tips

I am often asked to recommend a striking plant plant which will tough out the winter and I frequenty say you can do no better than Yucca Filamentosa. It銆赌can be a bit spitefull with it's sharp leaf ends but boy is it tough. It will survive the worst of the winter frosts and will be get銆赌even tougher as the years go on and the plant reaches a good height. Grown mainly as a focal銆赌plant and for it's sweetly scented creamy white flowers in winter this dramatic plant will grace any border or large container. I think they look fantastic just growing from the lawn, though be carefull don't get spiked when you get close. I love them and if you have enough room, then get one. It may look like the one indoors but it's a diffrent character all together.

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Autumn is here and its important to clear up the leaves as soon as you can. The Thames Valley has a bad reputation for mossy lawns, and leaving debries on the銆赌lawn especially leaves will only encourage moss growth. Put the leaves in plastic bags or on the compost heap and you will have great laef mould to use in the spring. Better銆赌still, put through a shredder銆赌the leaves will make a great mulch straight on the borders but rember to add a little slow release granular fertilizer to keep the nutrient level up in the soil.

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Clear away all old pots and seed trays from the greenhouse because Mice and other rodents will be looking for winter shelter now and will build their nests where they can out of the cold. It's fine to provide a new home for our furry little friends but they repay us by eating stored seeds and plant material.

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Dahlia's should be cut back to about 4 inches from the soil once the frosts have killed off the foliage. If you want to lift them and store in a cool frost free place then that's fine. I prefer to leave them where they銆赌are to preserve the root system and also to cut down the task of lifting and then finding a storage space. What I do is to simply cover them with a good mound of compost or leaf mould and let them take their chance through the winter, The strong ones will survive and the weak ones will not make it. Horticultural natural selection銆赌I guess.

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Happy Gardening

Broadcast

  • Sun 26 Oct 2014 11:00