Happy 2019 garden lovers!
Well I trust you and your garden made it through all the downpours and the heatwaves and most of the garden is still in one piece. There is not a huge amount to do at this time of year so while the garden is having a long and much needed rest now is a great time to look back on all the successes and failures and begin to plan where in the garden you can make some improvements and implement some new ideas and concepts. Put your feet up by the fire, get out those old gardening magazines and start plotting!
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1. ITs been quite mild through December so if you still have geraniums outside get them undercover before the frosts arrive. Not many people know this but if you 'overwinter' geraniums by putting them in a cool garage or store room, away from frost, and just leave them in the dark without water they will go dormant until spring. Come March give them a trim, put them back in the garden, show them some love, water well and they will bring you many months of few foliage and flowers the following summer.
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2. Roses can have a really good trim now but its also a good time to plant new ones too. Depending on the type of roses you have will depend on how you trim them but for simplicities sake if you have a 'shrub rose' or upright growing rose then you can cut them right down to 3 or 4 inches above the soil. Give them a good mulch of leaves as well and they should grow strong and healthy again next year. Be sure to look up different trimming methods depending on the type of rose bush you have as some don't need to be trimmed back quite as hard.
3 Another great tip for the colder months ahead is if you have any spare bubble wrap lying around use it to line the inside of your pots and keep some of you favourite potted plants snuggled up to protect their roots from frost.
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4. Start thinking about whether you want to try growing edibles this year. If you do then broad beans and peas should be planted indoors in Feb so start looking around for some great organic seed suppliers and order them in.
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January Gardening Tips
Viburnum tinus is January's flower of the month
Just as it seems the rest of the garden is hunking down for winter this cheery shrub gives us that creamy, pink blush of warmth and wafting scents of sweetness that lifts the soul when we need it most at such a bleary time of year.
Everyone should have a little shrub of Viburnum tinus if they can. Winter just wouldn't be the same without one. They can reach to be a rather large shrub if given space, up to 3m, and have dark green, shiny, ever-green oval leaves. Clusters of small, creamy-white flowers, often pink-tinged in bud, are produced over a long period in late winter and spring, followed by blue-black berries so it has months worth of colour and interest.
Viburnum tinus definitely get the green thumbs up from us.
