HARDWOOD CUTTINGS

A few years ago I was involved in a project concentrating on horticultural therapy. The day centre was based in Newport County Mayo and at the time it was run from an old convent. The building had an environmental health warning on it as it was riddled with rising damp, woodworm and dry rot. Funding was being sought for a replacement building and in the mean time Nolene, the manager of the centre, was doing her best to keep people healthy by making sure that the trainees were outside as much as possible. The convent suffered from a lack of finances but the garden was a treasure to behold. The grounds covered about two acres and it was enough to keep the 20 or so people that worked there in food for the best part of the year as Nolene and the gang grew mountains of fresh fruit and vegetables. There were four very large polythene tunnels in the garden and in summer they were full to the brim with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and a variety of summer vegetables. In winter though the tunnels manly lay empty barring a few over wintering houseplants and cleaned plant pots.

One winter I decided to make good use of one of the tunnels by planting hardwood cuttings of evergreen and deciduous plants. I hadn’t really had much experience growing cuttings from shrubs on a commercial level and decided to follow the textbook planting distances of about 30cm apart. This is fine when planting half a dozen but I wanted to start growing them in a big way to pot them up in summer and sell them on the Sunday market that was held in the village every week. I took cuttings of everything I could find including hebes, escallonia, hydrangeas, olearias and any other shrub that would grow well on the coast. By the time I had finished, the tunnel was full to the brim with cuttings that I had planted directly into the ground, all at a precise 30cm apart. They grew there happily all winter. Unfortunately for me the tunnel was needed in the spring so I was forced to pull them all up and replant them. Because I was limited for space I crammed them in to fish boxes for handiness. To give you some idea how well I packed them in I can say that I got about 300 Escallonia into one large fish box. Here the cuttings stayed quite happily until the summer where they were lifted out, separated and repotted into two litre pots. All of them survived and were no worse for wear for their cramped ordeal.

Hardwood cuttings, I can say from experience really want to survive and can withstand an awful lot of neglect. They can tolerate anything except drought (and being planted in the ground upside down!)

Taking hardwood cuttings

When the leaves have fallen from deciduous shrubs, this will be the time to take hardwood cuttings. Easy plants to try include willow (Salix), buddleia and dogwood (Cornus). Follow these easy steps to increase your shrub displays (or beg a cutting from friends and neighbours). A word of caution though about willow, I planted some sticks as markers in my garden one year, they rooted and grew to about six feet!

Cut pencil thick lengths (15-20cm) of woody, new growth. Make the cut above a bud at the top and below a bud at the bottom of the cutting

Choose a sheltered spot in the garden, out of direct sunlight but not in heavy shade.

Push the cuttings into a slit made in the soil with a spade. Fill in with soil, leaving a couple of buds exposed.

If you have heavy soil, line the slit with sand for drainage.

Label

Water in dry weather

Leave the cuttings until the following autumn when they will have rooted and be ready to move either into pots or to their planting position.

If you have fish boxes or even large plant pots, than fill them with soil and push the cuttings into those.

Do not let them dry out

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JOBS TO DO IN AUTUMN 2

Margaret McGinley presents Theresa Crossan with the Best Garden award

Margaret McGinley presenting prizes to Suzi McElroy (left) and Hugh and Rosallen Henderson (right

I was down at the Swilly Gardening club’s monthly meeting this week. I have been taking pictures of interesting plants and gardens all year so Colm Grant and I could run a slide show and talk a bit about all things horticultural. I think it went pretty well. We weren’t heckled and unlike before when I spoke about garden design for three hours solid, no one appeared to fall asleep. There was a presentation on the night too for the winners of the Best Garden Competition. Also on the night was a prize for the best pumpkin. It has been a great year for growing peas and beans, as they love water. Not so good for pumpkins I am afraid. So much so that we couldn’t get anyone to own up to growing the runner up pumpkin to claim a prize! (It was beautifully formed but rather on the small side!)

Here are some of the jobs to do this month

JOBS TO DO IN AUTUMN

Plant spring bulbs. Daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, irises, fritillaries and small bulbs in rock gardens can all be planted now.

Sow lawn seed. It’s not too late if it isn’t too wet.

Dahlias. The dahlias are flowering a lot longer into the season than previous years. They are usually blackened by the frosts by now but most of them are still producing flowers. Deadhead them until they are killed off then dig them up and cut the stems down to about 10 cm (4 inches) Stand them upside down to drain.

Shredding. At this time of year the garden can produce a real excess of waste. Shredding the larger materials in the garden and mulching with it under the shrubs if by far the best thing that you can do with your autumn clearout materials. The smaller bits can go straight into the compost bin.

Evergreen Pots. Empty the summer bedding pots into the compost and get a new selection of plants to give colour through the winter. Use one or two small evergreen plants such as euonymus or small conifers for the centre and fill around them with seasonal bedding like winter flowering pansies.

Photo: Theresa Crossan receives first prize from Margaret McGinley at the Swilly gardening club this week.







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GROWING YOUR OWN BRUSSEL SPROUTS

If I were to be asked what my favourite vegetable was then I would probably say the brussel sprout. Scoff if you will but I never seem to tire of the flavour and texture. This time of year sees the vegetable at its finest as they are usually home grown. I did try growing my own for a few years but I never did manage to get a good crop. They are a member of the cabbage family, which also includes cauliflower, swedes, turnips and broccoli. Sprouts are subject to the same diseases but they seem to be greedier than any of the others. I had healthy leaves but I could never manage to get the brussel to grow tightly. They resembled mini open cabbages and although the taste was the same I did miss the crunchiness of the shop bought ones. The other disadvantage of the openness was that small slugs used the spaces for their hiding places, which was a very unwelcome addition to the dinner - it took ages to prepare them!

GROWING YOUR OWN SPROUTS
The best varieties to grow would be the F1 hybrids as these do promise firmer, rounder sprouts. The main crop, or mid season type seem to be more reliable as well. The plant likes rich soil so a light, deep, well-drained soil is a must. Preferably the site should be south facing too. Make the soil have a pH of around 6.5, if it is lower than this then garden lime should be added. If you can get your hands on some bulky organic manure at this time of the year then work that into the ground now so it will be ready for spring. Fertiliser can be added just before planting that way it won’t get washed away before hand. The seeds can be planted in February under cover and planted outdoors in May. Try to keep the perennial weeds away from the plants; a mulch cover from good quality garden compost around the plants would be very beneficial. Loads of pests will try to get your prized crop. Slugs, caterpillars and greenfly will all have a go. Watch out for pigeons as well. They can totally strip a row of plants in a matter of minutes.

Horticultural.