Amateur Gardening 8-Jan-2022

“It’s funny how some folk – non-gardening I hasten to add – believe that everything comes to a grinding halt in winter, and that there is little pleasure or value to be derived from the garden. Yet how wrong they are! The seasons are all special, and I love the stark duo-tone effect of winter browns and greens, especially when they are blessed with a smattering of snow. Tasks completed in a bitingly cold winter garden give a greater feeling of achievement than in any other season. And when the work is done and numerours layers of clothing removed, hands are warmed around a piping hot brew as a well-earned reward. Let’s all enjoy the winter garden.”…

YOU may be wondering why the main photograph of an article about winter lawn care shows me pruning a tree. Don’t worry, I’m not having a senior moment – the two matters are actually very closely related. The tree is a weeping ornamental pear tree, Pyrus salicifolia ‘Pendula’, which looks amazing in summer with striking grey-green foliage and pretty white flowers. But it is very vigorous and by the end of the growing season its lower branches are almost touching the lawn around it. While this looks attractive, it means that the grass becomes covered with leaves in autumn and the branches block light and air from the lawn, increasing the risk of soil compaction, damp and fungal problems. So I use a mild winter day to trim back the tree and aerate the…

THERE are a couple of quick jobs you can do on dry, mild days to help see your lawns safely through winter. Areas that get a lot of traffic are likely to be compacted underneath, causing muddy spots and soggy, waterlogged soil. You can alleviate this by laying a simple stone path, see right, and aerating with a border fork. Simply plunge the fork into the ground a couple of inches (5cm) deep, and give it a wiggle. This will open up the soil, letting air in around the grass roots and helping water soak away. Edging the lawn is an instant way of creating a neater garden. Either use a half-moon tool or a spade to create a ‘moat and mound’ effect. Edging creates clear boundaries between borders and the lawn and also removes…

IT is doubtful whether any of us will be adding plants to the garden this week – for starters, the soil is probably too cold and wet. But we can be planning new additions and preparing the soil for their arrival. Keep on top of weeds through winter as many will grow whatever the weather. Small ones can be easily hoed off and left to rot down on the soil as a form of green manure. Winter is a good time to feed and condition beds for spring planting, either by layering mulch on the surface to break down, or by digging it in. If you are using the former method, mulch when soil has been wet by rain and isn’t frozen. A layer of mulch on dry soil will simply act as…

THE middle of winter can be a tough time for plants in general, but it is extra hard for those growing in containers. Even hardy varieties growing in pots can fall prey to wintry conditions, but there are plenty of rescue remedies you can use to keep them looking good. Compost in containers is more likely to freeze solid than soil in the ground, damaging and killing roots and therefore the plant. Most containers are sold as frost-proof, but they may still crack if damp compost freezes and expands. Give protection by swaddling them in fleece or bubblewrap, making sure drainage holes aren’t blocked. If not provided with adequate drainage, the compost in containers can quickly become waterlogged, either by heavy rain or melting snow. Waterlogging forces the air out of the compost so in…

LIKE all roses, climbers need regular pruning to keep them in good shape and flowering well. Winter, when they are dormant, is the time to do this. The same applies to bush roses, while rambling roses are given their trim in the summer when their sole flush of flowers has been and gone. Last year seemed to be a good year for roses and the ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ climbing up the front of our house gave us two wonderful periods of flowering. She now needs a trim and as she suffered from some late-season black spot I need to clear any fallen infected leaves from the soil around her stems. This is important as the leaves contain the disease spores and they will live on in the soil if not collected. Start by cutting out, right…