Readers’ gardens
A small garden in Merseyside packed with a variety of different features.
Warm, humid weather, then gales, has made gardening interesting, to say the least!
We picked the last remaining ‘James Grieve’ apples and they are now stored in the garage, and the results of our foraging forays are now bubbling away with blackberry and elderberry wine on the go. One of the joys of winter is a glass of ‘captured summer sunshine’ as the weather does its worst.
The seed-raised cosmos in the back garden have defied the elements, with excellent flowering on strong stems late in the year. In the greenhouse, lettuce continues to crop well, and the remnants of the old, diseased grapevine have now been removed, with a new ‘rod’ from the stump outside trained in. Hopefully, I’ve managed to cut away the problem.
The greenhouse looks almost empty now, but summer bulbs and the tender plants from outside will soon fill it up.
‘Germidour’ garlic has been planted in a container in a 50/50 mix of sieved home-made compost and shop-bought compost, and has already made good growth. Also, it’s amazing how easily tomato seeds germinate in compost from the compost bin compared with all the care and attention given to them in spring!
The lawn’s now due a little TLC; red thread has made another appearance, so a feed and an application of fungicide is the order of the day.
I’m convinced that last year’s poinsettia potted up and grown on during the summer is now showing a little redness despite not being given any special daylight treatment. I appear to be the only person who can see this, so perhaps it’s wishful thinking on my part. We shall soon see!