Turn your cosy fire into fertiliser
Wood ash
Those with a woodburner have a good supply of fertiliser for their gardens in the form of wood ash. This is composed mainly of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium, with trace amounts of iron, manganese, sodium, boron, zinc, copper, and molybdenum.
Never use coal ash as a substitute, nor ash from treated timbers.
Wood ash is alkaline so don’t use it on acid-loving plants such as azaleas, blueberries, daphne, heather, rhododendrons and strawberries. Never use it on seedlings as it is too salty and may burn young plants.
Use sparingly – sprinkling it rather than upturning a full ashcan onto your garden. Sprinkle it on your compost or dig a sprinkling into the soil.
It contains up to 70 per cent calcium carbonate, so can be used as substitute for lime – applied now, it will break down by spring.
Calcium lovers that will appreciate it (still sparingly!) are brassicas, carrots, celery, lettuce, tomatoes and apple trees. It is especially useful when club root is a problem in brassicas.
Edibles
As long as the soil is not too wet, cabbage, kale, lettuce, mustard greens and peas may also be planted, and radish seeds sown.
Custom has it that garlic should be planted on the shortest day and harvested on the longest. This is a guide rather than a rule, so if you haven’t got it in yet, think about it soon. Choose a sunny spot with friable, free-draining soil. Try some different varieties, you might find one suits you and your condition more than another.
Word has it that the elephant garlic flower is stunning – as big as an orange and on stalks up to a metre or so tall. You might like to try some in your flower garden.
It pays to keep a regular eye on stored produce, checking for signs of decay, which will spread. Don’t let one bad apple spoil the lot.
Ornamentals
Cut off some of the old leaves of hellebores and Iris unguicularis to expose the flowers.
Plant lilies.
Plant any bare-rooted roses or fruit-trees as soon as possible after purchase. These usually come in a plastic bag, with just sawdust or strips of newspaper, rather than soil, so will dry up and can die without prompt action.
Start ordering catalogues or perusing online for plants and seeds for next season.
– Mary Lovell-Smith