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Talkback: Preparing gardens for spring
Gardeners' World Web User
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Great article. I am sure, mid-January, the thing that keeps us gardeners going is the thought of spring being not too far away so sharing what we are all doing to prepare can only help.
In my garden, on the edge of a town in Hertfordshire, I am still coming to terms with the damage of last month's frosts which have had a terrible effect, especially on any evergreen shrubs and perennials. I have a ceanothus which has lost all its leaves, euphorbias which usually look stately at this time of year but which will have to start again from ground level and a magificent 10 foot pittosporum which looks very much the worse for wear.
What seems to have come through undamaged - wouldn't you know it - are weeds. They are everywhere and the recent mild spell has given them all the encouragement they need to grow ! So I've been out weeding - it is a relentless task but I found them easier to extract with the soil being that much softer. It also stops them getting a head start on everything else.
In my garden, on the edge of a town in Hertfordshire, I am still coming to terms with the damage of last month's frosts which have had a terrible effect, especially on any evergreen shrubs and perennials. I have a ceanothus which has lost all its leaves, euphorbias which usually look stately at this time of year but which will have to start again from ground level and a magificent 10 foot pittosporum which looks very much the worse for wear.
What seems to have come through undamaged - wouldn't you know it - are weeds. They are everywhere and the recent mild spell has given them all the encouragement they need to grow ! So I've been out weeding - it is a relentless task but I found them easier to extract with the soil being that much softer. It also stops them getting a head start on everything else.
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I was heartened to see my first snowdrops in flower :-)
If I have any concerns its for my Olive tree. Its dropped a lot of its leaves and the bark is a little cracked in places. The branches are about the thickness of my thumb. Hes only about 10 years old and I put him in the border (south facing and protected against worst of wind) late spring 2010. I fleeced the ground around him with left over sheep fleece and crossed my fingers. Then we had the lowest temps in the east. Any advice or positive ideas would be gratefully received regarding my olive.
P.S Good luck to Happymarion and her brambles, dont go to mad. I did last year (digging) and lost the feeling down my arms for 3 weeks. Not a good experience. The doctor was naturally condescending, and unsympathetic.
A few years ago I was given a small olive tree in a pot for Xmas. So I put it in my unheated greenhouse, thinking that would keep it out of the cold.
Unfortunately it got very dry - nearly all the leaves crisped-up & fell off...
I took it outside & watered it & it recovered fully over the next year.
Since then I have overwintered it under the eaves of the house. It seems not to have noticed the last 2 winters of sub-zero temperatures. Phew
The big question is how long to wait for them all to come back? The rhododendrons will probably never look right even if they do regrow.