Keep going in the cold snap

Wherever you are in the country, it feels as if the cold weather has finally arrived. Personally, I’ve been relieved that it’s stopped raining – at least so heavily anyway – as parts of the garden were getting very boggy! And while that did mean the weather was actually milder, it’s hard to beat those sunny, cold, crisp days at this time of year. In terms of what can get done in the garden, it pays to be more mindful – careful walking over the lawn when there’s been a sharp frost, for instance. But there are always practical steps to take – protecting container plants is a good example (page 27). It’s still a good time to get trees and bare-root plants into the ground, and you can’t beat a good mooch round the garden centres, especially on wet Sunday afternoons, to see what bargain bulbs are on sale. It might be too late for some of them but I’ve had all sorts of spring blooms from bulbs planted after they were supposed to have been! And if they’re cheap enough I figure I might as well give them a chance rather than see them go to waste!

As ever, plenty to get stuck into, and if the weather gets too grim there’s always a cup of tea and next year’s seed catalogues!

Finally, it was wonderful to see our very own Naomi Slade be named ‘Practical Journalist of the Year’ by the Garden Media Guild for her Notes

From A Small Garden column in GN (page 31). A deserving winner! Special mention too to GN’s Karen Murphy, who was shortlisted for the Beth Chatto Environmental Journalist of the Year award.

Have a great gardening week!