Gardening

Edition Thirty Two - November 2008

The weather has closed in now and the days are short - a good opportunity for a spot of armchair gardening to choose next years seeds from those gardening catalogues that keep arriving. 

But it is possible to garden more or less throughout the winter now that our climate is milder, so I tend to leave some jobs for those nice days when it's a pleasure just to be outside. One such job this year is to lift and divide some of the late flowering Asters and chrysanthemums. Then there are the eternal leaves to collect and put into bin liners for making leaf mould, and of course the lawn to aerate... The list of jobs really is endless and I do think winter gardening is more enjoyable than in the summer.

There's doom and gloom all round, and talk of a lean winter for many, so I am stocking up with some essentials such as rock salt to keep the paths free of ice, batteries for the torches, and candles for indoors in case the power goes off.

We have an emergency calor gas stove to cook on, extra tinned and dried food in the cupboards and the freezers are well stocked with essentials.

We have also got our trusty generator, which will run our heating and a couple of lights.

It might be prudent to take some precautions in case of severe weather. We were caught out once and spent a whole week with no power, water, heat, or cooking facilities - it was sheer misery!   

• It is not too late to plant wallflowers, Sweet William, polyanthus and pansies

• Sweep up leaves as they fall. Once left to gather in piles, they will form a slippery mass which will be dangerous for unsuspecting older bones. We don`t bounce like we did when we were younger and can easily break an ankle, or worse a hip.

• If you have a graphics programme on your computer, and a printer, consider making Christmas cards from favourite photos, and start setting aside dried flowers, grasses and twigs ready for making your own Christmas decorations. They will spray beautifully and keep for ages if previously dried. (Much nicer than bought decorations)  

• Put the garden furniture away securely in your shed. Check the padlock too, because burglars like to do their christmas shopping about now, and garden sheds are considered fair game

• Finally, do some troubleshooting with a quick check on the trees, boundary walls and fences, roof tiles etc., just to ensure they will all endure any possible strong winds. Don`t forget to turn the water supply to your hosepipe off...

• There are some lovely things to buy as usual in the latest Thompson & Morgan catalogue and I am busy choosing some seeds for next year: not too many as I have taken to buying the pots of germinated seedlings which are all ready for pricking out and seems a lot less work than growing seed from scratch!

In the 'non-gardening' months, take the opportunity to visit a National Trust house and garden ...  Wonderful scenery and superb places to visit, any time of the year... Or even get involved

Happy gardening till next month....