A little thought will go a long way to helping wildlife
When I’m snug indoors, I often wonder how wild birds and all the other small creatures in the garden manage to survive during the coldest winter months. Providing a reliable source of high energy food and clean, unfrozen water can be a life-line during icy weather, so I always hang feeders high in my apple trees during January and February, safe in the knowledge that my cats pose no threat because they’re curled up next to a radiator. Larger birds, such as blackbirds, thrushes and fieldfares, will also feast on berries, so plant rowan, pyracantha, cotoneaster, holly and other berry-bearing plants wherever you can find space. When there’s snow on the ground I throw some of my stored apples onto the lawn too, which can bring in up to 20 birds at a time once word gets round.
Fighting the urge to keep the garden too tidy helps to provide shelter for all kinds of wildlife through winter. Allow leaves to pile up under hedges, don’t cut back the faded foliage and stems of perennials until early spring, and stack up any pruned wood in a quiet corner. Creating homes for beneficial creatures will mean they’re on site, ready to pounce on snails, aphids and any other pests that become active in spring, and as long as you rake blankets of wet leaves off plants and turf the garden will not suffer one bit.
Pruning free-standing apple and pear trees is an important winter task. Remove any dead and diseased wood now, along with unfruitful, upright branches, to allow more light and air into the centre of the tree. Despite annual pruning, my extremely vigorous Bramley apple tree has become too big, so I will be spending January out with loppers and pruning saw, carefully reducing the canopy while trying to retain its lovely shape.
If you are particular about the varieties of vegetables you grow, then order seeds as soon as possible to ensure that your favourites are in stock. This is especially important for seed potatoes, which tend to sell out quickly before dispatch in February. Choose varieties carefully to suit your growing conditions, requirements
When there’s snow I throw some of my stored apples onto the lawn
and taste: they can be floury or waxy; fast-maturing first earlies or slower growing maincrops; some have disease resistance, while others are interesting heritage varieties unavailable in the shops. My current favourites are the first earlies ‘Rocket’ and ‘Swift’, because they are healthy, quick-cropping, and waxy enough to use for salads when small, but make delicious potato wedges as they grow – the kind of versatility that’s valuable when you don’t have a field to grow your vegetables in. n