A few weeks of Indian summer has made a huge difference to a miserable season. It is a good year for apples and plums. I have heard reports of apparently barren plum trees producing bumper crops. Remarkably after a relatively cool, dull, damp summer there has been a fantastic yield of figs and I would strongly recommend anyone with suitable space to include a fig in their garden planting scheme. A well grown fig tree is spectacular and sculptural in its own right and if you are a fan the added bonus of the fruit makes it hard to resist. Brown Turkey is the usual variety grown outdoors. I made fig and ginger jam for the first time this year - I expected something like you would find in the centre of a fig roll - the resulting product was a delicate sweet pink confection!
Spring bulbs are readily available in garden centres and other outlets, with many at very reasonable prices. I have a great fondness for bulbs naturalised in suitable settings, the right bulbs will multiply in situ needing little attention and producing a good display for many years. Daffodils and narcissi are still the most popular but there are many other bulbs which can surprise and delight in the dark days of spring. When buying bulbs do not allow them to become shrivelled and mouldy, plant them as soon as possible.
Some bulbs like Paper White narcissi are only suitable for indoor cultivation - plant now in time for Christmas. Outdoor bulbs need, as a rule of thumb to be planted with twice their own depth of soil above. In my opinion the smaller 'wild type' narcissi look best in a natural setting with the more showy cultivars kept for tubs and borders. Smaller bulbs like Crocus tommasinianus, Scilla siberica, Muscari armeniacum and Fritillaria uva-vulpis can be charming planted in drifts under trees or in thin grass. The purist in me prefers single colour and species planting. I have a series of pots and tubs that I try to plant up with different spring bulbs each year. When they finish flowering they get planted in a suitable spot in the garden.
It is a good mast year, hazelnuts, acorns, rowan berries and other tree seeds are abundant. Growing your own trees from seed can be most satisfying; repeated below are instructions first published last year on growing native trees from seed. Most trees produce large amounts of seed, if you follow the guidelines below you should have success.
Points to remember
Sowing
Seeds may be sown directly where the trees are to grow - this can work well with the light seeds of pioneer species such as Birch and Alder in soils too shallow to dig planting holes for larger saplings - or into seed trays, pots or well prepared open ground. In pots and trays sow seeds in moist peat/sand compost, cover with clear polythene and stand away from direct sunlight. In the garden seeds can be sown about 10cm apart covered with their own depth of soil. Saplings will not be big enough to transplant until autumn, but even a bed 2.5 metres square can produce more than100 trees a year. All seedlings should be transplanted after one season's growth to provide them with more space in which to grow, to prevent deep taproots forming and to encourage a fibrous root growth.
Lough Cutra Kitchen Garden at Gort.
This predominately vegetable garden is a true labour of love. Inspired by the gardens at VILLANDIERS in France, it has come a long way since it's inception four years ago. I must say that Suzy Wynne-Jones, the owner has done a remarkable job, this shows kitchen gardens in an entirely different light with it's colour co-ordinated rows of cabbages, lettuces,and clumps of artichokes to mention but a few.
This area at one time was a horse paddock which accounts for the fecundity of the soil and the productivity of food.
Some of the raised square beds are centered by huge bay trees and any flowers grown in the garden are used as displays for the many weddings that take place at the John Nash designed gothic castle.
Long may it prosper !
