Autumn is a beautiful time of the year and probably our favourite season in the garden. Autumn for me is the time to take stock of my garden. How many plants did well or didn’t? What needs more support next year? Maybe change the angle on the path a little bit to help get the wheelbarrow down to the compost bin more easily? It’s all about tidying the garden, and preparing it for the winter. Brighten up your garden with some winter flowering shrubs, perennials and bedding.
Skimmia rubella
Skimmias are now available and looking fab. Skimmias are compact shrubs with evergreen foliage. In the autumn they form panicles of coloured buds. The buds are often mistaken for the flowers, but the marron or lime green buds will burst open in spring revealing large clusters of tiny white fragrant flowers. Skimmia are very hardy and slow growing. Most varieties will reach a maximum of 1.5m. They will grow in most aspects of the garden but ideally not south facing as they might scorch in the hot summer sun. They do prefer an acidic soil, so we do recommend lining the planting hole with ericaceous compost and giving them and ericaceous feed during the growing season. Generally, they are low maintenance and very reliable. A good addition to most gardens.
Skimmia jap ‘Rubella’ in flower
Japanese Maples (Acers)
Acers will soon be dropping their leaves but not before putting on a wonderful riot of foliage colour. Now is a great time to choose an acer as you will be able to see which varieties give you the best colour. They will also provide colour in the spring. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/acer/japanese-maples/growing-guide
Acers
Cornus
Dogwood plants will soon drop their leaves to reveal brightly coloured stems. They grow pretty much anywhere and require very little help to get going. Snowdrops look quite stunning when grown around the base of Cornus so consider planting snowdrop bulbs at the same time.
Cornus alba ‘sibirica’
Bedding plants
Most of the summer bedding plants are looking a little worse for wear. Consider replanting perennial plants from your containers into the garden and replace with something that will give a little cheer on dull days. Now is the time to be planting Pansies, Violas, Cyclamen, Heathers, and small evergreen perennials to add contrast.
Wallflowers
Bare root wall flowers are now in stock but will not be available for very long. Call us to make sure we have not sold out. Once you have your bareroot wallflowers, they will need planting immediately. Do bear in mind that they will look rather pathetic most of the winter but will grow rapidly come march. They burst into flower in the spring adding a much-needed injection of colour and scent. They will also provide a great food source to bee and other pollinators coming out of hibernation.
