WARMING WINTER JOBS

Ornamental cabbage

• Buy pots of small, early-flowering bulbs such as winter aconite, snowdrops and hardy little Cyclamen. Plant these around the base of winter-flowering shrubs for added colour.

• Winter-hardy primroses are effective planted beside a path, in front of your seat or in a trough near the house to bloom through to spring. Ornamental winter cabbage looks good too and gives the slugs something to eat over winter!

• Plant up one or more patio containers, using small upright conifers, variegated trailing ivies, small skimmia and winter-flowering heathers for a long-term effect, with pots of small bulbs popped in between which can be exchanged with more pots of bulbs as their flowers fade.

• Have a good look at stakes and supports for climbing plants to check if any need replacing.

CALLING A SPADE A SPADE

There is something very reassuring about going out into the winter sun and knowing you won’t get sunburn! That is one of the advantages of winter gardening. Another is there is no rush to get the mower out! I can take my time weeding and tackle jobs at a leisurely pace, stopping to look around and think up new design ideas. Long dark evenings and bad weather also provide the time to study the new season's catalogues, make up seed orders, prepare a cropping plan for the kitchen garden, and check out the gardening sites and forums on the internet.

CALLING A SPADE A SPADE

A friend (of a friend) of mine, who was a keen gardener, was out in his plot one day, when his neighbour popped his head over the fence and asked for some advice on planting potatoes. The friend told him that soil preparation was very important and to dig two spade depths, this being to loosen the stiff clay. Later that day, the friend looked over the fence to see how things were going, and you can imagine his surprise to see his neighbours head just sticking out of the top of this deep trench. His exhausted neighbour had thought that two spades depth meant the full spade including the handle. That’s one way to get warmed up on a winter’s day!

GO FOR A STROLL

Low sun in Clonmany

Look after your houseplants. If it gets really chilly, move them away from the window a bit; the cold could kill them off. Keep them out of icy draughts too. If you were given a poinsettia plant for Christmas, don’t take it too personally that the leaves are going yellow and dropping off. The plant is dying back; it’s the plant’s natural lifecycle. These plants like to sleep for a very long period of time in this country and will only wake up in September. That’s if you keep them warm and don’t over water them. (Chances are it will end up in the compost!)
If you have managed to over winter a poinsettia, do let me know.

You might be having problems with your cyclamen houseplant too. These tend to go yellow and die as well. These plants have been grown in ideal conditions in a glasshouse and the shock of ending up on your kitchen window can sometimes be a bit too much. Keep the plant at a cool 60 degrees, keep the compost moist but not waterlogged and you should get a week or two out of the plant yet.

Last but not least when the weather is fit, take a stroll outside. Check that weeds aren’t growing and setting seed in your herbaceous borders (Some plants are crafty and don’t stop growing in winter) if you see any, start pulling!

JOBS TO DO

Planting new trees now will give them a head start to get some roots established before the main growing season. Feed the trees well when planting and throw some of the food to the established ones as well while you are at it, it will perk them up in spring. Don't plant if it is too wet or frosty!

If the frost is on the lawn, try not to walk on it. This can turn the grass brown and you might be looking at your footprints for a couple of months!

When the weather gets too bad, go to the shed and get out your pots and containers that you use for growing seedlings. They will be ready for a good dusting first to get rid of the earwigs and spiders. They can then be washed and disinfected, ready for use in the next few weeks. (Try the vinegar solution, maybe)