MY WINTER “TO DO” LIST

As well as the annual tasks of pruning, bulb planting and lawn maintenance, I hope to find the time to do these important tasks.

Divide the rhubarb

There is a large clump of rhubarb at the bottom of my garden, but the stalks produced this year have been short and floppy. In the hope of re-energising the plant, I’m going to divide it by cutting out sections from around the edge, and grow these on. If the original plant still fails to produce a good harvest next year I can replace it with these.

Tidy the shed

I love my shed. It is something of a Tardis, and seems to accommodate effortlessly a motley collection of tools, half-empty bags of potting compost, children’s plastic toys, bicycles, and more.

However, it is now becoming difficult to find anything. It needs sorting out so I can put more stuff into it!

Empty the compost bin

Now’s the time to give a good mulch to borders and raised vegetable beds. My compost bin is full, and I have begun digging out the well-rotted part at the base. This compost is still quite bulky and full of stalks. However, it looks rich and sticky so it should still do the job.

Build a “hogpod”

A “hogpod” is what friends in the village call their homemade hedgehog home. It’s been very successful, and they now have a family with five hoglets. I used to have a hedgehog house, but, as it was never inhabited, I got rid of it to make more space in the border.

Now I’m wondering whether hedgehogs prefer certain architecture, so I’m planning to build again following the design of my friends’ hedgehog house. Hedgehogs usually go into hibernation in November, so it may be too late to attract tenants this year, but it’s worth a try.

Install a water butt

The summer of 2018 has taught me how important it is to conserve water. The guttering on both my house and shed drain into soakaways in the ground. As a result, all that valuable rainwater is lost. There are many different types, sizes and style of water butt on the market so I will investigate the options.