Previous Tips that still apply
Many of last month's tips remain pertinent:
Keep feeding the birds
Check your stores of fruit and veg for disease and pest damage
Check that brassica netting is secure and undamaged
Dig in organic matter (if conditions allow)
Plant bare rooted shrubs (but again, only if conditions allow)
Things not to do
Having given you a list of some of the many things to be getting on with this month, bear in mind that, in the depths of Winter, your plants and soil, like you, might fare better if left in peace until conditions become more clement:
Don't dig if the soil is frozen or waterlogged.
Don't over-water house/greenhouse/conservatory plants. Many will be in a state of at least semi-dormancy and will need only enough water to stop the soil completely drying out.
Don't plant or move shrubs unless the weather has been mild and reasonably dry for a number of consecutive days.
Start collecting seed catalogues and think about summer
Some of the most enjoyable gardening this time of year is done from the warmth of home, in the comfort of an armchair. Collect a good stock of gardening catalogues (which will already be becoming available for next season's stock), and start planning for the year to come. It may be the depths of Winter, but in as little as 6 weeks you could be making the first sowings of next Summer's veg and ornamentals. If nothing else, pictures of burgeoning fruits, fecund beds and multi-coloured flowers will lift the spirits no end.
Protect plants against pests
As the Winter starts to set in food resources become scarce for wildlife, and plants that have, up until now, been untroubled by pests can come unexpectedly under attack:
rabbits, if hungry enough, can kill a tree – even a relatively mature fruit tree – by stripping the bark off at the base. (This was a particular problem last Winter when prolonged periods of snow-cover and freezing temperatures made much of the rabbits' usual food resources inaccessible.) Protect the bottom 3 feet of tree trunks with either shop bought tree-guards or a piece of carpet tied around the trunk.
Spring flowering bulbs planted a few months ago can suddenly become of interest to mice. Check for signs of digging around newly planted bulbs. Cover the ground above them with a mulch to throw them off the scent – eg garden compost, chipped bark.
Have a fire
It could be that you shun the idea of a garden fire for environmental reasons (release of toxic and greenhouse gases, the destruction of dead wood that would make a beneficial wildlife habitat). Even if this is the case, consider treating yourself to one fire a year to get rid of diseased material from Winter pruning. As for the resulting wood ash, that's a valuable resource, being a good source of potassium and certain micro-nutrients, and also a means of making soil more alkaline. There are a few crops on which it can be applied direct – gooseberries, alliums – but it is probably best of all deployed by adding it to the compost heap.
* Please note fires in the hospital grounds are not allowed
Trench composting
Some vegetables that prefer a moisture retaining soil grow well on top of a trench that has been filled with shredded paper and vegetable waste from the kitchen. Runner beans are the classic example, but the method applies also to squashes, courgettes, sweetcorn and french beans. Dig a trench, at least 12” deep, in the place where such crops will grow in the year to come and fill it with such waste as and when it becomes available. Mix the waste with soil in the trench and then fill it in as you go.
Clean the greenhouse
If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse, it should be thoroughly cleaned once a year. There are two reasons for this:
To clean the glass so that the maximum amount of light can get to the plants inside
To disinfect all surfaces.
Remove as many plants as possible and then, using a horticultural disinfectant (such as “Armillatox” which is both bio-degradable and made from naturally occurring ingredients), wash all surfaces. Use a squirter and a brush to clean out all crevices, such as those between glass panes and framework. Leave the disinfectant to work its magic for an hour or two and then wash down all surfaces with clean water. If you are unable to find a disinfectant that meets your environmental/organic credentials then use a powerful jet of clean water to wash down your greenhouse; at the very least you should aim to get all the glass clean inside and out.
Winter Pruning
The Winter months – December through to early March – are in general the best time to prune deciduous trees and shrubs, as this is when they are dormant and also, as they have no leaves, it's much easier to see the work in hand. The order of priority when pruning a specimen is:
Remove all dead and diseased wood
Remove weak, badly placed and rubbing branches
Reduce congestion, particularly in the centre of the crown
Bring the tree back to the shape and size required.
A few pointers:
If you're unsure, do some research into the pruning requirements of the type of tree you are tackling. Pruning isn't as complicated an art as it's often portrayed but, on the other hand, if it's done wrong, it can leave a plant looking miserable for years to come and you will be a long time regretting a few moments of ill-planned or over-zealous pruning.
Don't remove too much all in one go as this will stimulate excessive amounts of sappy, weak and poorly placed new growth. Renovation of a mature tree is best carried out over a number of seasons
Make clean cuts with sharp, clean tools leaving the cut face smooth and sloping so that water runs off the wound.
Prunus family trees – plum, damson, cherry – are not pruned in Winter, but in mid-summer. This is done to reduce the risk of infection by silverleaf disease.
You don't want to be constantly cutting back a shrub because you are trying to restrict it to a shape or size unsuited to its natural growth habit. Either replant the space with a more suitable species/variety or allow the existing specimen to fill the space in accordance with its natural growth habit.
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