My home-made Christmas gifts
Debi Holland
A newly transformed plot in Somerset, beautifully planted with wildlife in mind.
In the summer I started propagating plants for Christmas to build up a stock that would hopefully reach a substantial size by December and I’m thrilled with the results. It can be difficult at Christmas to reduce, reuse and recycle but giving home-made presents is an ideal way to help minimise waste.
I’ve grown Fatsia japonica from seed. My mother-in-law gave me a couple of seed heads from her garden and I thought ‘I’ll chuck them in a pot and see what happens’, and to my surprise, all the seeds grew and grew and now I’m inundated! They’ll make perfect presents.
My sempervivum and echeveria continue to multiply, so separating the succulents for presents is a great way to use spares productively. I mixed home-made compost with horticultural grit and planted up beautiful rustic terracotta pots.
I’m obsessed with my houseplant Pilea peperomioides. Their large, round evergreen leaves hang gracefully, require virtually no attention and are an uplifting home addition. Propagated from my existing plants, they've bred like rabbits! Even the propagated material propagated itself. So carefully teasing away roots, I separated out the individual specimens and potted them on. I’m so proud of my pilea babies, or rather teenagers!
Of course, the sign of a good parent is to let go… I’m going to have to be brave when I give these away, I’d love to keep them all. Another easy, but well-received gift, is a pot of bulbs. Rather than banishing my old plastic pots to landfill I reuse them as Christmas gifts. Pots of narcissus ‘Tête-à-tête,’ crocus, hyacinth and tulips all bring optimism for the new year.
We've a stunning tree fern in our garden. Dicksonia antarctica is an incredible structural garden feature but as the temperature reduced it was time to wrap up ‘Dicky’ for the winter.
Looking back on 2019,
I’d say my most exciting garden addition has been the roses. They’ve all flowered well repeatedly and intoxicated me with their heady scents. I adore the entire ritual of rose care!