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DECEMBER IF SUN SHINES THROUGH THE APPLE TREES ON CHRISTMAS DAY, WHEN AUTUMN COMES THEY WILL A LOAD OF FRUIT DISPLAY More weather folklore Seasons greetings and all that, but the garden centre turning into Santa's Grotto will already have tipped you off to the impending anti-climax. Back in the real world a bit of greenhouse hygiene wouldn't go amiss. Remove all debris and weeds and if there are no plants or only a few which could have a holiday in the house, use Jayes Fluid or Armillatox for disinfection of all the hard surfaces. (after July 2003 approval for soil disinfection was withdrawn under Directive 91/414/EEC) Again in the greenhouse use bubble-wrap to insulate a small area and create an inner sanctum with more frost resistance or if heated it will cut the runnung costs. It's still not too late to plant any spring bulbs which you may have been meaning to, but not found the time. Also there may be some being sold off cheaply, check them carefully for moulds or that they have not dried up, otherwise they could be a real bargain. If you can't find a spot for them, pot them up and they can be planted later when they grow or just place the pot in a gap. Continue to check tree ties and tighten or renew if required. If the tree has been in the ground for a few years, it is most likely stable enough to do without a stake (often the tree is holding up the stake!). Also make sure old ties are not strangling the trunk or branches of their dependants, eg. trained shrubs on walls or trellis. Put a generous mulch around recently planted rhododendrons and other surface-rooted shrubs which could be affected by a severe frost. Containers for propogation should be washed with a little bleach in the water to prevent the carry-over of diseases like damping off, then stacked ready for use . Now that all the leaves are off grape vines, there is no sap moving around and it is a good time to prune and avoid sap 'bleeding' from the wounds. If a structure of leading stems has been formed, cut the side shoots back to within one or two buds of the main stems. Next year when growth begins remove all but one side shoot which will later provide the fruit.

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tips for NOVEMBER JANUARY

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