Autumn is the time when we are reminded how lucky we are to live in a cool climate because the brilliant pageant of gold, silver, bronze, orange and scarlet doesn’t happen in warmer parts.
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Let’s look at some favourites.
The golden ash (fraxinus excelsior) is stunning when its leaves turn to bright yellow/gold, and when they fall, the stems are still golden with fat black buds.
The silver birch (betula pendula) is another whose golden leaves fall to leave a beautiful white trunk and branches which will enhance the garden all winter long.
The persimmon (diospyros kaki) is a tree with a bonus. When its golden/reddish leaves fall, its attractive fruit remains as a decoration.
The maidenhair tree (gingko biloba) has beautifully shaped yellow autumn leaves, but trees can grow to a great size and are best left to very big gardens or public parks.
A colourful sight is always the American smoke bush (cotinus coggygria). Its rounded, greenish/purple leaves turn wine red in autumn.
In summer, the large panicles of flower heads look like puffs of smoke, hence its name.
Not often seen in Tasmanian gardens but well worth looking for, is the Persian witch hazel (parrotia persica) which has diamond-shaped leaves in gold and crimson.
Climbers such as virginia creeper and the ornamental grape vine are fast growers and soften corners of buildings, sheds, walls and fences, and just wait for their autumn performance.
For more colour, explore garden centres where young trees are now putting on a show.
Ocean’s Bounty
What is the cheapest, most abundant and one of the most beneficial of garden fertilisers?
Answer: Seaweed.
It has valuable chemical properties and releases locked-up minerals in the soil.
It is rich in potash and trace elements. It can pass on its potash content to potatoes, beetroot, cabbages and other plants that thrive on large amounts of potash.
Seaweed contains twice as much potash as animal manure, and growth-producing hormones have been discovered in it.
Tomatoes, sweet peppers and corn given seaweed record increased yields as well as resistance to insect pests and diseases.
It’s free from weed seeds, insect eggs and plant diseases, and there is no need to wash the salt off it first.
Protect potatoes
There’s a trap you can fall into if you grow potatoes under straw or seaweed.
You must ensure that you keep a good layer of material on top of the tubers or light will turn them green. When this happens they shouldn’t be eaten.
The green part is poisonous. This applies to all green parts of the potato, including the small, tomato-like fruit.
The big advantage of growing potatoes this way is that there is no digging.
You simply reach into the straw or seaweed and take as many as you want.
Tubers can be left for quite a while instead of storing them.
Potatoes grown in soil shouldn’t be dug for storage until the stalks and foliage have died off completely.
The best way to test maturity is to lift one or two and rub them with your thumb. If the skin doesn’t rub off, they are sufficiently mature to store.
Try this method of potato growing.
Pile autumn leaves thickly on a garden bed, up to a metre deep.
Leave them there all winter to rot.
By spring they will have packed down and earthworms will be busy aerating them.
Lay your seed potatoes on top of this rotting mulch, then cover with at least 30 centimetres of hay or straw.
But remember the golden rule - add more mulch as the plants grow, to ensure that light doesn’t get through
