PETER SEABROOK
De-clutter now, says Peter – it will have a lasting effect
NEW Year always sees the media going on about resolutions, and this January there was added emphasis from Anna Newton’s book, An Edited Life: Simple Steps to Streamlining Your Life, at Work and Home. Sadly, nowhere did I find the answer to things arriving faster than I have time to deal with them!
My office is filled with tumbling heaps of catalogues, files, papers and gardening ephemera, that all take time to sort and de-clutter. Not to mention the eight sheds overflowing with things that may come in useful sometime… or other.
Going out into the garden is the best way to de-stress from all of this, because the pace of life is slower and jobs done in the winter will last. Time spent pruning fruit trees and bushes will leave them in good order for months, especially if the surface soil beneath can be tickled over to remove weeds and then covered with good mulch.
The vegetable plot and beds filled with seasonal flowering bedding really appeals to me, because at least once a year the whole lot can be cleared and dug for a completely new start. There is no better way to de-clutter than to remove debris from previous crops, empty the compost heap onto vacant soil and then dig it in.
Perennials are a problem. Let twitch grass and other deep-rooted weeds get established in asparagus, for example, and it takes time to gain control again. Where weeds have been carefully dug out and the surface mulched with Smart Ground Cover (Westland), the asparagus bed has remained pretty well weed-free. The area mulched with oak leaf mould hasn’t been as successful in this respect.
When the weather turns against outdoor jobs, then flowerpots and canes need attention. If they are cleaned, sorted into separate sizes and stored carefully, it will save time in spring – if I can find space in the sheds!
“Jobs done in the winter will have lasting effect”