Flowering bamboo - dead or alive?

If your bamboo has flowered and looks dead then welcome to this mystical world, the curse of the flowering bamboo. 

This mainly affects the Phyllostachys species, when one flowers, they all flower. Next door, up the road, the next town, across London. Mass hysteria normally follows as to what on earth has happened to all this bamboo, a disease, an visit from outer space, a bamboo hating gorilla team! 

And the reasons why? even when studying for one of my horticulture courses years ago our lecturer insisted, in the style of QI "nobody knows" why it happens. Well as a level headed person it can only be down to the weather that year or the previous year. There is'nt some sort of genetic code imprinted in the living tissue of a bamboo or some scent carried by the wind to tell all bamboos to die in the same season, it stands to reason it has to do with the weather pattern. 

When you look at bamboo you think tough plant, loves the sun, drought tolerant, plant it anywhere. I can't blame people for thinking that either, bamboo just has that look of being a tough plant! Quite the opposite really especially with Phyllostachys, they need the right soil, just the right amount of light each day, some sun, preferably not mid-day, and plenty of water, not a weekly soak but in the heat of summer, everyday. 

So what of my flowering bamboo, is it dead?

No, I do not beleive it is. Sometime ago I cut a  Phyllostachys nigra (black bamboo) back to the ground and never got round to digging up the root ball, a year later it had fully recovered and was sending up plenty of new canes. I have one in a pot now in my own back garden that flowered last year and with the mild spell in November it started to showsome promising interesting leaf growth, small leaves, not many but it's not dead!

My advice is if it is a small garden and the bamboo serves as a focal point plant then of course dig it up and replace it but in a larger garden give it a chance and some tlc, after all Phyllostachys nigra (black bamboo) is the most expensive of bamboos. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Incorrect hedge planting

About 2 years ago this Beech hedge was planted (not by us), at the time of planting these  bare-root hedging plants should of had approx 12" taken off the height of the plant to encourage sideways branching. As you can see 2 years later they  not met with their adjacent hedging plant and probably never will if these are not reduced in height. Most if not all hedging plants are trees in their own right and want to grow as such, it is only by our manipulation they become a hedge. 

 

Lawn Care for Autumn

This year has been a real tough one for garden lawns.  Especially in the south where most suffered with the lack of rain leaving a dry, brown lawn resembling that of saw dust. However, as usual, with a bit of rain most are back to something resembling that of a green lawn with fresh, green shoots of grass.

Autumn lawn care differs this year, do not dress your lawn with "Autumn Fertilisers" These will probably do more damage than good. The new grass shoots and young roots are too tender to cope with this type of food, the net result will be the possibility of scorching and the new roots not being able to cope. Generally, lawns are stressed and need some gentle TLC to get them ready for winter and promote plenty of new root growth for next year.

This years maintenance should be as follows.

1.) Mow the lawn, not too short, raise the height of the blades from your normal summer cutting height.

2.) Lightly scarify the lawn with a tine rake to remove any build up of debris and thatch.

3.) Aerate the lawn with a garden fork, about every 10-12" should be suffice.

4.) Spread lawn top dressing over the entire lawn, about Cm deep and brush this into the lawn, filling the holes made by the forking.

A good, quality lawn top dressing will contain small amounts of nutrients, all that is needed to prepare the lawn for the winter and up to the following spring. 

Rolawn supply an excellent top dressing available in bulk bags. Click here to buy Rolawn Lawn Top Dressing

Climbing roses - quick note

As many of you may be thinking of buying new bare root roses as the season now approaches where they become available from suppliers, a quick tip. NEVER prune bare-root climbing roses within the first two years of planting. 

Start dead heading your roses

Roses are in full flower now and you need to keep up with the dead heading with repeat flowering roses. If you let a rose bud set seed after flowering then the plant produces a chemical to say 'hey, my job's done here, no need for any more flowers'

Watering - now's the time

I've been doing some planting the last few days and am surprised how dry the soil is and with more hot weather to come I advise now is a good time to get out there and start watering. The best time of day is the morning as any surplus water is then evaporated and will not cause unsightly problems like mildew on your plants foliage.  

Hedges

If your planning on planting a hedge next year then now is the time you need to be organising it. The cheapest way of buying hedging is from now until March. This is because it is the only time of year you can buy 'bare root' plants, simply they are just pulled from open ground in the nursery, bundled together and sent by courier to you. This can only be done until March as the plants are 'dormant' however the roots will need to be kept moist so as soon as you receive them you will need to 'heel' them in if not quite ready to plant.

You can buy hedging plants up to around 7 ft high so if there's a boundary fence that needs replacing why not think about a hedge instead. I know what I would rather look at! It acts as a perfect foil for your plants, is an excellent home for insects and nesting birds and doesn't even need painting every year.

If you would like further help on selecting and sourcing  the right hedge for your garden and  would like to contract our services to plant your new hedge then please get in touch.

October is the month for lawn care

To keep your lawn looking great and prepare it for next year you will want to give it a good top dressing. A good top dressing you can make yourself, half multi purpose compost and half sharp sand. Mix it in a trug or wheel barrow and spread over the entire lawn. I've got into more detail on a previous post about what to do if your lawn suffers from moss.

Raspberry pruning this month

July is the time to prune out your early fruited stems back to ground level and tie in the new fresh shoots. Only do this on the early fruited varieties.

Apple and pear pruning

Prune apple and pear espaliers, fans and cordons this month. Cut whippy stems back to four or 5 buds.