THE DULLEST, YET BUSIEST TIME OF THE ITALIAN GARDENING CALENDER
The Italian gardening calender is generally full of tasks that can be performed under blue skies and Mediterranean sunshine. However, towards the end of the year, a bitter wind from the north, named il trammontana blasts away all of the heat from the Italian summer and leaves the garden looking bedraggled and dull. In this season very few gardeners are inspired to work in the garden due to the bitter cold and grey days, however it is in fact the busiest time for maintenance work in the Italian garden!
Tasks such as specific pruning, mulching and planting should take place now in the Italian garden and a brave gardener should not shy away from doing them- if he/she is aiming for success in the garden in Italy. Since most deciduous plants are dormant between late September to early March in Italian gardens it is standard gardening practise to prune certain groups of these plants in this period. Fruit trees like apples and pears should be pruned in this period (see www.lifeinitaly.com/garden/pruning.asp) whereas fruit trees in the prunus family (cherries, apricot and peach trees) should only ever be pruned in the summer, in order to avoid a deadly fungus that enters through pruning wounds. Winter-lowering plants such as Chimonanthus should have branches that bore flowers pruned to the base of the plant immediately after flowering.
Plants should also be mulched in this period as soil organisms are still active in the earth and welcome a covering of organic matter (manure, rotted down leaves etc) on which they feed. This then gets broken down into humus, a jelly-like substance that retains moisture and nutrients in the soil. A covering of rich, brown rotted organic matter (compost) will also look much tidier and attractive than boring soil and the mulch will help protect tender plants from frost as it insulates the roots of the plant.
