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GARDEN HOEKIE with Julian
The first frosts have hit us with a fairly gentle bang, and although the weather has turned bitterly cold, they hadn’t been too bad at time of writing.
I hope your really tender plants have been covered and your African Daisies long since sown and already a decent size. I see poppies are already flowering and if things go according to plan we should have a colourful winter, with a good show.
Unbelievably, even the roses are still flowering profusely.
It’s been a marvellous summer, with reasonable temperatures, fairly good rains and no excesses, so let’s hope winter will be just as reasonable.
If you have been heeding my past comments and carrying out all the planning, you’re probably bored with this line of thinking. So, let’s do something completely different for a while – such as using an old wheel barrow for your herbs. This idea enables you to move them into the sun at the appropriate times during winter, and keep them near your kitchen door – ready at hand!
Or take an old “skop” and hang it on chains from a tree or beam and convert it into a water feature. You do this by having a basin and submersible pump feeding water through a small diameter pipe up to the skop. Surrounded by ferns and tropical-looking plants, this can look great. If the skop has holes simply seal these with a bit of Pratley’s Putty and a few pebbles. Add a piece of old copper as decoration and it will take on a different character.
But don’t paint it. You’ll spoil it and the effect will be lost. If the chains are galvanised, dip them in pool acid for a couple of minutes, wash them and allow them to rust.
Take one large Klippies at dusk and admire your handiwork against the setting of one of our stunning sunsets.
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