Ingatestone Garden Centre

Helpful Hints
The days are getting shorter, autumn is here. What is there to do in the garden? What plant can you choose to give some colour to your garden at this time of the year? Or are you looking forward to spring, choosing and planting bulbs now to give that first bit of colour in the garden as the days grow longer. Choosing that hardy plant to withstand a British winter or are we under the influence of global warming? What will our winter be like this year? Bulbs are now at Ingatestone Garden Centre, near the tills, ready to plant, bringing so much colour and fragrance to spring. Daffodil, tulip and lily bulbs, crocus corms, cyclamen tubers, iris rhizomes, onion sets and shallots and garlic bulbs and a few other classic bulbs are ready to plant now. We have prepared hyacinths ready to plant to bring colour and fragrance to Christmas. The siting of bulbs is quite crucial to their continued success e.g. bulbs from a damp woodland, shaded habitat need a cool and slightly moist position. Bulb leaves produce the food store for the following year and it is vital to leave the bulb foliage in place until it has died down naturally.

There are bulbs to suit almost every garden site and they are extremely versatile, many bulbs thriving in pots indoors. You can maintain year - round interest as bulbs have a distinct flowering season, the first snowdrops (Galanthus) marking the onset of spring, alliums offering colourful highlights in summer and nerines and crocosmias continuing to bloom into autumn. The autumn flowering crocuses, colchicums and cyclamen give their best display with the start of autumn rains when most things in the garden are fading.

What plant can give a garden interest in the autumn and winter? The shrubs pyracanthas, cotoneasters and Skimmia japonica have brilliantly coloured fruits. Parthenocissus and euonymus for vibrantly coloured foliage and fragrant witch hazel (Hamamelis) and Viburnum, also the coloured stems of the cornus (dogwood) genus. There are many plants to choose from that add some colour to your garden.

At this time of year lawns need a great deal of attention. They need to be spiked and raked then apply an autumn dressing. Water this in if there is no sign of rain for 48 hours. New lawns should be sown during showery weather at the end of the month. You can also apply an autumn 'feed and weed' to get rid of those unwanted weeds in your lawn and feed the lawn as well. The winter bedding is now in such as winter pansies, cyclamen, heathers and wallflowers. Summer bedding can be removed from hanging baskets and these can be replanted with new plants.



Here is a short explanation of the different types of plant categories found at Ingatestone Garden Centre: Plant categories Annuals - plant that completes its life cycle in a single year Biennial - plant that completes its life cycle in 2 years Climber - adaptations to enable the plant to climb: tendrils stem roots, self clinging pads. Deciduous - plant that sheds its foliage yearly Evergreen - perennial plants that remain green all year Herbaceous - any plant that does not form a persistent woody stem. Botanically includes annuals and bulbs but commonly refers to perennials that die back in autumn and resprout in spring. Perennial - plant that lives for 3 years or more Semi-evergreen - plant that annually sheds some but not all of its leaves Shrub - woody plants that produces several stems from its base Tree - woody plant with a single stem supporting a branchy head

Helpful Hints