Suspension. Hibernation. Ethereal, delicate beauty. These are words we often associate with the garden in winter. What we appreciate at this time, the evergreen trees and shrubs, providing structure in the garden, and reminding us that winter isn’t just dull and grey, colour still abounds.
Early winter jobs
Now is a good time to check that any support or other structures such as fences are stable and if they aren’t then mend them before high winds and snow can damage them. Dead-head autumn-flowering plants and prune summer-flowering shrubs before the first frosts. Grass is dormant in winter, so best to avoid walking on it – create a system using temporary planks if walking across lawned areas is essential. Now is the time to protect plants with cloche, wrapping pots or bringing tender plants inside. Keep an area of the garden untidy, a pile of logs for example, to help provide protection for wildlife. Add compost or well-rotted manure to beds to improve the soil for next years plants – and its not too late to get more bulbs in!
Winter
Plan ahead – reflect on what worked and what you’d look to do differently. Give your tools the care they need, start ordering seeds, and enjoy some of the root vegetables you stored from late autumn harvesting. Come January it will be time to prune your fruit trees as they are dormant now. Remove dead, diseased and damaged wood, and eliminate any instances of branches crossing and rubbing against each other – remove the weaker one. Sow Cavelo Nero, broad beans, winter salad and radish seeds, plant onions, leeks and garlic. Sow peas indoors to plant out in March or April and chit seed potatoes. Once snowdrops have flowered, divide and replant to help them spread.
