Time for New Year's revolutions
As you vow to be healthier and more environmentally friendly in 2010, why not put a piece of your plot aside for growing fruit and vegetables?
If you choose to do this, now is the perfect time to dig over the area and make your soil more ‘friable’ (ideal for housing your home-grown produce).
To do this, dig over the area and add plenty of bulky compost or manure and, if getting fit is one of your new year’s resolutions, doing this will also help burn a few calories.
Whatever you want to grow - whether it is fantastic fruit or vibrant veg, Paul can help you choose what is right for your plot.
Gardens may appear to be fairly dormant at this time of year, but this certainly does mean that gardeners are - there is so much to do and this is an ideal period to catch up, especially as seasonal situations at other times of the year neither afford nor enable you to get ‘on top of things’.
Giving lawns a lot of attention in January may not yield much this month, but priceless efforts at this time of year will pay dividends come spring, summer and autumn.
Raking, aerating and top-dressing will make such a difference to your grass, none more so than when you need it later on in the year.
It also prepares it for the spring feeding that is to come and is the first step to making your turf the envy of your neighbours.
It’s always nice to have wildlife in your garden and birds are often overlooked. At this time of year, our feathered friends are in desperate need of food and providing them with a meal or two will lead to them paying you back ten-fold with the uses they have, including keeping the number of pests down that you have in your garden.
Spring bulbs are the best way to create an ‘indoor garden’ although that doesn’t apply directly to ‘in the house or flat’.
You can plant dwarf narcissi, crocuses, snowdrops and rockery tulips which would be equally happy on verandas, terraces, patios or balconies and provide you with much-needed colour during which can be a gloomy time of year weatherwise.
And, when the weather is bad, as it inevitably will be at some point this month, you can also look through seed catalogues or log onto gardening websites to find out what you would like to see in your garden during the year ahead.
The outdoor living room...
ONE phrase that was coined early on by Paul with his customers was the ‘outdoor living room’ - the notion that the garden should not just be a place to go on the hottest day of the year, but one that can be enjoyed all year round.
There is loads you can do to make your garden an extension of your home, as if it is just an extra room in your house and Paul, with his vast experience and expertise, can help you with that.
With the right plant and design choices, plots can look fantastic - whatever time of year it is.
Whether you want a sit out in the spring, a summer barbecue, a bonfire night party in autumn or a stroll around your very own winter wonderland, your garden can provide the perfect backdrop for you, your family and your friends.
ALTHOUGH we are in the midst of winter and spring is at least a good few weeks away, there seems to be plenty enough to do in the garden, but the weather can hold you back.
However, you could take time out and create a garden in miniature. This is also good if your children are bored after the Christmas and new year’s celebrations...
Here is a few ideas to set your mini gardens alight:
The mini herb garden - This is particularly useful as many herbs grown outdoors either die down for the winter or finish completely for the season. Chives, basil and coriander can be purchased from supermarkets and planted indoors to provide fresh herbs for both colour and culinary use throughout the winter.
The tiny rockery - This features many alpines which enjoy the strong winds of winter and are well suited to a window box or patio trough, exposed fully to the elements. Many look good during winter and will produce a blinding display of colour, come the first signs of spring.
The spring bulb display - This is the quickest way to create a windowsill garden. Pots of bulbs can be readily purchased and planted in any container of your choice to provide an instant frenzy of colour weeks ahead of the outdoors.
And finally, the bonsai garden - The word bonsai means miniature tree in Japanese. Creating a bonsai garden doesn’t mean spending half a week’s wages on a small tree. Look at websites specialising in tree seedlings where dwarf pines - beech, silver birches and even apple or pear trees - are available. These can be planted into a bonsai dish by reconditioning them to their new environment - by root-pruning and wiring.
Tovey’s Tips
• REJUVENATE old hedges that have become leggy, straggly, sparse or mis-shaped by cutting back healthy stems fairly severely, staggering the heights of where you prune. This works particularly well with hornbeam, rivet and wild roses.
• SPREAD a layer of compost over the soil around perennials, taking care not to cover the rhizomes of bearded irises or the crowns of peonies.
• LIFT and divide Phlox, Acanthus and Physotegia. In the process, one can take 3ins long root cuttings - these can be inserted horizontally into pots of compost aound 3cm deep.
An explosive start to the year!
AS THE new year fireworks are bursting and you are thinking about long-term lifestyle changes, you could also be thinking about what new starts you could be making in your garden to last long-term - especially evergreen plants.
Cryptomeria Globosa is an ideal and very unusual Japanese dwarf conifer that is sheerly awesome. This slow-growing shrub looks superb throughout the year with its exceedingly fresh bright green leaves which droop downwards slightly, creating a timeless and romantic charm to patio containers or shady oriental style rockery islands.
And there are also other evergreens which complements this plant...
The bamboo Phillostachys Nigra would provide a perfect backdrop - its green stems turn black in its second year and, growing to around 20ft, it can look very dramatic.
Heuchera Palace Purple grows to 30cm in height and spread and its deep purple evergreen leaves contast with pale pink flowers. It likes moist soil and dappled shade.
Shade-tolerant Ajuga Burgundy Glow has rich foliage spreading to 60cm or more and is ideal for large rockeries and border edges.
Why not get in touch?
IF YOU want any help or advice with your garden, why not call Paul on 07794 741918 or e-mail him: pd.tovey@live.co.uk? He will be happy to talk to you about your plot and even make suggestions that will be guaranteed to improve your garden and get it close to how you want it to be.
