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“ O come on Mary, you don’t want us out there in January?”
“Sure thing”
“It’s a total waste of time! I’d rather be indoors, in the warm. Anyway, I put my garden to bed in November, and I shan’t be out again until a week before Easter”
This is the opinion of too many people; but I would like to get you to change your mind, and see that you derive pleasure from your “Winter Garden”. Here are a few facts and suggestions towards that aim.
Mornings are best, before lunch – take a late lunch if the weather is kind. It does tend to be better earlier in the day than later at this time of year. Your garden looks and is better in reality than through your windows. Make a real effort to be ahead of the game by the middle of March – you will really notice the benefit later in the season. Proceed with care on occasions, gently rake leaves away with your fingers, rather than going hard at it with a heavy rake, and damaging the tips of your bulbs.
The garden will remain approximately the same for three months, or more. You could not say this at any other time of the year. Remove any perennial weeds, especially those with tap-roots; dig them out with a large fork, making sure that you get all the root. Brambles too: dig or mattock them out. You must find the crown, or they will be back. Enjoy the beauty in the frost; watch how it will change the hue on leaves of evergreens; you may even see shades of red on euonymus.
Prompt points – you may care to protect your broad beans, if they are through now. Check your outdoor propagation and make sure that it is not too wet, and that mushy leaves are not spoiling herbaceous plants. Prune your rhododendron and cut out any dead wood. Time to shape amelanchier again.
Like me, I am sure that you have observed last autumn as very long lasting. The leaves of oaks, limes and beech trees still cling to the twigs. Why not keep a notebook yourself – record rainy days, frost patterns and much more: another dimension to your garden and the general appreciation of our natural history. Watch little birds, such as wrens sparrows or robins – they will looking to pair: the cycle continues.
Happy New Year to everyone, Mary Edwards
