November continues to be a mild working ( if not muddy) weather month. So why not read on for some practical gardening tips and late autumnal images of my own and Shropshire gardens in my care.

  • Mud ridden tools at the end of a working week
  • How my beanie hat became this muddy still defeats me !

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Work – November 2020

As much as I really like these white daisies, their capacity to advance through a border is speedy to say the least ! They live, grow and spread as a clump very happily in Eleanor’s garden. I wanted to reduce the amount, as I have a few new planting ideas for next year . As you can see from this summer image, they have almost filled the border.

A quick and efficient way to reduce the amount was required.

Rather than dig the whole lot up, divide and replant the new off sets (which is time consuming ) I had a solution, and set about cutting away the outer part of the clump, and dug out the congested centre; which reduced the size of each clump down to about a quarter. This will rejuvenate plant growth and increase flowering capacity for next year, so I must remember to do this every couple of years, otherwise I will be back to square one again !

I particularly like the fact that there is now a handy gap in the centre of each clump. I am seriously considering filling this with Tithonia for next summer. I think a huge block of orange and white white flowers , running through this border will look stunning.

  • White daisy with centre removed.
  • Tithonia
  • I used the same method on some helianthus last year.

Late autumn is a great time to take stock of how your garden looks. If it is a little on the bland side why not consider incorporating perennials and shrubs, which have sturdy architectural stems , and provide a strong visual interest right through the winter ? I really don’t understand why some gardeners chop everything off to ground level after the flowering season – surely it makes sense for gardens to be visually interesting for all the four seasons of the year ?

  • Veronicastrum and Miscanthus
  • Veronicastrum and Aster Lady in Black
  • Iris seed heads against a beech hedge
  • Cotinus against the sky line.

You could also think about adding a tree or two ( in this garden it was abut 15) . About six years ago I planted a long line of silver birch in a customers garden.

Once the leaves have dropped the trunk provides a strong visual winter structure for this garden. If you are prepared to wait, buying trees as very young saplings will save you a fortune. These cost about £2.00 each, which I consider to be money very wisely spent.

Home – November 2020

The majority of my Dahlias. have been lifted from the beds and are now in the greenhouse for winter. I have saved their seed, and it will be interesting to see, what new colours might be produced, when I sow in March.

Ornamental grasses and Dahlias really are my favourite plants. I am planning on filling my garden with them in 2021. The dahlias will be planted amongst the grasses, and will hopefully keep my garden flowering till November. The grasses will then fill my garden with sound and colour all the way through winter. A perfect combination !

Broad beans, winter salad and garlic will be planted out later today. They were sown in modules at the beginning of October, and will fill the gaps left by the dahlias.

I very much hope you enjoy this edition, and that it might make you think about a few ideas for your own garden.

Happy gardening everyone !