Frost Protection
Ensure frost-sensitive and tender plants are adequately protected with cloches or fleece, especially if your garden is exposed or your winters are particularly cold. Even if you live in the South and especially London, keep an eye on temperatures as plants like young trees and shrubs can still be susceptible.
What to protect? Think tropical or typically warm-weather plants like citrus trees. Young Mimosa trees benefit from protection before they reach maturity too. Tree ferns can be protected with fleece or straw in the crown after cutting back old fronds. Pittosporum and Figs also benefit from protection.
Watch out for leaf spot in Hellebores
Hellebores are prone to ‘leaf spot’ – a fungal disease that appears as dark patches on the leaves. Remove affected leaves and dispose of them in your garden waste (not compost, to avoid redistributing).
The leaves of Hellebores are prone to developing leafspot – very obvious black patches will appear on these leaves
Mulch your borders
To help keep your soil well fed, mulch borders and large pots with fresh compost to feed the soil. Clear the surfaces of any weeds or detritus first before applying a thick layer. This will break down into the soil, filling it with nutrients and encouraging a strong display next year.
Christmas Plant Care
Many of us will be bringing winter plants into our homes at this time of year. Here are few top tips for looking after them.
- If you have a real cut Christmas tree, it’s a good idea to saw off the bottom centimetre of trunk before setting up – this will create fresh openings for maximum water absorption. Remember to keep the reservoir topped up through the festive period for maximum longevity.
- If you have a real planted Christmas tree, it’s a good idea to move it indoors initially to a cooler spot to help it acclimatise. Keep it watered and, when planting or placing back outside, choose a sheltered, sunny spot where it can sit happily until next year.
- Poinsettias, with their eye-catching red and green leaves, should be keep out of direct sunlight, in a bright spot. Water regularly enough to prevent the soil from drying out and allow any unneeded water to drain away before repositioning.
- The same goes for Cyclamen – which look beautiful indoors on a kitchen windowsill
Pruning:
Perennial Care: Remove dead or dying foliage from perennials to encourage healthy growth.
Tree Pruning: It’s a good time to prune deciduous trees like acers and birches (only if they need it!) to prevent sap loss from pruning in warmer months.
Damaged Trees: Following the high winds of storm Darragh, you might have noticed a few broken branches. The best thing to do with broken branches is to cut them back to a bud along the branch. The tree will continue growing from that bud or branch so, if you’re trying to shape your tree, choose a bud that’s pointing in a direction that works for the look or shape you’re envisioning.
Deadheading: Any plants with remaining spent flowerheads can be removed now. Plants such a Rudbeckia benefit from a tidy up once late-summer flowering has finished.
Sort the shed
There can be no worse time to tidy the shed or other garden storage area than the height of summer. What is likely to be a dusty job is much better tackled around now when it’s cooler. Declutter your garden shed to create a more organized workspace and you won’t regret it come summer.
Leaf Removal
Continue to strike a balance between leaf clearing and leaving them to decompose in useful areas. Leaves can, generally speaking, be left in flower beds where they’ll break down and feed the soil with nutrients. Clear leaves from your lawn with a rake (as opposed to a leaf blower which we recommend avoiding for a multitude of environmentally unfriendly reasons) to prevent bare patches from developing. Place collected leaves in a leaf pile or old compost sack to break down over time. In a year or two you’ll be nutrient rich leaf mould to feed any many of plants, beds and pots with.
Fence and Structure Inspection
Check fences, trellises, and pergolas for damage and make necessary repairs.
Gardening for nature
Water Feature Care
Protect outdoor taps from freezing by insulating them. The same goes for external pond filters. It’s a good idea to place a plastic football or, if you have one, a glass ball on the surface of your pond helps to prevent the water from freezing and, when it eventually seals over, allows you to easily create a hole without smashing the ice which can traumatise fish. The hole this allows you to create will become a valuable water source for birds and possibly other wildlife in colder temperatures.
Additional water sources
It’s very important to provide water in the winter. Make sure to keep a bird bath topped up and check regularly for ice. If you don’t have a bird bath, a terracotta plant pot tray works beautifully too and can be found in almost all garden centres.
Create habitats for hibernating or nesting wildlife
Log-piles, upturned and propped up pots full of leaves and compost, bee hotels. All of these additions to a garden can help enormously to encourage wildlife in, and give it somewhere safe to hide or hibernate. The Wildlife Trusts has some brilliant guides to wildlife gardening here.
Bird feeder maintenance
Keep bird feeders well stocked and if possible, offer a variety of feeders and food to attract as wide a range of different birds into your garden as possible. It’s also a good idea to give feeders a clean when they empty to help prevent diseases spreading among birdlife.
