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Gloucestershire Orchard Group (GOG) aims to conserve, promote and celebrate traditional orchards in Gloucestershire

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PLANTING IDEAS

The renowned 19th / early 20th  Century plantswoman, Gertrude Jekyll, wrote that “every planting should paint a picture.”  

Look around you for inspiring combinations of plants growing in gardens or in the wild, and use these to paint pictures in your own garden.

Plants for Spring

Apples and pears trained as espaliers make beautiful features in even the smallest garden.   They take up very little room, are surprisingly easy to train, and are very productive.   Come on my Day Course on Growing and Training Fruit in Small Spaces on Saturday, 9th August and you too can have trees like these!

February

  • February is a good month for pruning fruit trees.   Apple trees should be goblet shaped, open in the centre to allow good air circulation and to let the sun ripen the fruiting wood.   Cut leaders back by two-thirds if growth is weak, and all side shoots to 4-5 buds/4 inches (10cm).   On tip bearers, e.g. Blenheim, do not remove shoot tips of older wood unless to keep the tree to size and shape.   Note that stone fruit should only be pruned in the growing season.

 

 

  • This month the beautiful, bashful, deep pink flowers of the winter cyclamen, Cyclamen coum, are a welcome sign of new life stirring in the garden.   Plant these bulbs (corms) “in the green”, that is in full growth with their leaves.   They flourish under trees and will eventually play leapfrog as they naturalise in surrounding areas of grass.   Snowdrops provide a good contrast.
  • Shrubs that bloom in winter are often scented, with clouds of small, delicate flowers and are a reminder that your garden does not have to hibernate in winter. The winter honeysuckle, Lonicera fragrantissima, has small, cream, strongly scented flowers which last several weeks.  This large shrub is a good companion for the tiny Cyclamen coum interspersed with snowdrops at its feet.   Prune if necessary immediately after flowering.
  • Cornus mas is another lovely large winter shrub or small tree with a mass of tiny yellow flowers in February-March.   Arising from a lake of bright blue Chionodoxa or Scilla bulbs at its feet, this will dispel any winter blues.   A late flowering, blue Clematis texensis trained over it for summer interest can be cut hard back in January to about 18” (45cm).

 

 

 

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Last modified:  12/05/2008