Melksham Gardens Need a Helping Hand?

After this week’s bizarre weather, my garden is in a sorry

state. All the roses and hollyhocks were dashed to bits in the torrential rain

on Thursday and the lawn, after the dry summer, is now a muddy mess. All I can

do is think ahead; time to start planting bulbs like hyacinths, daffodils,

snowdrops, crocuses and tulips. Dig them into the soil in clumps for an

explosion of colour in spring.

You’re spoilt for choice in Melksham when it comes to

buying bulbs, plants, seeds, compost and all other garden requisites; the glam

new Countrywide has an expansive nursery and garden centre and just round the

corner, Leekes has an undercover department selling garden machinery, BBQs and

birdbaths as well as a small-ish selection of plants.

Lowden Nurseries in Shaw sell bedding plants – buy some

winter pansies to add colour to your borders – fruit trees, annuals, seeds,

herbs, the lot, really, as does Whitehall Garden Centre in Lackham, which also

has a café, farm shop and garden design service.

The ruined lawn problem is easy to fix; TW Landscapes can

supply locally grown turf to cover over sun-parched brown patches or replace

any areas that now resemble a rice paddy. If your lawnmower needs replacing or

your newly laid lawns needs rolling, Melkshan Groundcare Machinery can supply

the goods for reasonable prices and also repair mowers. As autumn gets going,

they also have blowers to rid the lawn of leaves.

If you’re into growing your own vegetables, now is the time

to plant winter lettuce, onions and spring onions under cloches, clear the

veggie patch and add compost to fertilise the soil for next year’s crop. It’s

also time to prune fruit bushes and weed strawberry patches as well as planting

rhubarb.

Next month will be time to prune apple

trees and hedges that have gone wild over summer – and there will be no nesting

birds to worry about. Call tree surgeon Trevor Hale, an NPTC-certified tree

surgeon, for felling, dismantling, pruning, planting and hedging needs.

Local gardeners who charge reasonable

rates and are happy to get your garden ready for winter include Sarah Findlay

(07876 694713), who also sells homegrown annuals and perennials from her Seend

Cleeve home, and MLB Garden Services, a cracking one-man success story run by

Matt (07986 095006), who will do everything from mowing to paving and

landscaping.