Tulip bulbs should now be planted.
If you still haven’t planted your other spring bulbs, get them in quickly, and they will be fine.
Plant up some hanging baskets and containers with cyclamen, pansies, and primroses to brighten up the patio and borders.
Visit the garden centres and have a look at their containers and plants to give you some ideas.
Tidy the borders, clear away collapsed plants, cut down stems of the herbaceous plants and any remains of the annuals.
Grasses, astilbes, sedum and other perennials that fade later, can be left to give shelter for some of the wildlife.
Continue to clear leaves from the lawns and around the plants to give them light and air, if left, these damp conditions will create a heaven for the slugs and snails.
Less hardy perennials such as penstemons and hardy fuchsia should only be cut back by about a third at this time. Cut them back fully once they start shooting from the base in spring.
Hibernating animals need shelter from the winter cold, and the outside taps will need protection from the frost.
Hopefully you have the means in the house to turn off the water supply to the outside tap.
Happy gardening everyone!
Note: Chandler’s Ford Today is looking for a gardening enthusiast to write monthly from January 2015. Contact Janet.
For the first time in my life we are more or less up to date with the garden.
Yesterday I bought 5 Rhododendrons from the RHS at Wisley. There are unusual cultivars at Wisley and they all looked in very good condition. Planted them today, avoiding the showers.
This spring I tackled the moss on the lawn. It is all back now with interest.
In this household, we used to complain that the three chickens we kept turned our little garden into a muddy field, though we appreciated fresh eggs every morning. We had an enclosure for the hens, but they flew out of the enclosure and took over the whole garden. To be honest, I didn’t mind, as I really enjoyed their company, the noises they made, and seeing them enjoying their freedom – we genuinely had free-range chickens.
Now all the hens had died (fox and unexplained mystery), the grass has now grown back, and we need to start thinking of the garden. The problem is “where do you start?” The last time a gardener had a look at our garden, she suggested that everything has to be dug out and the garden needs to start afresh. This sounds rather challenging.
Finally, do you know of any gardening enthusiast who would want to continue the gardening series here? Mo has now retired and I’m looking for someone who is as enthusiastic as Mo, who could enlighten us regularly. Thanks.