We circle with the seasons: Alfred, Lord Tennyson
A wet and windy, yet mild December saw daffodil bulbs peeping through early in the month and roses still flowering in many parts of the country.The New Year forecasts mild to very mild in January and then beware the Jet Stream and prepare for cold February. That’s what we’re being told but none of it should prevent us celebrating the new year and enjoying the garden this month.
If you have planted for winter colour in previous years you may well have dogwoods and witch hazel, Skimmia and Viburnam complementing hardy climbers like Clematis cirrhosa and splashes of bulbs with Crocus, Cyclamen and snowdrops in your canvas. The evergreens Daphne and Mahonia provide a backdrop and containers of winter flowering pansies and violas brighten up shady places.
Take advantage of soft ground and continue digging, working-in compost and planting bare roses and fruit bushes. As in every year have the garden tractor, mower and outdoor power tools serviced ready for spring. You can carry on pruning apple and pear trees and don’t forget to put food out for the birds.
- Prune late vines
- Sow annuals and bedding plants in modules indoors
- Check young trees and stakes before and after the winds
- Buy seed potatoes to chit indoors
- Under glass sow asparagus
- Remove weeds such as chickweed and groundsel
- Turn compost
- Disinfect and clean down empty greenhouses ready for planting
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