Will defer to your expertise on this @Count.d.
In my defence, now is great time to purchase all sorts of discounted feed from garden centres / supermarkets. I snap it up and give trees/roses a good dose in August. Dunno if its a changing climate but November seems to be an increasingly spectacular month for colour.
It maybe so.
The label only states Acer āPalmatumā which is a bit vague i know.
Bought it at the Kings Nursery in Garthmyl, Powys.
But fabulous value for money at Ā£24.95
The Acer i purchased last autumn, died after being repotted.
I have no idea why but it may have been the cold December that also killed off my hebe
The only problem Iāve had with acers is verticillium wilt, which is a soil-borne fungal disease. But once the trees get some growth, they are pretty hardy and race away. Iām a big fan of acers - three seasons of colour and perfect for a courtyard/small garden.
Iāve found acers flourish best in dapple shade. Iād also refrain from feeding at this time of year and just ensure they are watered regularly with rain water during dry periods.
Iāve generally found Acer to flourish best in full sun. However, that depends heavily on them being sheltered from strong winds, and keeping them adequately watered when the sun is strong. That, of course, can be very difficult, especially when the plant is in a container and careful watering might be required more than once a day.
I recall once seeing a friendās very healthy potted Acer palmatum, in a sunny garden in London, drop all of its leaves after just a single day of full sun without enough water, although it did eventually recover. So yes, on balance I guess dappled shade is a safer bet.
Iām researching treatment for a pair of quince trees that have developed blight. So far the advice has been to pollard, burn the trimmings, apply a leaf tonic and mulch the base of the trees.
For mulching, Iām contemplating using my own compost plus dried seaweed. But Iām stumped for a leaf tonic. Does anyone have any recommendations?
The only thing Iāve come across that was described as a leaf tonic was epsom salts, which I once used after it was recommended to me for magnesium deficiency. As I understand it, the plant gets a quick, short term boost from this, with mulching recommended as a longer term fix. At the time I used it on a cherry tree, and it did seem to recover quite well from yellowing leaves, although how much of that was down to the āleaf tonicā I wouldnāt know.
For any fungi issue, my experience is you can either treat it with a systemic fungicide (if responsive) or it canāt. Any other stimulants or ātonicsā donāt work. If it is treatable, spray it with the fungicide and pick up any leaves that have fallen. The damaged leaves wonāt get better, but hopefully new ones will grow clean. You will need to keep on top of this before fungi kicks in again in the future. Feeding with seaweed is the best idea too, as itās a stimulant with not much feed. Problem with pollarding or any cutting at this time is that you open up the plants tissues to more fungi infection, and it gets worse in the long term.
First year growing butter beans and very pleased with first crop. Now to dry them out for use as winter beans
Spent the afternoon on the Green, raking out one of the wildflower corner patches after a strim earlier in the week.
Unfortunately a lot of time was diverted towards pulling out plastic mesh, the legacy of from some wildflower turf planted a few years ago ā very disappointing to find this after the felt-like material on the base of the turf had rotted away. And also had to thin out some Verbascums that are threatening to take over. A diverse array of seeds are in the ground, though Iāll supplement with some more.
The view this evening ā always looks rather brutal afterwards but the exposed soil will respond to the early autumn light, warmth and rain. Iām exhausted though.
Thatās a spectacular yard, are they (planted) wildflowers.
The wildflowers are from seed/turf, but since we asked the council to stop mowing the Green lots have made a spontaneous appearance. Plenty of bulbs planted too.
Is there any job in the garden harder than raking?
Iāve spent the last three afternoons doing just that in various wildflower patches, clearing the last of growth to get some light onto the soil, and still more to do. Like going to the gym.
Did rescue five toads/frogs from the lowland clearances.
Believe me digging out bamboo thatās grown through weed suppression fabric is worse. Especially when it was of my own stupid making in the first place.
Agreed!
I had to do that some five years ago, in a confined space. Took me weeks to get it all out - unbelievable stuff.
Spotted this yesterday morning having breakfast. Looks interesting!
Be warned this is the Box Tree Moth. Had I known, it would have had measures taken to shorten it life. We had an outbreak in the Spring!
Phil
To get rid of both moth caterpillars on box or ilex, use Topbuxus XenTari. Itās a bacterial control, so safe for other insects. Now is a good time to spray.
