4 minute read
Gardening Diary
' When dark December glooms the day and takes our Autumn joys away' Sir Walter Scott.
Well not a bit of it, these may be the sentiments of a gloomy Scot, mired in his Arctic gloom, but we take heart from the month in which the sun is reborn and, though the worst rigors of winter are still ahead of us, there is the promise of rebirth ahead, once celebrated in the Roman Saturnalia and the Germanic Yuletide hunts, now personified by a girthful and jolly chap in a chimney.
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As in November, the weather this month is rarely an incentive to be out there upside down in a border, but the garden is a relentless tyrant, which may only be tamed by seizing every chance to press on.
The edges of lawns may have been eroded away or died back from being smothered by overgrowth from the borders, lying leaves, or the depredations of children. The easiest way to make the edges good is to roll a length of turf along the edge and cut around it with a sharp knife, then roll it up, the outlined shape may now be excavated to an inch depth, the base broken down to a tilth and the new turf rolled back into place, a board to stand on will help bed the turf down, expelling any air, there should be no air pockets, especially under the edges.
New plantings should be checked from time to time as frost or wind may have loosened the roots and loose plantings rarely survive; we must always have our mallet about our person to firm up any loose stakes.
Any brassicas in the vegetable plot should likewise be checked for firm footing; brassicas greatly resent any looseness around their feet.
Frost and gales in November will have seen to the last of the roses, thus we may reduce the top growth back a little and remove frosted flowers and hips, this will reduce wind resistance and present a more orderly appearance in the rose garden. This is not the main pruning, which may be done at the end of winter (Though many gardeners do this before Christmas)
The harvesting of Brussels sprouts should be in full swing, starting from the bottom up and leaving the green tops until last. In the event of an 'Arctic blast ' being forecast, it may be worthwhile digging up some leeks and parsnips and heeling them into a trench so as to avoid having to harvest by hammer and bolster.
Sometime between Alamein Day and the Ides of the month we may beg, borrow or otherwise purloin a number of twigs from some of the more forward of the trees and shrubs, including yellow flowering jasmine, willow, winter flowering viburnums, berberis, hawthorn, witch hazel and contorted hazel, these, when brought into a warm room and put in water should be in flower by Christmas, hinting at the rebirth and new life just around the corner. The No-mans' land behind the bonfire heap may supply teasels, whilst sea thistle and artichoke heads saved from last month will make for a fine Christmas display when spray-painted by the more responsible of the junior members in the family. The dried seed pods of Honesty make a fine sight shivering in a vase on the piano.
Whilst the keen gardener will have been digging over the soil since Battle of Britain Day, it is not too late to keep up the digging when conditions allow. The more soil we can get exposed to the weather the better. Areas reserved for hardy annuals should be dug over as well, but unless the soil is very poor there is no need to dig in compost or manure as annuals flower best on poorer soil.
Now most of the leaves have dropped, we may appreciate nature's architecture in the boughs and burls of the trees around us whilst also taking worried note of deciduous trees and shrubs that are starting to crowd over the lawns and borders, this encroachment eventually leads to a thin, mossy lawn and straggling shrubs straining for the dwindling light, in such cases we must be ruthless with the chain saw and loppers; Nature is constantly trying to crowd us out, thus in the time of the Egg kings the quality of a Saxon was measured by his willingness to strip to his badger pelt underwear in all seasons and with halberd in hand, wage unceasing battle on the forest around him.
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