Readers’ gardens

The gardens around her new house in Urmston, Manchester, are a haven of discovery and are gradually revealing their glories as the months pass.

I’ve had to put a few garden tidying jobs on hold these last few weeks. We were visited by the cold, snowy ‘Beast from the East’ and Storm Emma – although admittedly we got off lightly compared to other areas.

I haven’t been completely idle, though. More seeds have been sown in trays in the kitchen and the young hellebores are coming along nicely on the windowsill. I also spotted a lovely winter jasmine in a local supermarket.

It was labelled as a Mother’s Day gift, but I snapped it up. I love the scent of jasmine because it always reminds me of summer holidays in Greece. It’s safely away from the freezing weather in the house at the moment but I’m looking forward to putting it outside, near the patio doors, once all danger of frost has passed.

I’m still in the habit of walking round the garden every couple of days to see what might be emerging from the rather scruffy-looking borders. I’ve been delighted to spot the first signs of alliums I planted last autumn and to see there are still some daffodil, hyacinth and tulip shoots.

My main job now is to do a general tidy-up in the garden. I think it’s time to rake up the last of the mushy brown leaves, lightly hoe the borders and freshen up the compost in the containers.

I’ll also need to sort out space for all the seedlings to go in once they’re established enough to fend for themselves.

Left, a twisted hazel looking lovely in the snow and, right, the well-used bird feeder

The palm’s architectural form comes out in snow

This iris ba led through!

This is my wonderful winter jasmine blooming up nicely