Evergreen ferns are priceless gems in a winter garden. During summer, it’s easy to take our subtly variegated green backcloth of leaves for granted but we come to crave it during the long, grey days of winter.
Preparing the garden for winter has produced so much for the compost bin that you couldn’t squeeze another single weed, never mind all the winter’s kitchen waste. But don’t panic, there is a solution.
Images unknown 2/11/24 Tidying up for winter After so many soggy months how do we prepare the garden for this coming winter? Will the Jet Stream slip south heralding an artic blast or give us more of the same?
Rhubarb is much more than the poor relation of the veg patch. This generous plant provides one of our earliest crops, serving the table from spring to early summer.
Our foul summer has had a dire effect on all our insects, apart from midges and clegs of course. And our gorgeous butterflies are no exception.
Kale is one of our tastiest and most versatile brassicas and many, though not all, varieties withstand whatever a Scottish winter throws at them. But a few kales are less robust so should be enjoyed in autumn and early winter.
Lilies are a joy in early summer and this is a good time to plant or replant bulbs. They do well in pots and containers and I mostly choose to grow them this way so I can easily move them around. I’m then able to select a prominent place while enjoying the wondrous display, find a discreet spot when the show is over or provide protection over the winter.
Hedges are a sustainable asset in any garden. Last week, I looked at the benefits of living hedges and turn here to ‘dead’ ones. Having been promoting this idea in talks and articles for nigh on quarter of a century, I’m delighted it’s now becoming mainstream.
Hedges are one of the garden’s most environmentally-friendly parts and have a place in anyone’s patch. I’ll look at more traditional living hedges here and explore other options next week. Living hedges can and do play an important part in the garden, but like everything else also have one or two disadvantages.
Look no further than Snakeshead fritillaries for spring bulbs with a difference. The strange and beautiful flowers of Fritillaria meleagris have enthralled us for centuries as the name itself shows.
