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Our top 10 winter garden tips!
1 Adapt to climate change
Grass is becoming ever-more like hair - it keeps growing, even in winter. Twenty years ago you could have safely put away your mower in mid-October, but climate change has led to year-round growth, so remember to give your lawn a trim on dry days.
2 Wrap up for Christmas
Mulch the soil with a 2in layer of garden compost, manure or bark to keep down weeds next summer. Manure has had a bad press of late: if you are worried that your manure might be contaminated with weedkiller, check with your supplier first. However, even if it is tainted, your plants should still pull through.
3 Plant your bulbs now...
...because doing so in late autumn will help to prevent the fungal disease “tulip fire” (Botrytis tulipae), which leaves red streaks on the leaves and can distort the flowers quite badly, and should ensure a good show of colour in the spring.
4 Think structure
Winter exposes the basic structure of your garden. By trimming hedges now you will see the benefit all winter and spring, as they will not start to grow again before May. Conifers, however, are the exception: if you trim them now they may develop brown patches, so it's best to wait until the summer.
5 Soil needs time to settle
Dig any new borders and vegetable beds now so that the soil has ample time to settle over winter. This is particularly true for clay soil, because the action of frost will help to break up all the clods, giving a finer crumb.
6 Give them shelter
Lift tender plants such as geraniums and fuchsia, and store them in a frost-free greenhouse or pot them up and grow them on a windowsill. Alternatively, if it's bitterly cold, bring any potted plants nearer the house for warmth and shelter.
7 Feed the birds
Birds get cold and hungry in winter too, so don't forget them. Put your bird table or feeder a few feet from the window so that you can see all the action, and replenish supplies of food and water regularly. Coolings, an award-winning garden centre in Knockholt, Kent (coolings.co.uk), suggests serving peanuts (rich in oil) and balls of fat to provide much-needed energy.
8 Dig for victory
Grab the window of opportunity to plant shrubs, roses and ornamental and fruit trees now, while the soil is still relatively warm. The benefit of planting now is less watering next year. Conversely, wait until March to plant evergreens, as these can dry out over the winter months.
9 Introduce some colour
Give yourself, and your garden, a lift by planting some strong winter colour right by your front door, or as near to your windows as possible. Hellebores such as the Ashwood Garden hybrids, dogwoods with fiery-coloured stems such as “Midwinter Fire” (Cornus sanguinea), and winter-flowering heathers should do the trick. For heathers, Leigh Hunt, principal horticultural adviser for the Royal Horticultural Society, suggests Erica carnea “Springwood White”, as it is almost like a carpet of snow in February and March. For brighter hues, he suggests Erica carnea “Myretoun Ruby”, which has vibrant magenta blooms.
10 Cook the compost
1We all know that composting is a good idea, but how often does it actually work? If you are fed up with the bedraggled mess in your bin, follow this recipe, from Leigh Hunt: one third “green” material, wetter stuff including grass, vegetable peelings, coffee grounds and damp tea bags, and two thirds “brown” material, the drier bits that include leaves, clippings, stalks, twigs, egg boxes, cardboard and scrunched-up newspaper. Mix well, fork over and add water roughly every fortnight to keep moist - and hey presto! Perfect, crumbly compost every time.
To visit our website go to www.watson-landscapes.co.uk
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To visit our website go to www.watson-landscapes.co.uk
