DJ Landscaping

The Gardening Year - Month by Month      Advice and Tips  Winter (December 22nd - March 20th)

December - Advice:

With preparations for Christmas and New Year celebrations in train, gardening usually goes on the back burner in December. For anyone who works away from home during the week, there are few days in which it is possible to get out into the garden. Indeed, with the shortening days and onset of winter weather, there may only be one or two weekends when it is suitable for gardening outdoors.

Fortunately, this is a time when an enormous number of house plants are sold, so your home should be bright and colourful even if there are very few flowers out in the garden. And there are plenty of armchair gardening jobs to be done: looking through the seed and bulb catalogues to select new plants you intend to grow; planning how you are going to redesign or rearrange the garden; or just reading the latest gardening books and magazines.

                         Winter is the time to plan for next year.

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December - Jobs:

Jobs that won't wait

Order or buy seeds as soon as possible - especially seeds of those plants that should be sown in mid and late winter so that they have a long growing season.

• Check bulbs being forced for Christmas and New Year flowering. Do this regularly to ensure they do not dry out and make certain they are given light and warmth at the right time.
• Protect any shrubs of borderline hardiness, especially in cold regions. Even if some damage has already been done, it may not be too late to provide protection as the majority of garden shrubs will grow out of limited frost and wind damage.
• Take winter hanging baskets under cover, either into the greenhouse or porch, before very severe weather arrives. Baskets are particularly vulnerable because the compost in them is exposed to cold from all sides and can freeze solid.
• Bring under cover herbs potted up for forcing.
• Check on the condition of stored apples and pears.
• Lift chicory for forcing, pot up and keep in darkness in a warm place. Also lift rhubarb roots for forcing indoors, and start forcing selected crowns outdoors.
• Lag or protect outdoor pipes if not already done. Better still, turn off the supply and drain the pipes.
• Knock snow off branches of shrubs, conifers and hedges to prevent them breaking under the weight.
• Keep an area of the pond ice free if you keep fish.                                                         Top

January - Advice:

In January, the middle of winter, thoughts of gardening may still seem a distant dream - rather like the summer holidays. But this is the turning point of the year when you can increasingly start to enjoy gardening again. Much cold weather lies ahead, but often the first spring bulbs are poking through the ground, the buds on many shrubs and trees are beginning to swell and the days are starting to grow longer - albeit almost imperceptibly.

There are not many outdoor jobs that can be done, but planning, buying, and starting off the season in the greenhouse are all pleasant tasks to undertake now. And they all satisfy the urge to be doing something constructive for the gardening year ahead.                                                                   Top

January - Jobs:

Jobs that won't wait

Order seeds to be sown in January or February - you may have to wait some weeks for delivery.

• Protect vulnerable plants from frost and wind damage.
• Firm in any autumn-planted shrubs and border plants lifted by frost.
• Knock snow off branches, especially on conifers and hedges, if they are bending under weight.
• Check stakes and ties on newly planted trees; make sure they are secure and not rubbing.
• Keep an area of water ice free if you have fish in the pond.
• Check on bulbs being forced for indoor display every week so that you don't miss flowering.

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February - Advice:

In February the garden begins to stir from its winter slumber. Winter aconites and the first snowdrops and crocuses are in bloom, and by the end of the month primroses and early daffodils such as 'February Gold' may be making an appearance. The early-flowering shrubs, including chaenomeles and daphnes, will be flowering freely in mild areas and, by the end of the month, will be showing colour even in the colder parts of the country.

This can be a time of considerable activity if you have a greenhouse, especially if it is maintained at a temperature warm enough for propagation. Don't be in too much of a hurry to sow summer bedding plants however, unless the plants need a long period of growth. Even then it may be more economical to start them off on the windowsill for a few weeks before moving them into the greenhouse. It is much easier to maintain higher temperatures in the greenhouse in March, and seeds sown then often catch up with earlier sowings, thereby saving on heating costs.        Even if you delay most of your greenhouse propagation until March, stock up this month with compost, pots and seed trays, and check that the seeds ordered earlier have arrived.                                                                                          Top                                  

February - Jobs:

Jobs that won't wait

Knock heavy snow from trees and shrubs and keep an area of the pond ice-free.

• Protect vulnerable plants from frost and wind damage and firm in plants lifted by frost or windrock.
• Sow slow-maturing bedding plants such as antirrhinums and African marigolds.
• Sow quick-growing perennials such as campanulas and poppies to flower this year.
• Make a regular check on pots of bulbs being forced for indoor flowering.
• Order or buy summer-flowering bulbs, corms and tubers, especially if you are planning to grow any that need starting off indoors, such as tuberous begonias.
• The closing date for ordering young bedding plants by post is often at the end of February; order them now.
• Pot autumn-rooted fuchsia cuttings into small, individual pots.
• Put cloches in position to warm the soil for early sowings of vegetables in March. They should be in place for at least three weeks for the soil to benefit.
• Make any necessary repairs to wooden structures supporting plants before the plants begin to grow.

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March - Advice:

March is the month that brings fair-weather gardeners out of hibernation. By now the early spring bulbs are flowering. prolifically and by the end of the month, in mild areas or after a favourable winter, the main spring-flowering shrubs such as forsythia will be in bloom.

Warmth can now be felt in the strengthening sun, and many seeds germinate readily if they are sown outside. Weed seedlings also germinate freely at this time, and plants such as nettles that die down to ground level in the autumn start to produce fresh new growth. It is impossible not to be aware suddenly that there are all kinds of jobs that need to be done in the garden. Fortunately the better weather makes most of these jobs a pleasure.

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March - Jobs:

Feed seedlings before nutrients in the compost become exhausted.

• Mulch beds and borders while soil is moist to reduce watering and weeding later in the year.
• Sow seeds of summer bedding plants, annual climbers, herbs, sweet peas, tomatoes and many vegetables this month. Some seeds can be sown directly into open ground but most benefit from being started off in pots or trays with protection from bad weather and pests.
• Prick out seedlings before they become overcrowded, otherwise they will make poor plants.
• Thin hardy annuals and vegetables sown in the open ground before they become crowded and compete with each other for light and nutrients.
• Pot up or space out in seed trays in the greenhouse young bedding plants and tender perennials ordered by post as soon as possible after they arrive.
• Divide congested clumps of border perennials before they make a lot of new growth.
• Take hardwood cuttings of any shrubs you wish to propagate. Soon new growth will make this kind of cutting inappropriate.
• Take root cuttings; they are more likely to root if taken from dormant plants.
• Prune roses as soon as possible, ideally before this year's new growth is well developed.
• Complete planting of bare-root fruit trees and bushes and bare-root roses and other shrubs this month to give them time to establish before dry summer weather.
• Start spraying fruit such as apples and pears if you have had problems with pests and diseases in previous years. The timing for some sprays is critical and depends on the state of the buds or flowers to avoid harming bees and other beneficial insects.
• Be strict about pest control in the greenhouse. Warm March days under glass can encourage a population explosion of many greenhouse pests and early control is important.
• Remove the pool heater if you used one over the winter and replace it with the pump.

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