Wrap up a few jobs outside when the weather allows
The dark and busy days leading up to Christmas aren’t exactly made for gardening, but escaping outdoors when the weather is fine can be the perfect antidote to the stresses of the festive season.
Despite the impression that all is quiet, look closely and you may well find that the mild November weather has allowed both weeds and the lawn to keep growing, so a little action is required.
Choose a dry, frost- free day to remove weed seedlings from borders with a hand fork, and give any shaggy looking turf a last cut on a high setting, lifting the last fallen leaves as you go.
Continue to rake up leaves in borders where they cover herbaceous plants, but leave plenty to create cosy corners for wildlife where they have gathered at the base of hedges and shrubs.
This is a good time to prune the bare branches of most deciduous trees, especially birches and acers which may bleed damaging amounts of sap from cuts made later in winter.
Use clean, sharp secateurs, loppers or a pruning saw to prune dead, diseased or damaged growth back to just above a healthy bud or lateral branch. Any crossing branches or those that spoil the tree’s shape should also be removed, but always keep the tree’s natural form in mind and don’t get carried away, because excessive pruning will encourage vigorous growth.
December is the last opportunity to plant any remaining springflowering bulbs and the beginning of the ideal window to get deciduous trees, shrubs, hedges and roses into the ground while they are dormant, which comes to an end as growth begins in early March.
Make a point of getting out regularly to harvest your winter vegetables during daylight hours, because picking them in the dark when you come to cook dinner is never terribly appealing.
In a year when many people have discovered ( or rediscovered) their green fingers, garden- themed Christmas gifts are bound to be in demand.
Treat the vegetable gardener in your life to a voucher or selection of unusual or heritage varieties from one of the UK’S many independent seed merchants, such as Simpson’s Seeds, Chiltern Seeds or The Real Seed Catalogue.
A heated windowsill propagator is perfect for those always itching to get sowing when it’s still way too cold outside.
Quality tools always make great gifts, but my favourite are hand tools with neon coloured handles, which even I haven’t managed to lose yet.
And for the gardener who has everything, try the range of exquisitely made Japanese gardening tools from Niwaki
( www. niwaki. com), for something unusual that would be a pleasure to use for years to come.