The Garden of Eaden: October 2023

Five Mistakes To Avoid Overwintering Tree Ferns - Dicksonia antarctica

Tree ferns in the spring are often at least a disappointment and at worst a cause for much wailing and gnashing of teeth! Why? Because they either send out a few insipid fronds or fail to put out any at all! So, what has gone wrong and what can you do to ensure the fantastic re-growth of large, healthy fronds? The good news is that English Horticulturist Simon knows the five mistakes to avoid when over-wintering the tree fern - Dicksonia antarctica, which are the biggest causes of underperforming tree ferns.

One of the biggest problems is neglecting to water and fertilise your tree fern when your winter protection is in place but there are more issues aside which are discussed in the above video.

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Tropical Gardens UK: Exotic Garden October Tour

We are now into Autumn, but luckily the autumnal weather has yet to arrive. And despite being October (I know you should never start a sentence with 'And'), the weather has remained warm, sunny and mild! This means that the tropical-effect plants in the garden are still looking reasonably good. So before the first hard frost ruins the entire previous years work it is time for our 'Exotic Garden October Tour'!

The mild autumn weather has been kind to us so the overall look of the garden is very much what it was in September. However there are some noticeable changes such as fewer blooms on the Dahlias and petunias, and smaller leaves and weaker growth on the Ricinus.

Is This The World's Laziest Dahlia!

When it comes to growing Dahlias, the very least you should expect is a summer full of bold, brightly coloured blooms. However, this year one of our Dahlia plants decided to give this summer a pass and stubbornly refuse to flower! This video documents its struggle!

The frustration is to be expected. The plant is in a sunny position, the foliage if healthy and it has been water and fertilized throughout the year! Put simply it has been treated the same if not a little better due to its position to the other Dahlias in the garden but yet there has been no sign of a flower bud until the early autumn!

Five Mistakes to Avoid Growing and Planting Saffron Crocus

Despite the exotic connotations of the Saffron crocus you might be surprised to find out that given favourable conditions you can grow it quite happily here in the UK with little maintenance! However if you are growing Saffron bulbs primarily to obtain the stamens then a little more work is involved to get the best out of them. Even so it is more about keeping them dry during a key part of the years to encourage and initiate the best flowering season. To find out more, and the five mistakes to avoid when growing and planting Saffron crocus, watch the whole video.

Tropical gardens UK: Five Fantastic Fuchsias for the Cold-Hardy, Exotic ...

Go to any garden centre and the range of Fuchsias available is usually the same dull batch of hardy and bedding cultivars that have been sold across the country for decades! However, for the discerning gardener in search of something a little more exotic there is some hope. So in this video English horticulturist offers up his top five Fantastic Fuchsias which are exotic enough to be planted in even the most hardcore of exotic, cold-hardy, tropical-effect gardens.

With the majority of species originating from south and central America, exotic looking species are a plenty, however there are a few which are just hardy enough to survive the milder winters here in the UK. Even more are available if you include some of the wonderful hybrids available!

The Best Evergreen Alternative to Box Plants - Buxus sempervirens

Sadly, the Box plant - Buxus sempervirens, has had its day. Once, it was reliably tough as old boots, and now it can barely last a season without being stripped bare of its foliage! However, all is not lost as there is an amazing alternative and in this video English horticulturist Simon lets you in to this little known gem of a plant.

Five Mistakes to Avoid Growing and Planting Giant Ornamental Onions 'All...

Giant ornamental onions 'Allium giganteum' and their hybrids and cultivars are among my favourite mid-spring flowering plants. However there can be issues with them only producing leaves and no flower heads! So in this video, English horticulturist Simon explains his five mistakes to avoid when it come to planting these wonderful bulbs.

The first thing to avoid is purchasing undersized bulbs which are unfortunately all to commonly available. the reason for this is that they may not be large enough to produce flowers, instead you will get foliage growth and nothing more for at least its first year. Other, simple to avoid issue are covered in the video.

Tropical Gardens UK: How to Create and Grow an Exotic Jungle Garden in O...

For the uninitiated, growing an exotic or tropical-effect garden seems difficult and is associated with a load of technical work. However, the opposite is generally true. Take our garden for example, in a single year we have planted out our juvenile plants and cuttings, and by the following season they have exploded both in size and ornamental colour. So in this video you can witness us take apart the old garden and replant the new one.

A number of the plants were brought in a specimens from the last house - notably the hardy banana, but the majority of plants were either bought as pot grown plants, root sections, tubers and bulbs, or have been propagated by ourselves.

When Do You Prune or Cut Back Your Roses?

Roses are amongst the most popular of all ornamental garden plants, and to some gardeners they can be as precious as children! However when it come to pruning timing is all important in order to get the best out of your plants. So in this video, English horticulturist Simon explains when are the best times of year to cut them back to save any issues in the spring.

Regarding cutting back roses,Victorian gardeners had a saying...

'...The third week, of the third month, to the outward facing bud...' which is explained in this video however there is another time on the year in which you can consider pruning roses!

Five Mistakes to Avoid Growing Agave

Agaves are a fantastic choice for bring that 'Mediterranean' flavour into the garden. However despite its exotic origins of central America some Agave's are surprisingly hardy. So much so that they can be grown outside here in the UK! Albeit in the milder regions. So in this video English horticulturist Simon explains five mistakes to avoid when growing these bad boys in order to get the best display out of them.

We are going to be looking at the most impressive of the hardy Agaves in this video, the fantastic Agave americana! A proven species that is grown with little intervention across the south coast of England.

When Do You Dead Head Hydrangea Flowers?

There is alway a little confusion when it come to dead-heading Hydrangeas and that's because there are a number of cultivars and hybrids which, depending on their hardiness and the country you're growing them in, will require different timings. So in this video English horticulturist Simon goes through one by one the most commonly grow and the dead-heading timings for each one.

The most commonly grown are the Hydrangea macrophylla mopheads and lacecaps, arguably followed by the paniculata and arborescens cultivars. All of which are superb garden plants. However get the head-heading wrong and you can effect the following years display.

Can Urine Be Used As Plant Fertiliser?

Can Urine Be Used As Fertiliser? Well that is a question that is crops up occasionally with a few old gardeners but do it have some validation? Surprisingly there has been some research made on the use of urine as a plant fertiliser and English horticulturist shines a light on what it is good for and how to apply it safely.

The trick is this, urine does have valuable plant nutrients which you can apply as a fertiliser however you will need to dilute it beforehand with water to prevent it from damaging plant roots.