FEBRUARY FAYRE
‘February brings the rain,
Thaws the frozen lake again’
(Sara Coleridge, 1802-52)
Brrrh. Here we are in the middle of winter. The usual consensus is that the garden has shut down and is now out of bounds for the next couple of months. Is that how you feel about it? Well, the garden needn’t be a strange and distant land until April. Winter gardening can be just as enjoyable as at any other time of the year. Pick dry days that aren’t frosty or too wet because if you wrap up warm, there are still plenty of jobs you can do to catch up.
How is the vegetable plot? Have you dug over the vacant areas where you aren’t growing green manure? This is the perfect time to do it. After ten minutes of digging, you’ll be all toasty and rosy. Your feet and fingers will glow nicely after feeling as if you’re developing frostbite.
The thought of that takes me back to the early 1980s when I worked for the Parks and Gardens department of Rushmoor Borough Council (Aldershot and Farnborough.) The superintendent used to save up hard physical jobs for the winter, such as installing drains in the parks and playing fields. Those winters used to be cold in that part of the country. We started work in the dark at 7.00 am and were on site about twenty minutes later. The frost was so heavy we had to break the ground with pick axes to reach the softer soil underneath to dig out. So frozen were our feet and fingers, that it nearly made us cry with pain. It only lasted a little while though. I know it’s hard to believe, but once we got into the physical activity and the blood was coursing through our veins, we warmed up and the job actually became pleasant. Our ruddy cheeks glowing like the embers of a coal fire.
Anyway, I’m digressing rather. Once you’re outside, on your plot, spread plenty of well-rotted manure or garden compost on the site and dig it in. The frost and winter weather will break it down nicely to give a wonderfully friable soil ready for sowing in the spring. Don’t put compost or manure where you are going to grow root crops though, for obvious reasons.
Make sure to catch up on any outstanding pruning work that needs completing. For some reason an aura of mystique has developed around pruning, but as with most things in life, the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) maxim is the most sensible to observe. There are just three basic rules. Cut out crossing, damaged, and diseased wood. It’s a simple as that. At the same time though, keep an eye on the overall shape of the shrub or tree. Try to make sure that it is open in the centre so that air can circulate, thereby reducing the incident of disease, and that it remains a pleasant shape, attractive to the eye. That is, unless you are actually pruning for the grotesque of course.
Keep a close eye on weeds too. They are as tough as an old boot, and never seem to go into the deep sleep of dormancy. When it’s cold, they just have a doze. If it comes in mild then they are away and growing like mad. Some of the faster growing annual weeds even manage to set seed during the winter. Therefore, when you walk round your garden, don’t be afraid to hoe them off or pull them up manually if tap rooted perennials.
Beware of walking on soil that is soggy, frozen, or covered in snow. This will destroy the structure of the ground and increase compaction, which in turn will bring in drainage problems. This is especially so if you have the mixed blessing of a clay soil. You’ll also find that if you walk on frosty grass you will damage it. When the weather thaws, you will see exactly where you walked. There will be blue footprints on the lawn. Now there’s an idea how to catch a criminal in a mystery novel or short story. I must remember that and use it in one of mine. The damage doesn’t last though. It does regenerate when the grass starts to grow again.
The winter is generally a good time for other construction jobs. Make new beds if you’re planning to do so. Once cut, dig them over, and again, don’t forget to add the manure or garden compost. When the weather is open, it’s the perfect time for any hard landscaping too. This includes paths, walls, and foundations for greenhouses, sheds, and summerhouses, pergolas, and arches. It’s a good time for any repairs and maintenance too. I find that if I leave this work until the better spring and summer months, because there are jobs that are more pressing during these times, this work doesn’t get done.
Therefore, make sure to use this time of year to your advantage. You’ll find that, like the Co-Op, it pays dividends through the rest of the year.
Just a little though about the wildlife now. Have a look in your garden and see how many plants are currently carrying berries to feed the birds. If there aren’t any, or even only a few, then why not try to see your way to planting some.
However, not only that, berry-bearing plants can add another dimension to your winter garden. Look at the ‘beauty berry’, Callicarpa bodinieri (see photo.) This is an easy to grow small deciduous shrub. It has attractive tiny star like flowers in mid-summer, followed in the autumn by the most striking dense clusters of metallic looking violet berries. It’s like something from the space age.
Another shrub that both wildlife and we can enjoy is the good old cotoneaster cultivars. Cotoneaster Horizontalis is the usual one grown in gardens. This one is fabulous in spring too because it brings in bees and hoverflies of all varieties to the prolific nectar rich flowers. Following these come a massive profusion of red berries that feed the blackbirds, thrushes, redwings, and fieldfares through the winter. The cotoneaster is so versatile you can grow it up walls, use it as a ground cover, or even as a standard shrub on a single stem if trained that way.
For some beautifully honey scented winter flowers, try Skimmia Japonica (see photo), or Sarcoccoca confusa (Christmas box.)
Meanwhile, if it is wet or freezing and you can’t get out in the garden, open the seed catalogues instead, sit in front of the fire and plan your garden for the spring.
You can contact me on [email protected]
You can visit my website at cherrytrees.weebly.com
Until we meet again next month, happy gardening!
‘February brings the rain,
Thaws the frozen lake again’
(Sara Coleridge, 1802-52)
Brrrh. Here we are in the middle of winter. The usual consensus is that the garden has shut down and is now out of bounds for the next couple of months. Is that how you feel about it? Well, the garden needn’t be a strange and distant land until April. Winter gardening can be just as enjoyable as at any other time of the year. Pick dry days that aren’t frosty or too wet because if you wrap up warm, there are still plenty of jobs you can do to catch up.
How is the vegetable plot? Have you dug over the vacant areas where you aren’t growing green manure? This is the perfect time to do it. After ten minutes of digging, you’ll be all toasty and rosy. Your feet and fingers will glow nicely after feeling as if you’re developing frostbite.
The thought of that takes me back to the early 1980s when I worked for the Parks and Gardens department of Rushmoor Borough Council (Aldershot and Farnborough.) The superintendent used to save up hard physical jobs for the winter, such as installing drains in the parks and playing fields. Those winters used to be cold in that part of the country. We started work in the dark at 7.00 am and were on site about twenty minutes later. The frost was so heavy we had to break the ground with pick axes to reach the softer soil underneath to dig out. So frozen were our feet and fingers, that it nearly made us cry with pain. It only lasted a little while though. I know it’s hard to believe, but once we got into the physical activity and the blood was coursing through our veins, we warmed up and the job actually became pleasant. Our ruddy cheeks glowing like the embers of a coal fire.
Anyway, I’m digressing rather. Once you’re outside, on your plot, spread plenty of well-rotted manure or garden compost on the site and dig it in. The frost and winter weather will break it down nicely to give a wonderfully friable soil ready for sowing in the spring. Don’t put compost or manure where you are going to grow root crops though, for obvious reasons.
Make sure to catch up on any outstanding pruning work that needs completing. For some reason an aura of mystique has developed around pruning, but as with most things in life, the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) maxim is the most sensible to observe. There are just three basic rules. Cut out crossing, damaged, and diseased wood. It’s a simple as that. At the same time though, keep an eye on the overall shape of the shrub or tree. Try to make sure that it is open in the centre so that air can circulate, thereby reducing the incident of disease, and that it remains a pleasant shape, attractive to the eye. That is, unless you are actually pruning for the grotesque of course.
Keep a close eye on weeds too. They are as tough as an old boot, and never seem to go into the deep sleep of dormancy. When it’s cold, they just have a doze. If it comes in mild then they are away and growing like mad. Some of the faster growing annual weeds even manage to set seed during the winter. Therefore, when you walk round your garden, don’t be afraid to hoe them off or pull them up manually if tap rooted perennials.
Beware of walking on soil that is soggy, frozen, or covered in snow. This will destroy the structure of the ground and increase compaction, which in turn will bring in drainage problems. This is especially so if you have the mixed blessing of a clay soil. You’ll also find that if you walk on frosty grass you will damage it. When the weather thaws, you will see exactly where you walked. There will be blue footprints on the lawn. Now there’s an idea how to catch a criminal in a mystery novel or short story. I must remember that and use it in one of mine. The damage doesn’t last though. It does regenerate when the grass starts to grow again.
The winter is generally a good time for other construction jobs. Make new beds if you’re planning to do so. Once cut, dig them over, and again, don’t forget to add the manure or garden compost. When the weather is open, it’s the perfect time for any hard landscaping too. This includes paths, walls, and foundations for greenhouses, sheds, and summerhouses, pergolas, and arches. It’s a good time for any repairs and maintenance too. I find that if I leave this work until the better spring and summer months, because there are jobs that are more pressing during these times, this work doesn’t get done.
Therefore, make sure to use this time of year to your advantage. You’ll find that, like the Co-Op, it pays dividends through the rest of the year.
Just a little though about the wildlife now. Have a look in your garden and see how many plants are currently carrying berries to feed the birds. If there aren’t any, or even only a few, then why not try to see your way to planting some.
However, not only that, berry-bearing plants can add another dimension to your winter garden. Look at the ‘beauty berry’, Callicarpa bodinieri (see photo.) This is an easy to grow small deciduous shrub. It has attractive tiny star like flowers in mid-summer, followed in the autumn by the most striking dense clusters of metallic looking violet berries. It’s like something from the space age.
Another shrub that both wildlife and we can enjoy is the good old cotoneaster cultivars. Cotoneaster Horizontalis is the usual one grown in gardens. This one is fabulous in spring too because it brings in bees and hoverflies of all varieties to the prolific nectar rich flowers. Following these come a massive profusion of red berries that feed the blackbirds, thrushes, redwings, and fieldfares through the winter. The cotoneaster is so versatile you can grow it up walls, use it as a ground cover, or even as a standard shrub on a single stem if trained that way.
For some beautifully honey scented winter flowers, try Skimmia Japonica (see photo), or Sarcoccoca confusa (Christmas box.)
Meanwhile, if it is wet or freezing and you can’t get out in the garden, open the seed catalogues instead, sit in front of the fire and plan your garden for the spring.
You can contact me on [email protected]
You can visit my website at cherrytrees.weebly.com
Until we meet again next month, happy gardening!