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22 Oct 2025

Gardening: Time to get the tools out

The latest tips from our resident green-thumbed gardener, Pat Duke

Gardening: Time to get the tools out

Image by Davie Bicker from Pixabay

In the Garden

Now the ground has softened up from its midsummer baking we can get the digging tools out again. At the back of the shed, probably draped in cobwebs will undoubtedly be the bulb planter. 

Now is the ideal time to prepare your spring bulbs show of colour. The trick to this is to create a gradual procession of bulbs that open in sequence. Like many gardening tasks, it’s much easier than you think. 

Planting bulbs may appear tedious or even overwhelming when faced with literally hundreds of them at your feet. Console yourself with the reality that they can be planted in groups. Scooping a hole out with a sharp spade is the quickest method for say dropping in five or seven daffodil bulbs four to six inches deep. 

Crocuses, iris reticulata and snowdrops with be first to emerge even as early as January. Mid-spring will see Anemone’s, Tulips, Hyacinths and Fritillaries. As spring leans into summer, Irises, Bluebells, Alliums and Ranunculus complete the show. 

In between the spring timescale you can plant daffodils to appear successionally throughout the three months. One of the first varieties to appear is ‘Rijnvelds Early Sensation’ that will keep going longer than other early varieties ‘Jetfire’ and Minnow’. Good mid-spring options are ‘Tete a Tete’, ‘Ice Follies’ and ‘Thalia’. To see out spring ‘Cheerfulness’ and ‘Pheasants Eye’ are good choices that can still be in bloom when May arrives. 

Daffodils will grow in most situations and soil and can be grown in pots to cut and bring indoors for colour and scent. They are cheap to buy and are a quick win in terms of effort to outcome ratio. 

If you get the bulbs in, and you can stagger the work over the next month or so, you can then plant around them using summer bulbs and annuals to keep the beds in colour in between the regular perennials and grasses. 

On the Plot  

Strawberries need digging out and potting up ready for next year. Lift them out with the rootball and replant them in pots of free draining compost. This provides oxygen and water to the shallow roots so they can get what they need without the roots rotting or becoming saturated. Keeping them frost free, usually under glass with an occasional water will see them through to next spring when the strawberry season starts again.  

Cut down any asparagus fronds and make sure the bed is weed free before completely covering in mulch. Throughout the coming month just keep an eye on the bed and remove any weeds. Asparagus hates competition and won’t tolerate perennial weeds. 

Any winter carrots can be earthed up now to get them growing longer roots and providing more nutrients as well as protection against frost. 

If you’ve been making leaf mould then now is the time to share it across the beds. While leaf mould does n’t actually provide much in the way of direct minerals it does help to create the environment to improve soil structure. If you have n’t already got onto the leaf mould annual merry go round, then start now. Collect fallen leaves and either bag them up in a bin bag with punctured holes and add water or create a container with chicken wire to let the oxygen in.

Cover it with tarpaulin to retain moisture and turn it every couple of months. In a year you should have leaf mould. It fast tracks the process if you go over the leaves with a mower prior to adding to the pile. 

Spring cabbage plants can be dropped in now but they will need protection from the usual suspects like pigeons, rabbits and squirrels. You’d think there’s enough acorns to go round this year but they prefer a gourmet meal from time to time it seems. Keeping some nuts and seeds out for them all might be a useful distraction.  

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