With the nights drawing in and the shortest day approaching, December is about planning ahead for the coming year. But there are some useful jobs to be done in the garden, here are our ideas.
Category: Garden Maintenance
Five Garden Jobs for November
Although November might not feel like the month to be in the garden, on bright winter days there is plenty to be getting on with! Here’s our guide.
Care for Ornamental Grasses
Grasses are such a diverse species there is at least one to suit every site and every garden. Here’s our guide to caring for them.
Five Garden Jobs for October
Got some time to spend in the garden this month? Here’s our round-up of some of the most useful jobs you can be doing.
Care for Conifers
Conifers are a very versatile plant group. A great addition to any garden, here’s our guide to the simple care they need.
Five Garden Jobs for September
September can feel like a late summer in the garden, or it can feel like autumn is just starting to colour leaf edges…. Here’s our guide to the key jobs this month, either way.
Primroses
Primroses are one of the earliest spring flowers, blooming from early February in yellows, creams and even blues. They belong to the Primula family of Polyanthus.
Roses are not just for Valentines Day
Roses are not just for Valentine’s day, they can be enjoyed almost all year round. Find out how to plant and care for yours.
Be Ready for Spring
Be Ready for Spring. It’s called armchair gardening while the weather is cold and we can plan our spring gardens and plan our planting! There’s lots to do outside as well so here’s our guide.
Wildlife Garden
Gardening for wildlife (too)
Dragonflies & Hedgehogs
Many of use believe it is a complicated process and perhaps would not fit in with our ideas of what we want our gardens to look like, however, you can adopt as many or as few ideas that suit you. By just adding a couple of extra features you can still do your bit to encourage the appearance of not only bees, birds, butterflies, ladybirds and dragonflies, but also small mammals such as hedgehogs.
Plants & Shrubs
Have you thought of buying a bird table or asking advice at your local garden centre about the type of nectar rich plants and shrubs that attract birds and bees? Find out about shrubs that bear berries during the winter months and choose perennials such as sedum and yarrow that carry seed heads after flowering as these can provide a vital food source for birds and insects. Fed up with slugs and snails eating your tender young plants? Make your garden hedgehog friendly and you never need worry again as hedgehogs can eat up to 200grams of insects in one night!
Grow Hedges for hedgehogs
Hedgehogs as their names suggests, live mostly in hedges and in the last decade, their numbers have dropped by an all time low of 25%. There are a number of reasons for this including the fact we tend to put up fences rather than grow hedges in our gardens. You can provide shelter by creating your own natural woodpile if you don’t keep logs for an open fire or even pile up your autumn leaves in a quiet corner of the garden, under which the hedgehogs will happily burrow. There you have it, nothing really complicated is there? So why not make it one of your New Year resolutions to do your bit to encourage extra wildlife into your garden?
Read more about gardening for wildlife
For more information about the benefits of gardening for wildlife and how to do it, try out article here.
Find our advice on feeding the birds here.
If you’d like to know more about wildflower turf, try this article.
If you’re thinking of installing a pond, find our advice here.