Freeze cheers! Slowly, but surely, spring is coming

IT’S been a long winter and a harsh one and like most gardeners I’m now impatient for it to be over.

There’s only so many times you can sort your seed tin and write out labels for things that you’ve yet to sow and I have so many plans for the garden that I just want to get on with getting it into shape.

Yet there are moments when I’m forced to stop fretting and just have to stand back and admire the transformative beauty the cold weather can bring.

Under a blanket of thick snow the untidy bits of the garden are given a sense of order and walls and shrubs are transformed into soft, white pillows.

The air is still and crystalline and the beech leaves, stuck fast to the ground by frost look like enamelled brooches.

Then there’s the life of the garden that’s revealed in the pheasant tracks across the lawn and the imprints of the robins and blue tits that cluster round the compost heap in search of something to eat that’s not frozen.

While watching my winter garden I’ve noticed that piling autumn leaves on to the borders gives blackbirds somewhere to forage.

They toss the leaves aside to gain access to ground that’s not frozen and where grubs might be hiding.

I only left leaves lying in the flower beds last year because the weather stopped me from clearing up properly but I’ll do it again as a way of providing a lifeline for small birds.

Indoors, the cyclamen are still flowering and showing no signs of stopping, their riotous pink petals making a joyful contrast to the white scene outdoors.

Grape hyacinths and crocuses are popping up in jugs and bowls and the vase of daffodils on the kitchen counter is a bright reminder that spring is – just – on its way.

On the odd days when the paths have been clear of snow and ice, I’ve noticed that they are turning green with moss.

As water from this garden drains straight into the local river, I won’t be using chemicals to clear this and instead have bought a wire brush on a long handle that I’m hoping will do the job.

It will take a lot more elbow grease than any spray, but scrubbing is a better workout than any gym class and there’s the satisfaction at the end of it of being able to stand back and admire your work.

And, hopefully, some of that work will get underway soon.

February begins this week and already the nights are getting a little clearer.

Many of our earliest flowers, such as the crocuses, are triggered by this lengthening daylight so even if it doesn’t begin to warm up any time soon then there will still be new blooms to keep our spirits up until it does.

Weeds are triggered by this same process so if, like me, you’ve been cooling your heels while the ground’s been frozen, prepare to get very busy in the days ahead.