Garden Doctor: Solutions to common problems in the winter months

Looking after a healthy garden can be time consuming so it is no wonder that when the garden is less than healthy it is easy to despair! At Alfresia we want to alleviate any sense of despair when it comes to your gardens (and that doesn't just mean making our products easy and reliable). So allow us to share some information about three common garden problems which occur especially frequently in November, December and January.

Grey Mould (left) is a fuzzy grey fungal growth topped with vast quantities of dust-like spores that develops on dead or dying plant parts. It is encouraged by damp conditions and so often thrives at this time of the year. An infected plant may show browning, softening and/or dieback.

To cure Grey Mould cut off or pick off affected areas promptly and ensure better general hygiene: never leave dead bits of plant lying around and if possible keep the atmosphere a bit drier too. Try to avoid overhead watering as the spores are readily spread by rain or water splash as well as on air currents.

Apple Canker is formed when loose areas of bark develop in concentric rings, forming cankers, which can be sunken or swollen. If the canker rings the branch, it causes dieback. In extreme cases whole limbs may be killed. In the summer, tiny raised white fungal pustules develop on the cankered area and in winter tiny red raised fruiting bodies develop. The casual fungus Nectria galligena commonly attacks pears and apples but may also attack other trees such as willows, poplar and sorbus. To get rid of Apple Canker, prune out infected areas completely, cutting back to healthy growth, and bin or burn the prunings.

Coral Spot Fungus are bright orange raised spots on woody stems. They are the fruiting bodies of coral spot fungus. During damp weather the spores of this fungus spread rapidly and can colonise dead or damaged wood. Once coral spot is in a stem on some plants it may show more aggressive tendencies and cause dieback. This is a common problem, seen especially frequently on acers, figs, magnolias and elaeagnus. To cure Coral Spot Fungus you must prune out infected stems as soon as you notice them, cutting right back to completely healthy wood. Bin or burn the prunings. Try to remove dead stems regularly even before the fungus appears.

What to do in your garden in December

What should I do in the garden in December? By now, your space will have taken on a definite winter look. The wind has definitely been keen recently, and soon the frost will be sharp. Thus, now is the time to consider how to protect your garden from the excesses of the weather. It is important to alleviate the wind and protect the plants from frosts. When the soil and weather conditions are good, keep on top of your chores.

In our previous article on this subject, "Garden Maintenance in November", we talked about the importance of composting and shredding old herbaceous material. These are ongoing jobs that still need doing! It is equally important to drain down or lag exterior water pipes, again see the previous article.

Frost can be both good and bad for the gardern: it helps to break down the soil, but severe frost can kill or damage plants. The most dangerous areas are in 'frost hollows', an area of ground where frost collects. These tend to be in valleys or dips, but they can also occur when air is blocked by hedges or walls. When it is practical, leave a gap in said structure so the air can filter through.

Now is also the time to lay new turf in your garden. Preparing it from seed is cheaper, but laying from existing turf is far quicker and means you don't run the risk of having birds or pets disturbing it before it has chance to establish. It will only take a few months for new turfs to let their roots down into the soil and from then on they can be in use. To lay the turf, once you have prepared the ground, use string stretched between pegs to mark the boundaries of the area to be turfed. Lay out the turves against a straight edge and butt the second row tight up against the first. Use additional compost to eliminate any irregularities in the turves or to fill any depressions you missed when you prepared the soil. When you have laid all the turves, mix a lawn top dressing and sprinkle it over the surface. use a rake or besom to work the top dressing into the joins between the turves.

As far as planting and sowing goes, now is a good time to put sweet pea seeds down for example.

Alfresia is an online supplier of garden furniture.

Designing a Japanese Garden

The beauty of Japanese gardens is clear and it is equally clear why someone should want to design a Japanese garden for their home. However, if done incorrectly, 'Japanese' gardens can be easily ruined. Here we present some useful advice.

It should be obvious to even the casual eye that Japanese garderns are vastly different from Western ones. Traditionally, our gardens have been celebrated for their formal beauty; their careful geometrjes celebrating the rational precision of their makers. Conversley, the rhythms and patterns of Japanese gardens reproduce and symbolise the landscape of Japan and are established in a way to hide the human hand behind them.  

To achieve this effect, garden stones and trees are laid out asymmetrically to suggest the rugged wildness of nature. Permament greens, grays, and browns predominate, but they are counterpointed by scattered flowers and fruits that mark time's passage with cycles of change. Empty space, wind, periods of dormancy, shadows, and viewing angles are subtler but full-function design elements that deepen the garden's relationship to it's site. Abstract renderings of moving water in solid stone and gravel provoke the mind with their union of seeming opposites. Such dense interplays produce the effect of seeing nature whole, even though the garden may take up no more than a corner of a yard and consist only of bamboo, a shrub, and a stone.

 These two images (above and right) show a Japanese Tea Garden. The stones, particularly the central one linking the paths, are weighty in feeling but low plantings provide needed balance to make the garden comfortable to view. The yukimi-gata lantern is framed by Japanese cypress, little leaf box, and camellia. The bench by the entryway is where guests would wait, prior to a tea ceremony.

Trees and water as seen as letting the garden open vertically and horizontally with growth and activity. The gardener lets evergreens predominate because they suggest the constancy and endurance of nature and keep the garden green all year round. But he will add a flowering tree or one whose leaves turn brilliantly in autumn to mark seasonal change and suggest the cyclic process of all life.  When he shapes trees and shrubs he does so to expose their natural character and habit, not to bend them to his will. Water is a free element, always in motion, captured only by the shape it adopts. The gardener uses it for sound. He counts its reflecting properties as a part of his design. He lets it fall, run, or gather in a pond. So important in fact is the idea of water to a garden that it will sometimes be represented by stone, gravel or sand, in a waterless version called kare sansui. Water will always be represented.

In the image to the right, running from the gate to the entryway in the rear, the L-shaped path is the main focus of this garden, and it is given plenty of room. In the rear is a little-leaf box. Note the almost mirror-like use of stone in front that brings the outside directly into the property.

Japanese gardens are great for creating a relaxing space for you to inhabit. They are calming and also assisst your creativity. Don't be afraid to chance on this interesting style: the individuality of the garden is always a benefit.






Alfresia is an online supplier of garden furniture.