CREATE A THRIVING WINTER GARDEN
Expert tips on how to master this season’s top trends
During this cold weather it can be easy to forget about the garden. But putting in the effort in winter will ensure a beautiful garden when spring arrives.
Here, Melissa King, horticulturist and Northcote Pottery brand ambassador, shares her top tips for enhancing your garden this season.
GET PRUNING
Late winter is the perfect time to prune roses. For modern bush roses, start by raking up any fallen or diseased leaves from the base of your plant to reduce the chance of pests and disease spreading. Then, cut off about half of the growth in a rounded shape and remove any spindly, old or dead wood.
Most fruit trees will benefit from a good prune when they’re dormant in winter, to improve the quality and amount of fruit and create a strong framework of branches. There are two essential tools for the job – a Cyclone Compact Bypass Pruner with non-stick-coated cutting blades for lasting sharpness and a Cyclone Ratchet Bypass Lopper, which provides additional cutting force for bigger branches.
REMOVE WEEDS
Now is also the time of year to get stuck into hand weeding. Soft wet soil makes pulling up weeds and roots so much easier. So try to remove weeds as soon as you see them while they’re still young, and most importantly, before they form seeds that can spread to other areas of the garden.
RAKE IT UP
There are still plenty of autumn leaves hanging about, so rake them up quickly and efficiently with the new Cyclone Extra
Wide Leaf Rake. Be sure to add the leaves to the compost heap to help enrich your garden beds for spring.
TRANSPLANT & HYDRATE PLANTS
Winter is an ideal time to move plants. Prepare the new area for planting with plenty of compost and organic matter. Water plants well before you transplant them, and dig up as much of the root ball as possible. You might want to wrap it in plastic or hessian to reduce further damage to the roots in transit.
Once plants are in their new spot, keep them hydrated and give them a good dose of seaweed-based plant topic to encourage strong, healthy root growth and reduce transplant shock. A great way to know just how much water your plants require is to get your hands on a Nylex Digital Rain Gauge. It measures total rainfall in selected time frames and transmits data wirelessly up to 100 metres from the display, so you’ll always know when it’s time to get out the hose.
That’s gardening made easy for you!