It has been a wet day, too wet to ‘garden’ in the Fortnight Garden but not too wet to participate in Six on Saturday and seek advice from The Propagator and fellow gardeners!
Friday was clear and dry enough to cut the hedge and pick up leaves, but that didn’t leave enough time for anything else. The lavender bushes were hacked back a little earlier.
1.The Cornus Mas is growing and growing – it was meant to be quite small. Well, better than not growing, and the buds are starting to swell already, ready to flower in January/February.
2.The Victoria Plum Tree has been ‘trimmed’. I don’t know enough about pruning to say more, but I have noticed that it fruits on old wood, so all I did was keep the height down to manageable.
3.The leaves from the plum tree and the quince tree are now in the compost bin, but again I admit ignorance. I pile all the leaves and cuttings into the bin and hope for the best. I hope The Propagator or one of the Six on Saturday gardeners will enlighten me!
4.The lavender bushes have been cut back, brutally, but it seems to work despite everything I have read about not cutting into old wood! So fingers crossed for next year.
5.The Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ are still thriving under the cover of the Libertia – obviously just the right spot. I think I need to plant more in this area in the spring.
6.And finally, I am loving the dogwoods’ bright colours!
And that is my Six on Saturday from the Fortnight Garden!
Think it is a good idea to cut back the lavender – at least it worked for me – but my plant had been looking very sorry for itself.
I cut back the lavender because it was spreading too much and the garden is small. It looks sad now, but last year it grew rapidly, and strongly in the spring and I am hoping for the same next year!
Wow – the colour of that dogwood is stunning, Cutting back the lavender works for me too – it grows so fast and they can get huge if you don’t.
Thank you for that – so why is the received wisdom that cutting into the old wood is dangerous still put about? And yes, the reds are good. I have at least three neighbours who want spring cuttings!
Piling everything into the compost bin will work but takes a long time, especially if you’ve put woody prunings in there as well as leaves and soft stuff. It could take a year or more to break down. Hot composting speeds the process up but is much more of a hassle, The Propagator wrote a lot about it last year.
I don’t grow lavender but I imagine that the older it gets the less well it will respond to hard pruning, ie the more it needs it the less it likes it.
I prune my Victoria plum in April, they’re prone to disease and winter pruning is not recommended. https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=339
Hmm, I haven’t put woody cuttings in the compost and will read up about hot composting – a lot of hassle doesn’t sound like me. You may be right about the lavender but at least results will be quick – it will either grow in the spring, or not. And as for the plum tree I will remember the advice for next season. Thank you!
Love the dogwood colour. Fantastic. Your Jack Frost brunnera is looking very healthy. They seem to like being tucked under something as yours is, & then look all the better for it. Good luck w/the plum tree. Is there anything sweeter than a Victoria plum? Probably, but they’re really good.
The Victoria plum is really good! I enjoyed them fresh and have 9 lbs in the freezer waiting to become jam or something else. I also supplied at least three neighbours. Shaping rather than pruning seems to have made the difference
You will get perfectly good compost, will just take a while, 6-9 months. If you turn the heap every couple of weeks that will speed things up a little. But if you’re in no rush, there’s no rush!
The chances of me turning a compost heap are absolutely nil! So, I wait! Thank you