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GARDENING 109
Pumpkin patch These amazing glowing globes will
be grinning madly at the end of the month so they need to be plump. Pumpkins are ready to pick in early autumn, but if you want to eat it rather than use yours as a Halloween decoration you would be wise to wait until the fi rst frosts. At this point the leaves will die down and most (but not all) pumpkin varieties will reveal their orange skin. To test for ripeness, give your
pumpkin a slap! If it sounds hollow, it’s ready for picking. The skin should also feel hard and be diffi cult to puncture with a fi ngernail. The third check is the stem, which should feel hard when ripe. Leave a little of the stem when you cut your pumpkin as it will create a seal which stops the rot.
Once harvested,
leave pumpkins on a sunny windowsill or in a greenhouse to harden for at least two weeks. The fl esh will sweeten as the starches
Show your lawn a little TLC! Vines for wine
Vineyards in the UK are growing! Viticulture has rocketed during the last few years and the UK now produces more than fi ve million bottles of wine each year, with a market value of about £82 million and growth expected to increase by 50% in the next three years. The Garden of England is home to several leading wine producers and sparkling wines, in particular, are one of the great success stories of recent years. The county offers excellent growing conditions. With
the use of new grape varieties and more effi cient growing techniques it seems that demand has never been greater and many English wines are scooping up awards. Biddenden Vineyards recently launched the UK’s fi rst naturally coloured sparkling cider and many vineyards are now offering tours. They include Chapel Down Winery in Tenterden, Hush Heath Estate and Winery near Staplehurst, and The Mount Vineyard in Shoreham, which is celebrating the accolade of producing the Kent Wine of the Year 2017 at The Taste of Kent Awards.
October is traditionally the wettest month of the year and time for gardening therefore needs to be fl exible – that’s not because gardeners don’t like the rain but because the soil really doesn’t appreciate being compacted or overworked during wet weather. Perhaps top of the list this month should be lawn
care. Get it sorted during October and it will stand a chance of looking good through the winter. It’s a great time to scarify to remove or reduce the amount of moss and thatch. Grass growth slows down during winter but moss keeps spreading. You can help by reducing the competition for space. Give the lawn an autumn feed. Mow the lawn on a dry day. Keep the grass sward long by raising the height of the cutter blade. Around 35mm will be ideal.
Aerate the lawn using a hollow tine to open up the soil and introduce oxygen. It assists drainage, which also helps to reduce moss. Neaten up the edges.
turn to sugar and the fl avours will improve. They can then be stored for several months and you can enjoy them during the winter. There are places locally where you can now pick your own pumpkin for Halloween. Check out: Chiltern Manor Farm in Sittingbourne (www.
visitchiltonmanorfarm.co.uk) Beluncle Farm at Hoo, near Rochester (
www.pyopumpkins.com) Pumpkin Moon at Maidstone
(
www.pumpkinmoon.uk) Dan Mackelden in Ashford (
www.danmackelden.co.uk)
4 things to do
IN THE GARDEN this month
1. Trim hedges so that they look beautiful throughout the winter. They will have a chance to put on a little bit of colourful growth before the major freeze. 2. It’s a great time to apply mulch to your borders. It will keep in the warmth and give wildlife some much-needed crevices in which to hide and feed too. 3. Get yourself some giant hands! There are leaf-collecting devices that will make light work of the leaf-fall to come. (Don’t forget to save your leaves in order to make leaf-mould.) 4. Plant spring fl owering bulbs. It may seem early, but the fl owers will light up the garden in just a few months’ time.
Diary date
The beautiful Hole Park Gardens in Rolvenden are now open every Wednesday and Thursday until the end of October when visitors can see a spectacular display of the late fl owering Agapanthus ‘Hole Park Blue’, which was discovered only a few years ago and found to be unique to Hole Park Gardens. • Admission £7 adults and £1 for children (fi ve-18). Gardens open 11am-6pm. Visit
www.holepark.com
© Thomas Alexander Photography
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