Gardening

Edition Ten - January 2007

With the festivities behind us there is more time to get out in the garden and re-charge your batteries with some gentle exercise and fresh air, weather permitting of course. Talking of weather, it`s always difficult writing a column in advance for, as I write this in mid December, I have, unbelievably, just mowed the lawn, as the weather is so mild. Our climate really does seem to be changing as Autumn is lingering longer and Spring coming sooner, making our winters thankfully shorter. However by the time you read this we could be in the throes of an arctic winter...

Those little jobs you didn't have time for can still be done;  the greenhouse can be cleaned and tidied and the bulbs sprouting in a corner of the shed can still be planted in the garden. They will flower a little later than normal but will catch up in subsequent years. That`s the beauty of gardening, there are no hard and fast rules. Plants are very amenable and if something doesn`t work, try a different approach. Over the years I have lost very few plants through ignorance.

I have noticed that some plants are now flowering out of season due to the milder winters we've been experiencing, and this may result in their usual display at the normal flowering time being a less than impressive affair.. But they will sort themselves out no doubt.

January is usually considered to be the month of greenhouse and armchair gardening, yet outside the snowdrops are beginning to show and shrubs such as Viburnum Tinus - both variegated and plain versions, Mahonia and Jasminum nudiflorum are flowering their heads off. In mild conditions you will see unexpected treasures such as primroses, polyanthus, wallflowers and crocus making an early appearance. I have planned my garden so that it is full of colour in the winter months. Many of my plants, shrubs and trees are evergreens, with different leaf shapes and colours, so I have a bright cheerful tapestry of interesting cheerful things to look at out of the windows and when I go for walks round the garden..

As we are at the beginning of the year and there may be some of you starting a garden from scratch, or even moving house, the first thing to do is find out what kind of soil you have in your garden. Soil is the foundation of successful gardening and constantly needs improving. Any soil will grow something and because of this gardeners are apt to take their soil for granted and not add anything to it in the way of fertiliser or compost. But good soil, rich and healthy, can enable a gardener to get twice the results with half the effort..

The first thing to do then is to get a soil testing kit from your local garden centre or DIY shop, and test the PH of your soil, thereby getting an idea of the type of plants your soil will support. You may also have different types of soil in different parts of your garden. It is easily apparent whether soil is light or heavy but only a chemical investigation will reveal whether it is acid or alkaline. Once you have discovered your soil type or types, you can go ahead with suitable planting for the location and soil type. There are several types of soil testing kits available; those that allow only a single one-off test, kits that allow approximately five testings and then there is a hand held PH meter with a probe that`s pushed into the ground giving a quick and easy - but not necessarily 100% accurate - reading, which will allow repeated testing and last for many years.

The other aspect that I consider important when starting a garden from scratch is to check the drainage.. If your garden is very soggy and the rain water doesn`t drain away very well, or worse, it drains away towards your house if you`re on a slope, then it`s well worth considering having your garden land drained. This involves getting the services of a landscape gardener or builder who will lay a network of pipes under your soil that will drain the water away either into the main drain or a soakaway. Yes, you will have the upheaval, but only once, whereas you will never make a decent garden out of soggy waterlogged ground..

Now you have tested your soil and made sure that the land is well drained, you are ready to start planning your new garden. If you are less mobile than you once were, it might be worth considering an easy maintenance garden with lots of level paved or gravelled areas and low maintenance planting such as Phormium Tenax (green and bronze,) Senecio, Viburnum Tinus Variegated, Fatsia Japonica, Lonicera Baggesons Gold, Dogwoods and hardy palms, to name but a few.. your garden design should be tailored to suit your needs.

When you are  "armchair gardening" with your flower seed catalogues, don`t be seduced by those pretty faces in the illustrations, check out germination times and conditions. I didn't one year and bought some seeds that took two years to germinate! I`m afraid they went straight in the bin..

Keep feeding the wild birds with food that is rich in carbohydrates, making sure they have water too, especially when the weather is freezing. If the surface of the pond is frozen make sure there`s a hole in the ice so that any fish can get oxygen.

Happy gardening till next month....