It’s still only January, but as I write I’m able
to look out at my back garden and can already see
lots of new growth … spring bulbs well out of the
ground, green buds on many of the shrubs, and a
Daphne Odora covered in bud and flower, and smelling
gorgeous. The Hellebores are amazing again this
year, too, and I can already see new growth on the
Euphorbias. It reminds me that it won’t be too long
before I have an astounding display of zinging acid
yellow from them to contrast delightfully with the
cerise pink tulips planted amongst them. I do hope
you’ve had a chance to get out and see what’s looking
good in your garden too.
Taking a few minutes outside (preferably in the
sunshine) does wonders to relieve the inevitable
winter blues, and reminds us of the joys of spring
to come.
The recent very cold snap has reminded us that winter is still most definitely here,
though. This has meant that at the centre I’ve been wary of getting much in the way
of new plant stock in too soon, in case we get covered in a blanket of snow. However, we
do have a nice selection available already, including
pots of bulbs - Crocus, Narcissi, Muscari, Scilla, Tulips and many more. Other plant superstars
at the moment are the Helebores - they really are
magnificent – and the Euphorbias. All are fully
hardy, and UK grown, so it’s fine to plant them
out now. There are camellias aplenty too, in a range of colours … a great evergreen shrub for a shady corner.
The flip from mild weather to cold can play havoc, and it makes it hard to know what to be doing in your garden. If you haven’t done so already, use some horticultural fleece to cover tender plants (I’ve just covered my Daphne at home, as they tend to ‘sulk’ if they get frozen when in flower, and drop leaves to show their disgruntlement); put a layer of mulch down to help protect those young shoots that have started to break through the earth; prune your deciduous shrubs and trees now, in case the mild weather returns again quickly and sap starts to rise sooner rather than later; and generally keep a close eye on weather conditions.
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With this bitter weather, I’m regularly lighting the wood
burner in the evenings to ensure we stay warm and cosy in the
kitchen at home, and feel very lucky that I can just grab a sack
of Olive wood from our stocks at the garden centre whenever
I start to run low. We stock both the Olive wood, and Kiln Dried hardwood.
I spent an evening recently sorting out my gardening
bits and bobs by the fire – throwing out very old
chemicals and fertilisers, sorting through some
plant labels to remind myself what needs pruning
when (I still get confused with all the various
types of clematis) and generally getting things
in order before I’ll need them. It so therapeutic
to have a clear out, but sadly often clearing out
the garden shed (or in my case, garden cupboard)
gets ignored from one year to the next …. along
with cleaning old pots, sharpening tools, and repainting
garden furniture and fences! So this year I feel
rather smug, as I repainted the garden furniture
in November, have had my secateurs sharpened already,
and have now sorted out my garden cupboard. Ha ha!
One thing I had to throw out was a box of slug
pellets that had got damp, and that reminded me
that one of the disadvantages of not
having had a prolonged cold period is that we may
have an early invasion of garden pests, including
slugs, snails and aphids. It is well worth taking
remedial action early to minimise the amount of
chemicals needed later. I’m going to bring some
slug pellets home this week, as I’ve found that
using them early in the season, thus destroying
the first emerging slugs, really cuts down on the
need to repeat doing so as the season continues.
Do as I did - check your supplies, and stock up
as necessary now on the items you may need.
Of course, it’s always worth encouraging beneficial
wildlife into your garden (birds, ladybirds, frogs,
bees) and ensuring you have places for them to make
their homes –as they will gobble up lots of the
wildlife you don’t want, as well as being
a pleasure to watch. I love the cycle of watching
frogspawn turn into tadpoles and then into the cutest
tiny frogs each year, and simply would never now
be without a pond, however tiny, in my garden.
Wildlife needs feeding, and also needs a source
of water, if you want it to keep returning to your
garden. Keep your birdfeeders topped up and put
out a dish of water if you don’t have a pond. Birds
will start looking for a place to nest soon, so
clean out any existing nesting boxes you have up,
or put one up if you don’t have any already. We’re
keeping our fingers crossed that the pair of blue
tits who hatched four chicks in a bird box at the
garden centre will come back this year. It was SUCH
a delight watching the parents run ragged by the
constant, very vocal, feeding demands of their offspring.
It’s over and out from me now, but Sally’s garden
tasks check-list follows. Keep popping in,
won’t you, as little by little we will be stocking
up again on plants, shrubs and trees. Sally and
I have finalised our fruit tree and soft fruit order,
I’m doing the same with the next Italian delivery
of larger shrubs, David Austin roses will let us
know as soon as our order of shrub roses and climbers
are fit to come to us, and there will be plenty
more besides.
In the meantime, keep checking on your garden,
keep a weather eye out, and keep warm!
See you soon.
Karen
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