BBC Gardeners' World December 2021

Join us… for lunch and an exclusive garden tour at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons – and enjoy a special rate for subscribers. Read more on page 75 Be creative… on our Wreath-Making Basics online course and make the perfect wreath for your festive front door. Book now – midday, 7 Dec at GardenersWorld.com/xmas-wreath-essentials Save now… on our 132-page Year Planner 2022, to help keep you, and your garden, on track – and it’s a perfect stocking filler. Subscribers save 25% on the £7.99 cover price – turn to Rewards, page 26-27. Last chance… to book your place for our online Evening with Monty, in conversation on gardening sustainably, at 6pm, 30 Nov. Book at: Gardenersworld.com/Monty-Green-Gardening Don’t forget to note your Subscriber Number, printed on the issue wrapper, to access your exclusive website content: Keep up to date…

As the frenzy of Christmas approaches – with even greater pressure this year to lay on the perfect celebration – it’s so vital to build time outdoors into your days. The positive benefits of our connection to the natural world are undisputed, and the latest thinking is we need at least two hours a week, preferably more, in green spaces, for our mental wellbeing. (It’s also good for our immune system, as I learned from Dr Michael Mosley for a new podcast on gardening for health). As gardeners, we have the escape valve at our back doors. And while it takes little effort to step out into warm, summer days, it’s so rewarding to be outdoors now in the crisp (even damp) air, spotting the early signs of life coming through. We have…

“December, being the last month, cannot help but make us think of what is to come”Fennel Hudson STAR OF THE MONTH Cotinus coggygria We do not pause often enough to properly appreciate how much a good deciduous shrub can contribute to a winter border. They have neither leaf nor flower at this time of year, but that is no reason to dismiss them as dull and walk on searching for an evergreen. Look at this – in summer, cotinus has a very alluring purple leaf interspersed with puffy plumes of pale pink flowers, hence its common name of smoke bush. Those glories are long faded, but we are left with a skeleton that even the most jaded among you cannot fail to admire. Propagate by semi-ripe cuttings in summer. Prune if necessary in winter…

Cornus ‘Baileyi’ Unusually vigorous, with reddish-brown winter twigs and among the best autumn leaf colour. Height x Spread 3m x 3m C. ‘Elegantissima’ The most popular variegated variety with white-edged leaves. Bright red winter stems and white fruits. H x S 3m x 3m C. ‘Flaviramea’ Often slender stems of yellowish-green. Looks great alongside darker varieties. Happy in wet soil. H x S 2m x 2m C. ‘Kesselringii’ One of the darkest, the stems are almost black. Red young shoots and purplish autumn colour too. H x S 2m x 2m C. ‘Magic Flame’ The fiery orange twigs, tipped with red, are revealed when the equally fiery autumn leaves fall. H x S 2m x 2m Shrubby dogwoods What’s that reddish blur in the hedgerow? Take a countryside walk almost anywhere in lowland Britain now and you’ll probably notice a dull reddish…

Height x Spread 2m x 1.5m Fruits July-August Order code: 310175 MORE GREAT OFFERS for BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine readers Mini orchard fruit tree collection Grow your own mini orchard right by your back doorstep with this collection of three self-fertile, compact fruit trees – ideal for smaller gardens or patios. You may even pick your first juicy fresh fruit in the first year, with an increase in crop year on year. The collection includes one each of apple ‘Braeburn’, plum ‘Victoria’ and pear ‘Conference’. 3 bare-root trees (1.2m tall) £24.97 SAVE £20 (300004) Also available to buy separately Apple ‘Braeburn’ H x S 5m x 5m F Oct £14.99 (300001) Plum ‘Victoria’ H x S 3m x 3m F Aug-Sep £14.99 (300002) Pear ‘Conference’ H x S 3m x 2.5m F Oct £14.99 (300003) Honeyberry ‘Morena’ A honeysuckle…

There must be something about the letter P. Perhaps it is the plosive prefix that particularly appeals to people, with the potential for pronouncements that have pith, profundity – not to say p**s-poor platitudes. OK – I’ll stop. Promise. But look up ‘Three Ps’ next time you are idly googling your life away and you will see that all management gurus have their own Three Ps to success in business, public speaking, saving the planet, living longer… Not wanting to be left out, I shall indulge myself with my own Gardening Three Ps – except mine are the Three Problems that gardeners currently have to face and need tackling head on. They are peat, plastic and pesticides. Nothing new here and more’s the pity. I wish this was yesterday’s news. But the problems…