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Originating in Asia, Astilbes are one of those garden plants that are just so easy to love.

Astilbes are one of those garden plants that are just so easy to love. Originating in Asia, there are now a number of hybrids available worldwide, providing gardeners with a wide range of choice in size, color, and growth characteristics. There are so many different species and presentations -- from short to tall, rigid to droopy, and even wispy to bushy.

Their striking good looks complement just about any garden, especially when planted with variegated hostas, grasses, and a variety of ferns. Astilbes in general are gorgeous when they are in flower and the blossom can last for quite some time. Once done flowering, their seed heads also can last a long time, adding texture and visual interest to many gardens with their vertical, bottle-brush, feathery shape. Colors range from white to pink to reds. Astilbes do well in shade to partial sun but they need moisture, so the more sun you offer, the more important it is to have a moist soil profile that enables them to handle it.

Depending on the type of astilbe you have, the seed heads can be sturdy and upright or they can flop over. Sometimes they look great and other times, not so much. Because of the seed heads’ longevity, you’ll need to decide if they add or detract from the overall look of your garden and whether you’ll want to deadhead them or just leave them alone.

Start by making a visual assessment of the seed heads

Once you go through this short and easy assessment you can decide whether to deadhead or not. The good news is, if you decide not to deadhead and take a little time to figure out if you really do like how the seed heads look, you can always go back and deadhead later in the season.

Astilbes add year-round visual interest to any garden

Personally, I love the seed heads of Astilbe chinensis ‘Pumila’. This is an amazing astilbe with low groundcover-like foliage that will spread beautifully to cover large areas. The flowers are sturdy and low as well as prolific. When they bloom there is a flurry of pink covering the plant. They bloom in August and sometimes right into September, so it’s a great late season plant.

The seed heads are rigid and upright and stand up beautifully to the changing fall season. If you’re lucky, they’ll hold up right through the first snow and provide an interesting visual feature until they are finally buried by higher drifts.

So while I prefer to forego deadheading Pumila astilbes, I’ll assess all other varieties and decide on deadheading them based on their performance and location in the garden. After scrutinizing them using my quick-and-easy assessment mentioned above, I’ll make the call on deadheading. If I decide to leave them alone, I can always change my mind later.

Because there are so many varieties of astilbes, you may need a couple of different tools to deadhead them. For the thicker-stemmed varieties, a pair of pruning shears will work well. For the thinner, more delicate stalks, a pair of snips will do just fine.

To start, follow the long seed head down the stalk to the first leaf and snip the stalk just above that intersection. This minimal cut will allow you to see how the plant looks after the initial deadheading while leaving yourself some room to cut further, if necessary. Some plants will look better cut farther down the stalk at the next leaf intersection, especially if the first cut looks a little too “stubby” and obvious.

It’s important to remember that your garden is always a work-in-progress. What works today, may not tomorrow. What was dazzling in your garden this year, may be just ho-hum next year. The point is, your garden is not static – it’s always evolving and changing, so as a garden owner or Fine Gardener, you need to be constantly assessing. We have some clients who hate the seed heads and we just deadhead without much fanfare. Most, however, are like me and like to see how their gardens evolve over the seasons and the years. They trust that we are making decisions about things such as deadheading based on overall landscape aesthetics and structural plant performance.

When it comes to astilbes, there is no hard and fast rule for this workhorse perennial. They come in so many sizes, shapes, and colors that there are sure to be more than just one variety that will fit beautifully into your gardening strategy. Everyone can – and should – have several varieties in their garden. They’re just so lovely and easy to grow.

Deadhead an Astilbe

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Winter is the ideal time for garden chores to be done in preparation for Spring

Winter is the ideal time for domestic garden maintenance chores to be done in preparation for Spring.

All your hedges need regular trimming and pruning. Hedge regeneration involves either trimming the old stems and/or pruning back all branches to help and encourage fresh shoots in early spring. How much you prune will depend on how it has been trimmed in the past

Now that the leaves are on the floor, it is the perfect time to remove unwanted growth and plants or even have a big garden makeover. There is less greenage to get rid of and you can see what you are cutting.

If you garden has an Ivy or brambles problem, Winter can be a great time to remove them as they are easier to locateamong branches that have lost their leaves.

Winter pruning more often than not includes plants that need to be pruned very late in the autumn, during winter and some very early in spring. Trees, shrubs and the many myriad of plants all have different needs and at different times of the year:

Winter pruning often involves and therefore takes longerbecause of woody growth and often results in large amounts of waste. However, by doing these more work intensive tasks in winter, your can concentrate on low levelregular garden maintenance during the growing season.

Your garden will need to have the leaves cleared during winter. Good garden upkeep also helps to reduce diseases. Rotting leaves and other debris can supply enough nutrients for weeds to self seed in cracks, grow and then spread. They can also lead to slippery paths

Weeds will can and will continue to grow especially during mild winters. You need to keep borders weed-free during winter mainly, because when your spring flowering bulbs and border plants start to flower, the borders will be much more difficult (more time consuming) to weed. Also, people don’t realize that many weeds are seasonal. Weeds grow more weeds. Regular weeding means less weeding.

Many plants are dormant during the winter months so they can be supplied as bare root plants (with no soil). Roses canoften bought this way. If you make sure that the soil is not frozen or waterlogged, these so called dormant plants can be planted before the spring.

Lawn seed can be put down in the winter. Grass grows above 5 degrees

Winter is a great time to dig and build a new border. Leave the soil in clumpy if you can because The cold winter rain and frost will help to break it down. This can also expose any pests to natural predators and the inclement weather.

Tending vegetable plots or creating new ones in the above manner can also be done during winter.

If you have a bumpy lawn then winter is a good time to remove sections of turf, add/remove soil and flatten it out

Now that you can see your garden in its bare bones, what needs repairing? Good to plan ahead, what plants will need supporting as they grow? Add them now.

Leaky shed roofs, compost bins, blown down fences , loose paving all need to repaired now to save time in Spring summer when you should be enjoying your garden

Greenscapes Gardening can help maintain your domestic garden so you can spend more time enjoying the space rather than trying to do it all yourself. We can help make you time rich instead of time poor.

Winter Garden Maintenance

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We all love gardening but domestic garden maintenance can often be tedious and backbreaking work. Unfortunately, due to our modern 24/7 lifestyles, we don't always have the time to do the garden maintenance that our gardens deserve. At Greenscapes Gardening we take the weight of your shoulders and provide all the garden maintenance services you need so you can enjoy your garden rather than toil in it.

In this post you can learn how we maintain all our gardens concentrating on watering, lawn maintenance and weeding.

Flowering beds need to be watered regularly and kept evenly moist. Water just 1-2 times per week.

Make sure to water plants in the evening or early in the morning, when the earth is cooler, as less of the water will dissipate than during the warmth of the day.

Avoid at all costs watering leaves or plant heads to discourage mould creation and be gentle with the water to avoid damage.

If you are away a lot then it is really important that you have an irrigation system in place. Controlling the release of water will regulate the amount of moisture in the soil

It is very important to protect your lawn from hot weather – Did you know that temperatures of up to 26°C will encourage growth but anything above 30°C will hindergrowth. When it does get warm, do not cut the grass too short and instead leave it standing at about five centimetres, which will in turn protect from the heat and prevent the soil from becoming dry

The ideal time to water the grass is 4-8am; If you can get a water computer control system to water your garden during these early hours.

When adding the water to the lawn, use 10-15 litres of water per sq.m as a guide and understand that over-watering can lead to mould formation.

Weeds are the bain of every gardeners life so to prevent the growth of weeds plant beds densely to reduce the space available for weeds to grow.

Did you know that the use of mulch stops weeds from sprouting?

If you really want to attack your existing weeds, dig deep and remove the source. Use a weeding trowel to aggressively attack the roots.

If you need help with your domestic garden maintenance call us now on&nbsp;<a href="tel:07772 656034">07772 656034</a>&nbsp;for a free quotation or email us at&nbsp;<a href="email: simon@greenscapes-gardening.co.uk">simon@greenscapes-gardening.co.uk</a>

Domestic Garden Maintenance Tips

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Do you like your garden and are desperate to spend time enjoying it rather than working on it?

Love your garden with our Garden Maintenance service

Do you like your garden and are desperate to spend time enjoying it rather than working on it? Then our garden maintenance contract could be perfect for you. We will come and maintain your garden on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly service, whatever suits your requirements best. Our bespoke Garden maintenance service encompasses all your gardening needs and therefore freeing up your time to sit and enjoy your outdoor space.

Our garden maintenance programme allows us to fulfill your garden needs through all year round as it is your garden after all, we are here to help and maintain it.

We look to manage the entire space of your property. This includes but is not limited to:

The sole aim of our garden maintenance services is to provide you with a garden that you can enjoy all year long without all the hard work.

Our Garden Maintenance service ensures you have an affordable, practical and beautiful garden at great value.

Create a new green space with our Garden Clearing service

If you have just moved into a new property and realised the garden is a mess or have you not had the time and neglected your garden so it has got out of control and you just don’t know how to start tackling it?

Then maybe you need our one off Garden Clearing Service which will get your garden back in order in no time! Greenscapes Gardeners will get your garden back looking neat and tidy as a one-off job and we even remove all of the rubbish leaving you free to plan your garden from a blank space.

Some of the jobs that the Garden Clearance service can include are:

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