December   ------------

Now is the time to cut back the dead wood and rampant growth on your rose bushes. The bush roses are best cut back to about 1 foot in height, this helps to prevent the bush being rocked by winter winds. A more careful pruning can then be carried out in the spring. If you have climbing roses, tie back any loose laterals and cut back any growth that is heading in the wrong direction.

Sweep up all the tree leaves and place them on your compost heap, or otherwise dispose of them. Leaves left in corners and other secluded areas can be an overwinter shelter for snails and other plant pests.

At this time of year the garden can look very bleak if you have no winter flowering shrubs, so I always advise customers to plant a winter interest garden. There is a wide range of winter flowering shrubs, some reasonably priced and some definitely moving into the Harrods price range. A big advantage of this range of shrubs is that you can cut a few stems for use in the house at a time when many cut flowers are at a premium price.

One of the best is Vibernum Bodnantense dawn, this bush with its lovely pink flowers, blooms from September to March. Another with the same performance is Prunus Autumnalis, one of the flowering cherries. Both attract moths and butterflies to the garden, and are long lived. Unfortunately decent specimens can prove rather heavy on the flexible friend.

Other excellent winter shrubs are as follows. Jasminum nudiflorum (yellow flowers), Vibernum Tinus, (an evergreen plant with pink flowers), Garrya elliptica (an evergreen with lovely catkins). Another catkin bearing plant is the Corylus contorta, known as the corkscrew hazel. However, I have saved the best till last, this is Hamamelis, the Witch Hazel, this lovely yellow flowered shrub starts to flower before Christmas and often lasts until March.

All the above can be planted now, and should give a lifetime of pleasure.

January   ------------

After the excesses of the festive season, January in the garden is the time to take stock. Reflect on last year's successes and plan to avoid any failures, and then get back into the house where it is warm. While still in the house, now is the time to order your seeds for the coming season, it may seem early but time marches on and delay could result in your desired varieties being sold out.

Out in the garden, you should carry out a regular check of newly planted shrubs to see if the wind or frost has loosened their purchase on the ground. If loose carefully compact the soil around the plant with your heel or the spade handle.

Your greenhouse should be checked over for broken glass, loose doors and ventilators and any other obvious damage. Also inside you will find a large amount of debris from last year, this should be disposed of in the recommended way in order to make way for the new. Moss and other dirt should be removed from the glass and the frame of the glasshouse, not only does this moss and dirt restrict the light but it also harbours many insect pests. The above comments are also pertinent to sun lounges.

If you have heavy soil now is the time to dig over the plot, once the soil is turned over the frost can penetrate the large lumps and break down the soil into a fine tilth. This will considerably ease your task at planting time.

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February   ------------

February is a difficult month in the garden, often very wet; it is often wiser to leave any sowing and planting until March. However for those who wish to carry on regardless there is much that can be done.

Moss in lawns can be attacked with rake or spray and a light dressing of fertiliser applied to start growth in March. If you ever thought of building a rock garden now is the perfect time, the area can be prepared and the stones laid out ready for planting next month. When landscaping a rock garden always try to arrange the rocks on a slope so that they appear to be jutting out of the ground.

Now is the time to get the builder in to build that decking that you have promised yourself for the last few seasons and the fish pool alongside the rockery and the pergola and the crazy paving. See, there is no end to the things you can do in the garden in February.

For the serious grower using heat, there are many tasks that can be undertaken in the greenhouse, with the days growing longer, fuchsia and geranium cuttings can be started off, early seeds can be sown in trays. But be warned this early production has its problems; seedlings and cuttings will damp off (go rotten at the base of the stem) in certain weather conditions and must be sprayed with a suitable fungicide. Many people buy part grown plug plants at this time of year, and to avoid damping off it is advisable to spread the plants out in your greenhouse so that fresh air can circulate.

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