Mzzz B's Garden Blog

Laurel leaved Currant

Wintersweet

Cyclamen Coum

The Midwinter Garden

After the shortest day and the darkest time of the year, at long last the days are getting slightly longer, and with that things are beginning to wake up in the garden. Now there are winter flowering shrubs, such as viburnum bodnatense, winter flowering honeysuckle, Mahonia, sarcocca(winter box) and wintersweet, all with delightful honeyed perfumes, another favourite is the laurel leaved currant ( ribes laurifolium which has eventually decided it likes my garden) see photo. All of these are good food sources for any insect that might be awake in slightly milder periods.

But it is cold and wet not a time to work the soil or tread on the borders, and this week is the time to stay out of the garden and order your seeds, and plan what you want to do with your garden.

So when the weather is slightly warmer what jobs are there to do in January?

• Look at the structure or your garden and think about bringing in some winter colour – a flowering or coloured stem shrub like cornus- green or orange stems, snowdrops, grasses or ferns, plus all the shrubs mentioned above, can add something to the winter garden.
• Order your seeds. Plan sowing vegetables for this year. Don't be tempted to sow too early, but there are some that benefit from a long growing season like chillies and tomatoes, so if you have a heated propagator sow some seeds, but they will need lots of light and warmth once germinated. Sweet peas and hardy annual flower seeds can also be started off in a warm light place.- Protect from mice as they love to dig up the seed! Cover the pots you have used with those net bags you get from buying fruit in the supermarket.
• Continue pruning shrubs that have outgrown their space, apples and pear trees, hedges etc. Prune blackcurrants, redcurrant and gooseberries, taking out a third of the old growth.
• Remove hellebore leaves to prevent disease spread, and bin them, do not compost.
• The same with roses try to remove as much foliage as possible as this will prevent the spread of black spot.
• Enjoy those moments in the garden when the sun has come out, the raindrops are sparkling on the twigs, the birds are singing, reminding you that these dark cold days will come to an end and spring will be upon us .

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