mushymanrob

sorry but i simply dont believe that there are daffodils 'about to come out', assuming that 'coming out' means flowering which is what we in the trade call 'flowering'. daffodils are up, they always come up in november, for many years ive always waited until they showed their heads above the soil so i didnt dig them up when tending the boarders. its not unusual for snowdrops to be evident at this time of year, although mine are as yet nowhere to be seen, unlike other years! same with magnolia.

ive not ever seen 'spring' flowers blooming this early, although some winter flowering plants do flower early most years. theres no daffs, no tulips, forsythia, celendines, crocus etc etc etc, only winter flowering shrubs such as jasmine and mahonia plus some varieties of prunus. ..... anyway, the seasons definitions arnt decided by temperature, so what if september is a hot 'un? so early autumn is warmer then in the past! its no big deal.

no, the idea is silly! sorry but i havnt read all the pages here so excuse me if im replicating posts. why should march be called 'winter'? when the equinox is on the 21st, spring flowers are well into bloom, birds are nesting, frogs spawning and more often then not temperatures are mild! calling march winter will not make it any colder!

no one mentioning the london tornado?... it was only heavy rain here...

its a beautiful day.... low grey skies, chinks of brightness, dry, mild, superb for working :lol: i like it!

not sure how exactly it works, but some spring flowering trees/shrubs have often bared flowers in late autumn... jasmine and mahonia for eg are common offenders, however id agree with the rhodies. erm by 'seeing it all before' surely makes it 'normal'... i have no doubt that in years historically mild weather will induce plant growth at an unseasonal time. i think that we... mankind... likes to catagorise things too much, all the talk of 'normal ' temps for eg, we like things to run on time and be predictable. nature of course has different ideas and wont always play the game, this seems to confuse us in our nice neat packaged world!! buds 'moving'?.. what on?... what buds do on many trees/shrubs is swell prior to real winter, after a summer of growth the growth sprut is stopped resulting in a slight swelling as the buds are slowly developing, ready for the spring push. if you are saying that youve seen bud bursting then that would be unusual, again id like to know what on..

its not unusual for spring flowering trees/shrubs to show a few flowers in autumn.. perfectly normal :blink: most early spring plants are now raising up... celendines for eg.

well...... its the end of november and the end of leaf fall!! everything was BANG ON TIME. ive been the groundsman at sinfin community school for the best part of 30 years, and this is my 13th season as a self employed contractor there... ie... my observations are made on one site over a period of time. if anything this years leaves are a little early, as its not uncommon to need to continue clearance into early december. the exception is the usual suspects, oak, whos leaves are brown but still hang on the tree... italian alder who never drops before december anyway, and some willow whos leaves take forever to drop (late too). so im happy, my plans for work are dead on course without any re-arranging to cope with late leaves.

really?..... 90% of my trees are bare with only a stubborn italian alder (alnus incarna) still green (but that never sheds a leaf before december anyway) this has been a good leaf season for me, alot of dry windy weather and the leaves falling on time.... :lol:

trust me, i cut grass for a living and have done for 33 years! however some folk with time and the willpower can create a 'bowling green' type lawn, but the secret to a good lawn isnt to bang on loads of fertilizer alone, but ground preperation, soil management and the sensible use of fertilizers. the bog standard fertilizers that are sold every spring are just nitrogen heavy, greening up the grass for a short period of time.... a cosmetic short term excersise, one not employed by serious groundsmen.

feeding the grass is largely useless, its nothing more then a cosmetic act that really acheives anything much. most products are heavy in nitrogen, this will make the grass grow and turn it greener, but the growth is soft and of little benefit. the effects of the nitrogen soon wear off, besides who wants to cut the grass twice as often?..lol

but can very mild novembers be found preceding mild winters too?

oh yes.... ice in the bowl in the kitchen sink, milk freezing in the bottles and rising up in a coloumn...... we wont experience that as adults as our heating is now far more sophisticated! thank f...lol.

erm.... are you the 'yellowbelly'? youd recognise my avatar if you are!... i know mick n russ, they are good pals of mine at the derby md club. i was a nipper in that winter and was very ill for most of it, i do remember the snow though.. vaguely

indeed, using your mower as a leaf clearer is a very efficient way of clearing your lawn whilst tidying it too! drgl Posted Today, 10:06 cut mine hopfully for the last time yesterday. Depressing to see the moss has returned yeah the moss has really made the most of the moist warm weather this autumn, i too am now on my last rounds, due to finish on the 24th....

the mildest wether on record will be this one coming!

well yes it is.... but putting a big black cloth over a tree in july will not induce leaf fall alone! leaves fall when the 'abscision layer' forms at the leafs stalk base. this cuts off sap to and from the leaf and hence, it dies. im not sure though what causes the abscision layer to form, though i believe its a combination of factors... daylength and temperature, though these requirements are of differing proportion in differing speciese

i take your point, mine being that over the last ten years cutting grass in november is now the norm, the lawns i cut over the last 2 days have all had record amounts on for early november... i think that in another ten years of GW the last cut might be december, my season has certainly lengthend.

deep/rich topsoil?... every lawn is different and some lawns i do start growing late, others are late stopping, some are vigorous whilst others are fine.. checking my records, it was '95 that i was phoned up by loads after finishing too soon. 91-95 i had finished mowing by nov 4th.

but that depends upon the frequency of cut. you might have 'always' had a last cut in november but if the penultimate one was 1 in october im not surprised! lol. when i worked for derby city council '73-'90 we always finished grasscutting in october. since being self employed it wasnt until the mid 90's that i started cutting grass as part of my round in november. this was because after 'finishing' in late october i was inundated with calls requesting a further cut. i operate a fortnightly round from march-nov, and the november round is now essential.

as someone who makes a living from cutting grass, yes this season is certainly longer good!

ahhh... beech, they are also early this year, but they look like they are having a long drop as oposed to their usual 'all in one go' dumping.

leaf fall here in derby is on cue, whatever that is! lol, after all, there is no set date when leaves should fall !!!!! leaf clearance is my main task throughout november, one site has 300 trees!! and things are certainly 'on coarse'. i have several trees speciese that are now bare/95% bare, poplars in particular (an early dropper) are bang on cue. other early 'droppers' (lime, horse chestnut) are a little later (about a week/10 days) but are certainly within the 'normal' timeframe. interestingly some of the traditionally 'late droppers' are starting EARLY! prunus speciese that are often the last to drop are already colouring up 2-3 weeks early. hawthorn too and ash are dropping early. oak are the last, but they just turn brown on the tree and the leaves dont often actually fall until into december or even january. so dispite some people reckoning that leaf fall is LATE this year, here in derby it appears that everythings going normaly and the warm autumn doesnt appear to have effected leaf drop. please note though that no 2 seasons are the same, with differing speciese dropping at different times and at different rates year by year. whilst leaves might sometimes start colouring up earlier then others, it doesnt equate to ALL leaves dropping early. sometimes all leaves take 2 months to clear, other times they all come down together within a month...

hi chris..... what a corker!!!! that was the best storm weve had here for many many years.. just like storms of my youth.... it went black, very black (ok its dusk) the thunder and lightening was frequent and violent with plenty of cloud-ground the rain was monsoon like, and the gusty wind was fierce, driving the rain in sheets. for me, it was a storm to remember, a proper 'old fashioned' storm that i used to get in the 60's early 70's. none of the left trouser leg poor thunder that has been the norm for 30 years, but a decent, strong, storm that did its job and lived upto its name.... at long last!

well mine was another disappointment, plenty of thunder until it got here!...lol cloud structure was pretty good, lightening was pretty weak, rain was pitiful, just like a normal frontal rain.