Plants for Free

Now that autumn is coming it’s a good time to take hardwood cuttings. This is a good way to propagate lots of shrubs and soft fruit and it’s really easy! It can be done with shrubs like Escalonia, Mock Orange, Lavender and Rosemary as well as currents, gooseberries and Jostaberries. Deciduous plants should be used when they have dropped their leaves

Take a woody shoot about 12 inches long, or for lavender about 6 inches long and bury it up to half its depth in open ground. Take several cuttings of each species to allow for a few failures. They should root during the winter and come into growth in the spring, by the following autumn, a small should have been produced which can be move to a suitable site in the winter.

It's now time to plant bulbs. The longer the bulb the deeper it goes and remember to space them out but if you put them too far apart they won’t make an impact. Plant them while the soil is still warm.

You can also plant some vegetables to overwinter as small plants and grow on in the spring. For instance broad beans – variety Aquadulce – Japanese onions and garlic. If you have bare ground in your vegetable or allotment why not plant some green manures? These will fill the space where weeds would otherwise grow and can then be dug in next spring to add some additional nitrogen to the soil. You can get free seeds of Red Clover, Buckwheat, Mustard or Phacelia from Green City Action.

For help or advice contact Julian on 2440353