Many Winter flowering shrubs will be in bloom this month – often with a delicious scent. Visit your local garden centre and look out for a selection of these, including the glossy-leaved Sarcoccoa (Christmas Box), a low-growing evergreen which is easy to grow in sun or shade and soil which is not too wet. The tiny flowers have a powerful scent, that will have visitors eager to locate the source. One of the best climbing plants suitable to cover a wall, is the Winter Jasmine. Flat, bright yellow flowers (no scent) appear for months from November to March on green bare wood. For the rest of the year, the plant concentrates on making vigorous new growths that can be tied into a support to flower the following Winter.
Evergreens are an important part of the Winter garden and bring much valued interest with their colour and form. Your local garden centre will have a wide range of conifers, suitable for both small and larger gardens, as well as containers. These are available in a variety of colours from deep green through to gold, yellow and even brown and purple tints. Why not plant with Heathers for low maintenance, all year round colour and interest?
Whilst they are dormant, deciduous shrubs and trees can be moved to new areas if they have outgrown their allotted space. Take up as large a root ball as possible and remember to water the plant in well. Prune back to reduce wind rock if possible and stake taller plants until they are re-established. Over grown Summer flowering shrubs which have gone woody, can also be pruned now by removing some of the old wood to ground level. This will encourage new shoots next Spring. Prune Spring flowering shrubs, such as Forsythia, Chaenomeles and Ribes, after they have flowered next year, or you will lose the Spring colour from your garden.
Evergreens are especially vulnerable to harsh Winter weather and may need to be protected with horticultural fleece or a suitable windbreak to prevent cold winds from drying them out. Perennials which are more tender can be protected with thick mulch or straw placed over the crowns of the plants.
If the weather is suitable, Winter digging can continue in the vegetable garden. Incorporate some well rotted manure into the section where root crops will not be grown and leave the soil in rough clods for the frost to work. This can then be broken down to a fine tilth in Spring before planting. Plan the varieties of vegetables that you will be growing and keep an eye out at your local garden centre for deliveries of seed potatoes and onion sets early in the New Year.
Enjoy your garden on sunny days and remember to use evergreens and berries to decorate the house through the festive season. Visit your local garden centre to choose from the wide range of gift ideas suitable for gardeners and plant lovers of all ages.