Hi <%user.firstname%>, Clare here, your Gardeners Club Secretary,
After unseasonal dry and warm conditions during September and October, autumn has finally blown in. The trees are a glorious glow of colour but the falling leaves make for heavy work in clearing and tidying up the garden.
Our latest newsletter brings a pot-pourri of topics:
- The do's and don't of having a bonfire....read more
- Watch out for that hedgehog....read more
- Our birds need your help....read more
- Latest findings from BBC garden survey....read more
- You want tulips in the spring, start planting those bulbs now....read more
- The Winter Poker, the last flower of the year?....read more
We hope you enjoy our latest newsletter and after you've had a look through it, if you haven't already done so, please make sure you take a few moments to visit the new look Gardeners Club website |
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The first fireworks were probably made in China, around 2,000 years ago. Chinese crackers, as they are known, are still used in China today to celebrate weddings, births and religious festivals - and to scare away evil spirits! |
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Nowadays there seem to be fewer and fewer bonfires - often for very good reasons which we at the Gardeners Club fully support. Even the traditional Guy Fawkes bonfires seem a thing of the past. We all know of the dangers of fireworks at home, preferring to go to a special event that is well organised and with a display of fireworks none could match on our own. So the bonfire in the garden also seems to be a dying flame.
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Bonfires are pretty much unsociable things anyway, especially in built up areas. Our message is - don't build a bonfire if you don't need one. Many Councils around the country actively encourage us to re-cycle our green waste. Alternatively, put your green waste to good use on a compost heap.
If you simply must have a bonfire then please take some sensible precautions. It should be sited well away from overhanging trees; not too close to shrubs and bushes; not near to any long grass; a safe distance from other combustible things like wooden fences, sheds, greenhouses and garages; watch where the prevailing wind comes from. |
Finally, if you do build a bonfire and add to it over several days, don't forget to check before lighting that no little creatures have borrowed in to make themselves a cosy nest - expect to find mice and the odd hedgehog. |
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Fireworks were used for centuries in ancient Indian and Thai religious ceremonies. Some of the rockets were 8-10 feet long and were attached to bamboo sticks that were 40 feet high. |
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The Hedgehog Preservation Society
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An unlit bonfire is like a 5 star hotel to a hedgehog so please check before lighting. The hedgehog can be the gardener's friend; here's some information from the Hedgehog Preservation Society:
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Description
Everyone is sure to know what a hedgehog looks like. The hedgehog's back and sides are covered in 25mm (1") long spines (which are really modified hairs). These are absent from the face, throat, chest, belly, and legs, which are covered with coarse, grey-brown fur. There are approximately 5,000/7,000 spines on an average adult hedgehog. What many people do not know is that a hedgehog has a small tail.
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Diet
Beetles are a major food item along with caterpillars and earthworms. Most people are aware that hedgehogs are basically insect eaters.
However, many householders put out a saucer of meat based pet food for their garden friends. The hedgehog will treat this as a welcome supplement to its normal diet and will not go hungry if, for some reason, the food is not put out. Always ensure that a dish of water is available especially during the summer months or in extreme weather conditions. |
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Hedgehogs in the Garden
The hedgehog is known as ‘the gardener's friend' as it will eat slugs, beetles, caterpillars etc., and does no harm, so if you have a garden, a hedgehog is to be encouraged. They should not be kept in close captivity, but regarded as welcome visitors. |
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Garden Visitors
At the risk of disappointing some people it is worth mentioning the fact that hedgehogs tend to 'do the rounds' and visit several gardens within an area. Ten or more different individuals may visit a garden over several nights, which could mean that 'your hedgehog' is in fact a number of different individuals visiting at different times. |
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The first fireworks recorded in America were set off by an Englishman, Captain John Smith, famous in the story of Pocahontas. |
Many birds might need your help
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According to the bird charity, the RSPB, many garden birds need your help to deal with a serious food shortage, thanks to the drought-like conditions in many parts of the country due to the late Indian summer enjoyed in the UK.
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While there's a bumper crop of berries, the unusually dry weather means that the parched, rock-hard earth has forced worms and other grubs, deep underground, making them inaccessible to most species. The RSPB say that blackbirds are ill prepared for the onset of cold, winter weather as earthworms are a major source of food for them in urban areas.
Other species, such as song thrushes - already under threat and on the charity's ‘red list', are also vulnerable to drought-like conditions. They love to feast on slugs and snails, creatures that literally go to ground when the weather dries up.
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The world's largest single firework was set off at a festival in Japan in 1988. The shell weighed over half a tonne and the burst was over a kilometre across. |
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a Flymo Venturer 32 Lawn Mower! |
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The Gardeners Club is launching a new
Competitions Club just for you. This week we're kicking
off the competition zone by giving away an amazing Flymo!
The Flymo 32
electric lawn mower is the latest electric
wheeled/roller rotary mower with a rear roller that
makes cutting over edges easier and leaves behind that
traditional stripe. It collects the grass too and can
cut up to 6cm high grass.
You can enter
this amazing prize at no cost! |
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A Tree isn't just for Christmas it's for Life
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As recently reported in the Daily Telegraph, not only is the apple tree the best-loved, but a poll of more than 2,000 BBC Magazines' readers also revealed that nearly half the population would like to receive a tree for Christmas.
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Key findings from the survey are:
- 83% of people surveyed have a tree in their garden;
- The apple tree was the most popular variety, found in 42 per cent of gardens with trees;
- This was followed by the holly and the cherry with 35 per cent and 28 per cent respectively;
- 48 per cent of readers would love to receive a tree as a Christmas present.
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Gardeners' World experts say the top rated tree for wildlife is the Crab Apple (Golden Hornet); the top for seasonal spectacular is the Chilean Fire Bush; the top for autumn colour - the Japanese Maple (Osakazuki) and the top for year-round appeal the Acer Griseum. The top for front gardens is The Chinese Red Birch.
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According to Adam Pasco, editor of Gardeners' World magazine: "It's great to see that trees seems to be such a permanent fixture in people's gardens and it is unsurprising that apple trees are so popular given the trend for grow your own. Not only are trees beautiful, they soak up carbon dioxide and are very easy to plant. With National Tree Week coming up we are urging all our readers to give a tree for Christmas as the ultimate present that will keep on giving - possibly for several hundred years." |
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A firecracker display in Malaysia in 1988 used over 3 million crackers, measured almost 6 kilometres and burned for over 9 hours - the longest display on record. |
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As the temperature drops it's time to start thinking about planting one of our favourite types of flower, the tulip. With its vast array of shapes, sizes, colours and textures it has always been prized for its beauty.
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When's the right time? From November onwards, you can continue planting your bulbs right up until Christmas as long as the ground is frost free, they will still flower perfectly well in the following spring as they only need a short season of growth. |
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Plant your bulbs when the temperature has dropped sufficiently; as it is warm weather that encourages the development of tulip blight (Botrytis Tulipae).You can spot this by looking out for bulb rot, grey/green lesions on the leaves and sometimes even spotted petals.
If your tulips develop blight it is necessary to remove and destroy them, but remember not to add them to the compost heap. You can hinder its return by planting your bulbs in different places each year.
For advice on what bulbs to buy and to read the rest of this article, the full version is available In The News section of the main Gardeners Club website - click here
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The display in London at the 1995 VJ Day commemoration was Britain's biggest within living memory. It used over 18 tonnes of fireworks and spanned two miles. |
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The perfect flower to remind us of summer when we're in autumn heading for the dark nights of winter, is the Kniphofia Rooperi, a winter poker that produces sunset orange flowers in October and November, growing from crispy triangular buds into a perfect rounded shape.
There are approximately 70 species of Kniphofias that come mainly from South Africa. They tend to be found in damp meadows and on mountain slopes. They were named after Johann Hieronymus Kniphor who produced a folio on them. |
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The specific species, the Rooperi, were named after Reverend Thomas Rooper of Wick Hill in Brighton who was the first to grow them after the original plant was sent to him by his son. They tend to flower in October and November and produce sunset-orange flowers with a yellow skirt.
For full article and information on how to successfully grow Winter Pokers click here
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Three sparklers burning together generate the same heat as a blow-torch. |
Happy Gardening,
Clare, your Gardeners Club secretary
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