December Contact us on 0844 8220 777
December can be a hard month in the garden, especially if you think about the last two Decembers we experienced, so it is worth giving some of your more tender plants some protection. Cordylines can be easily protected by gathering the leaves together - begin at the base of the leaves where they start on the stem and move your hands upwards gathering all the leaves together. Once you have gathered them, tie the tops of the gathered leaves together with raffia or a soft natural string. As a result, the oldest leaves are on the outside and they protect younger foliage in the centre. This also prevents water getting into the middle, freezing and therefore killing the plant's growth tip which is the most common damage caused to Cordylines.
Phormiums (New Zealand Flax) are another group of plants which got badly damaged in the last two cold winters. It's good practise to fleece these plants when severe weather is forecast and then remove it when the worst of the weather has passed.
Hardy Fuchsias can be helped by applying a deep mulch of compost, bark or even leaf litter over their crowns - this helps to protect dormant buds from frost damage.
If you have tree ferns (Dicksonia antartica), do not forget to pack their tops with straw although nowadays you can even purchase tailor made fleece jackets for them!
Hopefully these tips will help your more tender garden plants survive a hard winter if we should get one again.
Plants to look out for in December are Viburnum x bodnantense "Dawn" which has sweetly-scented, rose pink flowers borne in small sprays and flowers reliably in December, going on well into February. A great Clematis for covering fences and walls that flowers in December is Clematis cirrhosa "Freckles". It produces a profusion of small pink flowers which have mottled red freckles and also has the benefit of being an evergreen! If you have acidic soil do not overlook Heathers. Two that flower reliably in December are Erica carnea "Springwood White" - pure white sprays of flowers - and Erica carnea "Red Jewel" which, with its deep pink flower sprays, is a good contrast to the former. And finally (I have mentioned this plant before), Hellebores nigra more commonly known as the Christmas rose which has beautiful, cup-shaped, pure white flowers.
Jobs for December
- Mulch hardy fuchias
-Tidy up the last of the herbaceous and clear the lawn of leaves
- Winter pruning of fruit trees
- Plants in containers move to sheltered positions or wrap the pots in bubble wrap and make sure they are on feet to help with free drainage
- Hard prune hedges if you want to reduce their size - note that this cannot be done to conifer hedges except for Yew.
Contact us on 0844 8220 777
