by Terriesa Torode
Welcome everyone to some more helpful tips and advice for your garden over the next couple of months. For many of us winter is a time of retreating from the garden but there are many jobs to do outside that will either help towards a healthy, productive garden or some important pruning to be accomplished that will enhance your shrubs or fruit trees.
- Mulching
I have started with this if you wish to improve your own soil quality and everything that grows in it, then mulching is the key to greatly benefiting the garden and all plants. On bare soil over winter many nutrients and minerals are washed away by the heavy winter rains and frosts. By mulching we trap those nutrients in the soil rather than leaching away and we improve soil quality by adding this humus rich material on the top of the soil. Never worry about the mulch as all the microscopic insects that live in the soil will bring this wonderful mixture down into the depths of the soil. Worms play a very important part of this process to. Either collect or order your three-year-old manure, or miscanthus used in horse stables, spent mushroom compost, leaf mould, your own compost if you have a large amount or buy a few bags of well-rotted manure from your local garden centre. Spread this evenly over the ground around two to three inches deep. Vegetable plots become very productive if this method is used and trees, shrubs and of course all perennials except Mediterranean plants. Then just leave the mulch because by the end of winter the mulch will have done its job and your plants and seedlings will grow healthy next year. - Pruning
In winter when the plants are dormant all apple and pears trees get pruned. This is to shape the trees, open them up to prevent disease, increase yield by learning about spurs and keeping them under control. These trees need an open centre, strong branches radiating out and all laterals pruned by a third to encourage more side shoots which will bear more fruit. There are several form of trees from cordons, dwarf pyramids, espalier, central leader bush tree and open centered bush. For most of us we will have the last two and there is so much information to relate but here are a few tips. Prune strong branches by a third, weak branches by a half. Avoid cutting so a bud is facing towards the centre of the tree. Prune to outward facing buds so the new branches or spurs grow outwards keeping the centre open and allows plenty of air circulation in the next years growing season. Always sharpen all tools required for this job, then sterilise with a disinfectant and I use a spray from the kitchen when I am pruning, frequently sterilizing as I work. Clear away all pruned pieces, if diseased burn them to ash. If free of disease, break into smaller pieces and place in the compost but never place diseased shoots into the compost or allow to stay on the ground because you will then be spreading the disease in the garden. With ornamental trees pruning in winter helps keep the trees healthy so try to get all pruning done except for evergreen trees pruned over winter. Birch, Maples, Oaks, Chestnuts and nearly all deciduous trees. Evergreen trees get pruned in May. Afterwards clear away clippings and spread a little mulch around the base with some slow release fertilser.Indoor vines need pruning, with mature vines prune all leaders by one half or down to two buds. New shoots will grow from these next year. Outdoor vines leave until January. For gooseberries, cut back all leaders by one half and all laterals that were pruned in summer prune these to around two inches in length. Redcurrants cut away leaders by one half always to outwards facing buds and laterals that were pruned to four inches cut to one inch. This encourages plenty of fruiting spurs. Old Blackcurrants need a third of their old stems removed down to the base. Vigorous branches can be pruned to a strong side shoot. Loganberries and Blackberries should have had their old, flowered shoots removed to the base. This year’s new stems secured onto the wires. When planting new loganberries cut one stem to ten inches high. With Blueberries prune away a third of old flowered stems to a vigorous shoot or to the ground depending on the stem. As with all pruning cut out any diseased stems or rubbing and crossing over stems. Clear away all prunings, keep sterilizing as you work and always have sharp tools, preventing damage to shoots. Take cuttings of blackcurrants, white and red and gooseberries. - Vegetables
Clear away all canes, netting unless you are protecting any brassicas you have growing like Brussel sprouts, purple sprouting or spring cabbage. Mulch vacant ground. Reevaluate all that you have grown. Note down what vegetable did well and what struggled. Organise your four-plot rotation and order seed catalogues. Lift parsnips and lay horizontally in a box filled with sand, lay parsnips in rows. Heel in some leeks near the kitchen door for easy access. Get garlic in now, it needs a long cold period to grow well. Make new rhubarb plants by digging up the large clump and cutting it into pieces ideally with a large bud on it. Replant pieces into a rich humus hole by adding plenty of well-rotted manure. Use a sharp spade for this job. Pot up all strawberry runners for next year. - Outdoor structures and general maintenance
Disconnect all hose pipes and protect. Wrap insulation around existing taps. Clear away all leaves caught in gutters to prevent weeds from growing next year. Power wash all paths and remove algae and moss to prevent slipping in wet or frosty weather. Leave a pile of wood, branches and cover with leaves to allow a small habitat for beneficial creatures of the garden. Repair all wooden structures like trellis holding up a climber or an arch holding a rose before winter damages them more. Bring in and store all garden furniture if it is plastic or wood. Clear away all leaves and rubbish from glasshouses and polytunnels. They should be clean and tidy at this time of the year. Organise all pots and scrub and clean all seed sowing equipment before winter ends. Trays and small pots, propagators and sieves. Get all tools repaired, cleaned oiled and sharpened as winter requires lots of pruning jobs. Service all machinery before spring so your machines are working perfectly next spring. Remove all petrol as this harms carburetors. Lift all pots up onto pot feet to prevent cracks or broken pots. Move your best pots to the front door where you can enjoy them. - Pruning shrubs
Some perennials have exquisite seed heads, and these can be left for the birds. Whilst others simply die back, clear this all away. Remove all perennial weeds from the border like dandelion and docks. Mulch heavily the entire border and either fertilser now with slow release fertilser or early spring. Clear away all canes, supports and string, giving the whole border a clean and organised feel for the winter.
- Bulbs
All bulbs should be planted now. Check those you are forcing, if they have reached two inches they can be brought into a cool frost-free position but with more light and more water. - Lawns
Remove all leaves from the lawns. Try and give edges a final trim to prevent grass from growing into the border. Only on dry days cut the lawn very high if necessary over winter, but never on frosty lawns. - Hellebores
Mulch around hellebores with leaf mould or compost. If you want perfect flowers early next year, consider placing a pane of glass over the entire plant. This will protect the flowers from splash back but not too large because the plant still needs water. - Snow
If we receive snow and it is heavy like last year, get out into the garden and use a rake to shake it mostly off. The heavy snow breaks branches, stems and flattens shrubs so they receive lots of broken stems. This may cause disease to enter the plants system. Hedges can be ruined if left. Perennials will be protected by the snow so do not worry about them. - So happy gardening folks, enjoy the winter and your gardens, look and see what is flowering amongst your shrubs and pick a few stems ,bring inside and enjoy their fragrance in a vase.