Pots & Trowels Podcast
Gardens and gardening discussed by people who know their onions. Martin Fish (RHS judge, broadcaster and gardener for over 40 years) and a series of like-minded green fingered folk have a chat!
Find all our videos and podcasts at potsandtrowels.com
Pots & Trowels Podcast
Plant Bare Root Roses Now, Plus, Perfect Christmas Trees and the age-old "Real vs. Artificial" Debate
Discover the secrets behind choosing the perfect Christmas tree with Paul Maxey of Scothern Nurseries near Lincoln. You'll walk away with a new-found appreciation for the Nordman fir's soft needles. From historical choices to modern selection techniques, Paul shares his expertise on trimming and shaping these festive staples to achieve that picture-perfect holiday look.
Plus we're answering YOUR questions and sharing why now's the time to plant bare root roses!
Listeners to the P&T Podcast can get a discount simply by entering the code POTSANDTROWELS - T's & C's apply, see the PlantGrow website for details.
Explore the nuances between cut, potted, and pot-grown trees, and learn why pot-grown choices might just be your most sustainable option yet. Our discussion highlights the environmental benefits and the importance of sourcing locally-grown trees, ensuring your holiday celebrations are both beautiful and eco-friendly. Plus, we sprinkle in some creative inspiration on incorporating smaller trees into your decor, transforming any space into a winter wonderland.
Videos Mentioned in this episode:
How to Store and Plant Bare Root Roses: https://youtu.be/ryJ89JiqZjU
Christmas Tree Farm: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0rGRDZKTqs
Rose Summer Special: https://youtu.be/iIU2BZdXrOw
Visit potsandtrowels.com for links to all the videos & podcast episodes
Email Questions to info@potsandtrowels.com
Our weekly YouTube videos are here: Pots & Trowels YouTube
The Pots & Trowels team:
Martin Fish
Jill Fish
Sean Riley
Find out more about Martin & Jill at martinfish.com
Find out more about Sean at boardie.com
Podcast produced by the team, edited by Sean, hosted by buzzsprout.com
hello and welcome to the Pots & Trowels podcast with jill sean and me, marty hi and this week I'm going to be talking to Paul Maxey from scotland nurseries near lincoln all about christmas trees, because it's that's time of the year again, isn't it?
Sean Riley:it is, and we'd just like to say a big thank you to plant grow who make a range of organic mulches and compost and liquid feeds, and they're they're all made from plant material grown in norfolk. So big thanks to them for supporting the podcast.
Jill Fish:Thank, you yes, now you're going to talk to Paul, aren't you um about christmas trees I am but just tell us a little bit about how you know Paul well, Paul.
Martin Fish:Um, it's a traditional nursery garden center. They've got the garden center uh at the front and then the back the nursery, so they they are growers as well. Uh, in a village near lincoln in scotland it's called scotland nurseries and garden center and Paul is also one of the guardian experts on local radio. So on radio lincolnshire he has been for many years. I knew Paul uh through when I was doing radio nottingham. I do a bit radio lincolnshire. It has been for many years. I knew Paul uh through when I was doing radio nottingham. I do a bit on lincolnshire now and Paul does the sunday program along with somebody else.
Jill Fish:So they also have a very nice tea it happens to be the same village as our daughter and our grandchildren so we pop in now and again, but very nice tea room.
Martin Fish:Yeah, it's a. It's what I think is a lovely traditional garden center where you can ask a question. You know you're going to get the answer because they grow the plants. So, yeah, well worth a visit if you're in the Lincoln area.
Sean Riley:Right, well, let's hear all about it.
Martin Fish:So, Paul, christmas is not that far away, and for you as a nurseryman garden centre, it's going to be very busy with Christmas trees. So do you want to tell us about different?
Paul Maxey:types of christmas trees because years ago there wasn't a lot of choice, but nowadays there's so much and 20 years ago you would have only had the norway spruce, that's all you had a choice of and then it gradually started to come in with some different ones and one has really taken over the market, which is this Nordman, which is a lovely, soft needle, much easier to look after, etc. But it's much harder to grow right?
Martin Fish:is that also slower growing than the Nordman?
Paul Maxey:yeah, just a little bit to get a six foot tree of a Nordman you're looking at about 12 years, whereas as a Norway you're probably about 10 years. Okay, um, so it does take a little bit more. It needs a bit more trimming and a bit more looking after in the growing sense of it, but that's really taken over the market. There's probably 90 of the market, is that now?
Martin Fish:all right, and the benefit of that is that it retains its needles for longer, doesn't it?
Paul Maxey:yeah, yeah, it's. People sometimes call it a no drop tree. There is no such thing. As we both know, it is a low drop tree. It's got a more waxy covering to it so it holds that needle much better. It's still no good if you put it in front of the fire. It's still going to drop its needles, but in a normal house it will hold much better. So you can put it in at start of November and it's still looking good when you take it out in january.
Martin Fish:Yeah, uh, and you know, with these you say they're harder to grow. I think what people don't realize is when they are being grown, then they're not just left to grow, naturally they do trim them, don't they?
Paul Maxey:to get that bushy habit yeah, well, we all draw, when we're kids, the christmas tree shape. Yeah, there is no tree that grows in that christmas tree shape, so we have to artificially make it that way so that when people are choosing their tree, every person's idea of a perfect christmas tree is slightly different. So we have to trim them in the fields to get them nice and neat and tidy, etc. They all need a nice stem in the middle so that you can get your star on or your whatever fairy on the top there. Yeah, that that's it, but you have to trim it. And if you have a tree and you plant it out, if you don't trim it, it'll get a very big tree and it will be for logging. It won't be for Christmas, right.
Martin Fish:OK, and so that's the Nordman, which is, as you say, come very popular. I mean, you have got here one of the Norway spruce.
Paul Maxey:People still buy them because they are. They aren't as expensive nowadays are. They're much cheaper, um, much, much cheaper. And the people that have those are much later towards christmas, so they're in the last two weeks towards christmas, because we know that they don't hold their needles as well. So they're it's a more economical tree, uh, but they're still widely grown, still a lot out there and they're still easy to look after as well. It's just a question with those If you have a cut-off one, you need to cut the base so that it will drink water like foliage does.
Martin Fish:Right, OK.
Paul Maxey:If you don't do that, it's not going to survive well.
Martin Fish:Right. Are we still growing lots of Christmas trees in the UK, or do lots of them come in from abroad?
Paul Maxey:There's still some coming in from abroad. I will only buy uk trees, yeah, uh, and I buy actually all lincolnshire trees. Well done, uh. But there's thousands and thousands and thousands are grown in this country and it's not when they say they didn't grow a thousand. They won't go to where one thousand. They'll have six thousand at least, because they will have each year. They'll need three foot, four foot, five foot, six, etc. So you get big plantations and they're well looked after, they're managed, the area. You get lots of birds and insects in those areas as well, because it helps the tree.
Martin Fish:Yeah exactly so. They're what we sort of deem as our traditional trees, but you've got a couple here that are a bit different, aren't they Not what we'd think of as a Christmas tree.
Paul Maxey:Well, you've got the blue spruce here, really bright, blue et cetera, quite prickly. Don't want that with young children. Okay, yeah, but it's very much in there. It's got a beautiful scent when it's inside, really really nice. But they are more expensive because they're slower again.
Paul Maxey:Right okay and they are much more difficult to get the shape right on those, but they are available there. And then the other one that I've got actually isn't what I would normally call a Christmas tree, but we often sell it as a dwarf one, as a tabletop etc. It's a Picea canica, which is a cone-shaped Picea needs very little trimming and makes that perfect Christmas tree shape every year without needing to do anything.
Martin Fish:Yeah, and that is so compact, isn't it? I can see why people use it. If you've got a small room or an apartment, that'd be ideal for that type of thing.
Paul Maxey:There's another variety out there as well, called Picea December, which has actually got slightly redder tips, and that really is nice Worth looking out for, that one.
Martin Fish:So I suppose the majority are what you call cut Christmas trees and we're going to talk about tips in a few minutes but they are literally cut with a saw from the field and sold, but then the market's also there for people buying them in containers, isn't it? Is that something that is growing?
Paul Maxey:Yeah, I don't think it's growing. I think it's still very static. But you do need to understand it because there's several different parts. You've got the cut tree, as you say, but then you've got potted trees and you've got pot grown trees, which are two different things. So a pot grown has been in that pot for a long time, up to a year. You can see roots coming out the bottom, nice strong one in there. A potted tree has literally been dug out of the field that week or the week before and shoved in that pot. It won't necessarily have a big root, because the people that dig it are paid by how many they do in a day, not how good a job they do.
Martin Fish:So be aware of that so if you're going to get one in a pot ideally you want one that's got an established root system yeah, and are the benefits of that? You can take it into the house for a few weeks and then put it outside and it will survive.
Paul Maxey:Yes, we have quite a lot of people that have had them in the past. They take them in. You have to be careful taking in stages and when you bring it out, bring it out in stages, but then they keep it for year on year, uh, and then they can bring it back again, right? Um, I've got one customer that actually has planted theirs in a barrel and they have a a week's worth of trying to get it in the house and a week's worth trying to get it out the house.
Martin Fish:Yeah, but it's the same tree they've had for 10 years, right, right, yeah, which is good from an environmental point of view. It means you only sell them one tree, of course, but you can sell them baubles.
Paul Maxey:Exactly, we can sell them other things, we're not worried about that.
Martin Fish:The fact is, they've got a living Christmas tree, isn't it? Yeah, that's brilliant, so good, range out there. They're all going to be in the garden centres now for people to them. Um, what we'll do? Take a little break, then we'll come back and get some tips how to keep your christmas tree looking fresh, great.
Sean Riley:Well, coming up later in the show, Martin has got some wonderful advice about planting roses. You might be pruning your roses at the minute, but he's going to be telling you about how you can plant roses at this time of year. But I want to pick up on what Paul said about artificially shaped Christmas trees. That's ruined.
Jill Fish:No, it has. Well, it's ruined the image of Christmas trees, because I just thought they all grew.
Sean Riley:And how long will you spend wandering around trying to get the perfect shape?
Jill Fish:christmas tree and then when you get it into the house, you have to turn, keep turning it round and turning it around to get it in the right way. But they don't grow like that, apparently. Well, they.
Martin Fish:We used to do them like that, but it's a modern thing. Um, because people want perfection with their christmas tree, so they don't want one that's suddenly got a branch growing out at a bit of an angle, or something like that that pokes you in the eye when you walk by to top your sherry glass off.
Jill Fish:That's all part of the fun.
Martin Fish:So they now trim them. So they're not pruning them hard, but as they grow what they do in the spring, they just tip the almost to create the triangular shape. They just tip the stems and then they bush out, so they bush out, so you get a much fuller bushier tree rather than one that's got big gaps between the branches, so which takes them a bit longer to grow.
Sean Riley:Hence the reason you pay a bit more for these quality trees I did a little video from uh, our local christmas tree farm, last year which is on youtube or somewhere, which yeah, it's just really nice seeing them in the rows.
Jill Fish:Yeah, I really like the idea of the tabletop one. So they, how big are they? You're saying tabletop, but so you don't want it very big. If people haven't got a big space for a proper tree, a big tree, then to have one on a little, I'm imagining on a, you can get them from sort of, you know, less than a foot tall, up to three or four feet.
Martin Fish:It depends how old that particular conifer is. But the Picea conica that he mentioned is quite a slow-growing one. It's one that people would often plant on a rock garden or as a slow-growing conifer. But, you know, you often see them, don't you, in garden centres and shops, these little potted ones that are only tiny, tiny little ones.
Sean Riley:My wife got sent one during COVID to decorate herself because they were all doing Zoom. So instead of having a Christmas work do, they were all sent a miniature Christmas tree, a little bit of tinsel, and they decorated it and then it was in the shot on Zoom.
Martin Fish:Yeah, I mean it is lovely to have a real Christmas tree, isn't it? Because you get that lovely aroma in there and you feel that you've got something living in there. And what I was really impressed with Paul buys them all from Lincolnshire. I mean, he's obviously at Lincolnshire Nursery and Lincolnshire Garden Centre and he tries to source as much as he can locally, which I take my hat off to him for.
Sean Riley:Okay, and what's this thing about potted or pot grown? What's?
Martin Fish:the deal there, then. Well potted is essentially when they dig a tree up and just put it in a pot. So they literally dig it out of the ground, stick it in a pot, sell it. So the roots have still been disturbed, whereas if it's pot grown from a young plant, it's been in a pot and grown and it's got an established root system, so it isn't going to wilt and die, as long as you keep it watered, of course.
Jill Fish:It will grow, so it's got a better chance of surviving. Oh, you can keep that from year to year then. So do garden centres. Do they have to say which it is?
Martin Fish:I would think a good garden centre would say that yes, well, that's quite important, but there may be some you know I'm not, but some of them may be the sheds and the bigger garden centres probably won't know when they get them in, because it will just be a christmas tree in a pot, whereas Paul knows where his vine is from. So he he knows they are pot grown.
Sean Riley:Yeah okay, yeah, fabulous. Well, if you've got a question for martin or the team, drop us an email. Info at potsandtrialscom is the email address, and then we've got some questions we have so far away.
Jill Fish:We've got one from audrey in lincolnshire, so thanks for letting us know where you are, audrey.
Martin Fish:It's always a good help, because a bit of a lincolnshire theme today. Well, it is a bit actually isn't it?
Jill Fish:um, but it's a lawn question and she's asking is it too late to feed the lawn? Yes, oh, okay, there you go, audrey, if it's a winter feed well you.
Martin Fish:I mean here we are now. You know we are now, uh, early december, so it is a bit too late. I'm afraid, audrey, if you even if you're using you wouldn't use a winter feed. You'd use an autumn feed, which you'd use september and october. But now you know your grass has more or less stopped growing. Uh, it's still growing a little bit, but it's more or less stopped. So I would wait now and feed in the spring and if you want to feed in the autumn in the future because it is good to feed in the autumn because it's got a higher potash and a phosphate content which builds up the strength of the grass get a really good root system. So it helps to get it through the winter. If you want to do that in the future, do it next September or October, then it will be working lovely by this time okay.
Jill Fish:So, audrey, get a cup of tea, piece of cake, put your feet up and look at your lawn and think I'll do it in the spring.
Sean Riley:Yeah, sounds like a plan sounds like a plan. Another question, from nottinghamshire this time um, from jan, and uh, jan's asking about a black lace, sambuca, sambuca, black lace I don't know if I've said that right. Um, it's getting rather tall and, uh, they're wondering if it can be pruned back and how. If if so, how much and when? When would you do that? Yeah?
Martin Fish:What was?
Sean Riley:it called again. It says Sambuca, isn't that a drink? Well, that's the one you set fire to, isn't it? This is Sambucus with an S on it.
Martin Fish:Don't get them confused. That's why you get drunk so much. Oh, my goodness Right Big mistake of Jamaica get drunk so much, right, big mistake. So some bucus, yeah, and it is. It's essentially a sambucus is an elderberry, uh, but these are the ornamental fancy leaf ones, and black lace has got really deep, deep purple, almost black leaf that's cut fine, lovely frilly leaf, so it's a really nice one. In fact there's one I can just see out in the garden that's just got a few leaves left on it over there by the fence.
Sean Riley:Oh, yes, yes and they do get quite big if you allow them. Well, obviously, it's lost its leaves.
Jill Fish:That's highly technical.
Martin Fish:I'm a professional gardener. You know they do get quite. If you let them grow they will get to be quite big. But it is one that responds really well to pruning. So normally you wouldn't do it at this time of the year. You would normally wait until spring. But elderberry is as tough as old boots. So if you cut it back now it isn't going to kill it, it will just burst into life come the spring.
Jill Fish:And if you, because the flowers. When it flowers it has lovely pinky, purple flowers and they're really nice to add into a batch of elderflower cordial. If you're making it, because it gives the cordial a lovely pink color, it hasn't got as much flavor as the ordinary white elderflower, so so don't use all pink, but two or three of the of the of the flower heads will make it a nice color and not as much flavor as the sambuca shop no, no, no, no, absolutely um one last question, sort of more of a conversation rather than a question, perhaps from valerie cousins on one of our youtube videos.
Sean Riley:Do you have a video on pruning the ever-bearing raspberry now? Valerie doesn't say where they are in the world, um, so I'm not sure exactly when or where or how?
Martin Fish:yeah, well, it's an interesting question that I mean. The answer is no, we haven't done a video on everbearing.
Jill Fish:Simple answer.
Martin Fish:Video on pruning them and I had to think what is an everbearing? Because you get everbearing strawberries which basically keep cropping all the way through the summer. Little and often and I was thinking, I don't know, of an everbearing raspberry we get summer raspberries and we get the autumn raspberries. But having done a little bit of research, I think some of them are now being branded as ever bearers and essentially they are the autumn fruiting raspberries. So you plant them in the normal time, prune them down in the spring, and the difference between a summer fruiting and an autumn fruiting is the autumn fruiting produce the fruit from august, september onwards, on the new growth that it's made that season, so you can cut them down in the spring. It'll make a long shoot that fruits that year.
Martin Fish:The summer fruiting raspberries produce the fruit on the previous season's growth. So in the year one it makes the growth. The second year it has the fruit on it and at the same time it's producing new shoots that will fruit the following year. So what you do with those is you cut out the old fruited ones and you always got the new ones for the following year. And I think these everbearing is they will fruit in the autumn September, october, normally in March, you would cut them down to ground level and start again.
Martin Fish:If you don't cut them down or only cut half of them down, so sort of every other one you'll get the new growth that will fruit in the autumn, but the ones that you've left will produce little side shoots with some fruit on in the summer, so you can get two crops now. I've heard people talk about this. My only thought with that is you're putting an awful lot of strain on that plant to produce two crops a year instead of one. So I think you've got to feed it more, mulch it more, really nurture them, um. But yep, you can get two crops off.
Sean Riley:But I know them as autumn fruiting, but I think they are being branded now as a marketing thing as everbearing, certainly in england anyway okay, well, um, yeah, makes sense for that, but the yeah, the simple answer to have we got a video on it is no, um, but anyway, um, I think we need to go back and hear a bit more from Paul about these Christmas trees.
Martin Fish:So, Paul, you mentioned there's no such thing as a complete needle retention or they all drop at some point. So if you've got your Christmas tree, you get it in your room. How can we keep it healthy, in good condition and try and keep that needle drop to a minimum?
Paul Maxey:Right, the first thing we need to do is think where it's going. So we need to. If we've got a fire, if we've got a radiator, we need to think what's going to happen where it is. If you can turn that radiator down, great, that's going to make life a lot easier for yourself. If there's a corner, that's a colder corner in a room, even better still. And then we need to think about this particular thing that's been cut off or in a pot or whatever.
Paul Maxey:It needs water. If you buy flowers or foliage, you immediately take it home, cut the bottom, put them in water and they last for weeks and weeks and weeks. Christmas trees, exactly the same, it's just a bit bigger. So obviously the Nordman types and the Fraser types and the Pisces types. They are better at holding and but they will still be even better still if you can make a clean cut on the bottom, because when a tree is cut, it seals itself against bacteria infection. It doesn't know it's been cut up and being moved around, it thinks a branch has come off, and then, if you can get that clean cut, the water is drunk up through there. It'll take a couple of pints a day.
Paul Maxey:A big six-foot tree, right, yeah, and then you can then put it in a pot that's a suitable for it. So you can either use any bucket you like and then cover that. Just make sure you check it that it's got no holes in. Cost me a carpet one year, so, uh, yeah, just need to tell. Or you can buy proper ones for christmas trees, which we've got one in front of us which is one where you put your christmas tree in, you can put water in with it and you have screw in clamps that hold it tight. Now I recommend always when people do these, when you mostly buy your Christmas trees these days, they're in a sleeve, so we put all our hours in a sleeve when people have picked them. Keep it in the sleeve till you've got it in the pot, then you don't get your ears prickled as you're doing it.
Paul Maxey:Good tip. And then you can get it nicely. You can carry it straight in the house without it bashing all the doors apart, and then take it off and you're in the right place and it's nice and easy to look after.
Martin Fish:Yeah, that's a good tip, and with these that hold the water, then you've just got to keep topping it up every few days. Make sure that it's always got water in there.
Paul Maxey:Yep, yep, agreed. What I tend to do is sort of lay down on the floor, put my finger in. If it comes out wet, that's fine, don't need to do anything. And then you just keep topping it up every so often, if not get the kids to growl underneath, they don't mind.
Martin Fish:And what about the length of time? Because some people vary when they put trees in. Some like them only in a few days before Christmas, so it feels really magical on Christmas Day. Some people like them in very early, sort of get to the end of November, beginning of December, they've got to have the Christmas tree. If they go in earlier there's more chance they're going to lose the needles presumably oh yeah, a lot more.
Paul Maxey:If you're going to go in at end of November, start of December, which is getting much more popular, people are decorating their houses much earlier you have to go in with a low-drop type tree, so you're going to have to go in with a Nordman style to get in there. If you went in a Norway spruce, it will be bald by the time we get to Christmas. Personally, I'm a Christmas Eve man always have been, but my kids won't let me go away with that. I have to go in two weeks before, which is the general thing. Somewhere around the 8th to the 10th of December is the peak time for Christmas trees going in, but it's getting earlier and earlier every year yeah, I mean, it is beautiful to have a real tree in the house, isn't it?
Martin Fish:because you get the fragrance of the foliage and it's something living in the house. Yeah, years ago they might not exist anymore, Paul, you'll know because you're you're up to date with the trade. You used to be able to spray them with, like uh, to stop the needles falling off. Are they still available?
Paul Maxey:or they all gone, that we used to have something called wilt proof that we used to spray on them and it used to hold the needles really nicely in there and you could sort of almost have the needles on there for two weeks and extra and it wouldn't make any difference. That not available anymore can't spray it.
Martin Fish:Now we've got to do it by the old-fashioned way of looking after it properly so the secret is as cool a place as possible, let it hydrate first, don't put it in too early and keep it moist around the base and you're away. That's it.
Paul Maxey:Yep, you've got it then, and you are well sorted. And don't forget, of course, post-christmas. There's lots of places now to recycle your tree. I know there's quite a few where they're using it in sea defences and against river banks to hold the banks in together, and there are places where they are mulching it and then using it to go on soils and so on, so it can have a second life afterwards. Don't think it's got to be just left.
Martin Fish:So it's not just for Christmas.
Paul Maxey:Not just for Christmas, it's for the rest of the year. Thank you, Paul.
Jill Fish:So coming up, martin's got some jobs with roses, so we'll be having a floral gorgeous garden next, next summer, when we're doing those jobs for roses. Um sean, do you have a real tree in your house, because we haven't had a real tree for a few years? Yes, we have a real tree.
Sean Riley:Um, we go to the local uh farm and we see it cut down. So we knew, know that it's been grown there, but it's just nice. I like the smell of it. We like to you know we'd like all of that stuff and you know it's very fresh if you go and see it we do, but now we're not allowed one well, I do.
Jill Fish:We always had our own.
Sean Riley:Well, now the kitchen's finished, I think you'd go. You think you could have a new tree and replace that plastic. Is it plastic?
Martin Fish:Yeah it is.
Sean Riley:Replace it with a real one in this corner over here, just behind the camera.
Jill Fish:I think it's the smell. I think that I love more than anything else.
Sean Riley:Do you not like hoovering up the pine needles as well? Yeah, I love that.
Martin Fish:We were spoiled weren't we, Because for many many years we had a nursery and we'd got a block of land and we grew Christmas tree or some. So we'd go up with the kids and we'd decide that's the one we want. Cut it down, take it into the house.
Jill Fish:And it was free.
Martin Fish:And it was free.
Jill Fish:So I think that's the problem it's going from having a free tree every year. They are expensive, but then I understand why.
Sean Riley:You know we've heard Paul talking about it. I mean you need to spend a lot of time, was it seven years before?
Jill Fish:the tree was kind of ready and then maybe longer, if you want a bigger one.
Sean Riley:I mean it's a long time to nurture something, isn't it?
Martin Fish:I think we could have both Jill. I think we could have one in the living room, one in the kitchen.
Jill Fish:Well, I fancy the kitchen. Well, I fancy one of those little ones in a pot and one on the table, I think, the more I love them.
Sean Riley:So you could you could grow one outside well, and we'll just bring it in oh well, we always.
Jill Fish:We always decorate a couple of trees outside as well, can we?
Martin Fish:do a compromise, then we will have a real christmas tree, but I'll get a pot grown one rather than a potted, okay, and then it can go into the garden by the greenhouse in a pot in the summer and that won't drop needles and ice. Yeah, I think we'll do that.
Jill Fish:Okay, all right, and then so do you recycle yours, Because Paul was telling us about you know things that they use with recycling trees, so sort of they were using them to stabilise the banks on rivers?
Martin Fish:Yeah, which I didn't realise, and just as mulches as well.
Sean Riley:So they're all shredded down, used, as. I think I might have mentioned this on last year's podcast, but I'm going to say what I did in case there's new listeners. Um, we have an old Victorian house with a bay window and the tree lives in a bay window, which is quite cool area because obviously the windows mean that it's drafty and it's not that drafty, but it's a cooler area of the house, so it lasts longer. And what I do is I bring the composting wheelie bin outside the bay window, I open the bay window and bit by bit, I snip it down branch by branch and just put it straight through the window into the compost bin.
Sean Riley:So we compost it.
Jill Fish:You're doing it yourself. Yes, we are composting it. I think some councils in the UK will come and collect them, won't they? Our council?
Sean Riley:will take them, come and collect them. What we found, our council will take them, but by the time, um what? When you drag it through the house, even if you know you end up with the needles everywhere and I found this just straight out the window works really really well yeah, however, um, they do take them. But sometimes we've noticed our neighbor leaves out for the um bin men to recycle and it can be there weeks just as well.
Martin Fish:You don't live on the sixth floor then, isn't it?
Sean Riley:yeah, yeah, this is true.
Martin Fish:Yeah, well, you'd still be thrown out yeah, yes, yeah, I think I think definitely two. Two a year from now on okay, they are.
Sean Riley:Do you know how much the christmas tree is?
Jill Fish:well, we haven't.
Martin Fish:Well, it's only about four or five years since we stopped buying them.
Sean Riley:Well, you've saved a fortune, yeah no, I don't know, because the artificial ones are relatively expensive anyway, but we got ours in the sales in january so it was cheap all right, move on swiftly okay, roughly 50 pounds for a six-foot tree well, that's okay how much do you?
Jill Fish:spend on your haircut, mrs fish, and your hair when you have your shots fired shots fired is it not worth every penny just think if you had one less cut, you could have a Christmas tree. Have you got some jobs?
Martin Fish:I'm going to plant a Christmas tree in the garden in seven years time you'll have a wonderful exactly.
Martin Fish:Well, we do actually decorate the big new tree, don't we we like? So, yes, uh, right, well, it's got a bit of a rosy theme. Really. This one has um so, um, I'm going to start with something not rosy and finish with the roses, if you've got things in your greenhouse.
Martin Fish:A few weeks ago we put lots of plants that needed a bit of frost protection in our greenhouse, at which you can find on our youtube video uh, mainly agapanthus and that type of thing in pots. Just check them, just make sure that they're all OK in there. You know they will stand it without any heat. They just need that little bit of protection of the glass. And if we do get some warm, sunny days, just open the greenhouse, because ventilation is really important. You need air movement. You can get very stale and damp in a greenhouse at this time of the year, so a bit of air movement. Close them at night, obviously, and if we are getting some heavy frost forecast and you've got plants that need that little bit of extra protection, get some of that horticultural fleece and just wrap it around them or drape it over them, just to give them a little bit of extra protection. It's like having a duvet over them.
Martin Fish:Roses, I'm a great believer that it's a late autumn, early winter. You should give them a trim, a prune. So I'm going to be out doing ours in the garden and I'm just cutting them back by half. So these are the hybrid teas, the floribundas. If you've got shrub roses they can be given a trim. So we're just reducing the bulk so they don't blow around too much in the wind, and it also takes off the last of the dead flower heads and tidies them up a little bit. So that's something you can be doing with your roses now. But it's also, you know, now in December the bare root planting season is here, so roses can be grown and sold in pots or bare root. Bare root ones are always much cheaper and I think they establish really well.
Martin Fish:So, get your bare root roses. You can get them from garden centres or order them online from specialist growers. And now is the perfect time to plant them, because, although we think it's everything stopped growing, the soil is sufficiently warm enough to encourage some roots to grow ready for spring growth.
Jill Fish:I think we've done a video on planting bare root roses, I think we did yes last year.
Sean Riley:Make a note to put that in our show notes yes, make a note for that can I do a shout out for my favorite rose of course you can.
Jill Fish:Yes, because it was recommended to us. Well, we, it was growing in some friends of ours from our old village in north yorkshire, malcolm and jenny, who I think might listen to our podcast hello and they had a lovely rose called tottering by gently, and it's just gorgeous, isn't it? It's very gentle and it has lots and lots of flowers. Just the sort of sing, is it?
Martin Fish:it's called a single it's a single pale yellow flower. It's beautiful, it's been, and we've planted one.
Jill Fish:We've planted a few roses in our sort of new borders and that's done really well this year, first year in, and it's yeah, I think that's sort of new borders and that's done really well this year, first year in, and it's yeah, I think that's my favourite.
Martin Fish:Yeah, yeah, it has done very well, and we always think it reminds us of your mother, doesn't it? When she was going a little walk? Yes, she was tottering very gently.
Sean Riley:And that's one that stuck in my head because I know from editing videos that you've made we've made of roses that sometimes I've been able to put the names on, and and that one I remember, I remember that one so as soon as you said my favorite, I knew exactly which one you were going to say oh, fabulous.
Sean Riley:um, do you remember? If you've got a question for martin or the team, drop us an email info at potsandtrialscom and, um, if you have the chance to do as a review, just leaving a few stars for us five five or so would be wonderful um, but no um, it just helps the podcast reach a few more people it does, and if you like our podcast, please tell all your friends about it as well spread the word.
Martin Fish:If you don't like it, don't mention it to them, but if you do, spread the word what's the old joke?
Sean Riley:yeah, if you like it, I've been martin fish.
Martin Fish:If you didn't like what we're doing, I'm alan titch, and with that we're going to say goodbye, because I think we're about out of things this week I want to talk about so see you next time, next time see you then bye watch the videos on youtube or facebook.
Sean Riley:Follow us on instagram, twitter or x.
