To Do List - December & January

The months of December and January have most people scurrying about with a long list of chores prior to the Xmas parties, which often results in overeating and a return of the sherry bottle, followed by a strict New Year’s resolution abstinence list. 

Probably the last thing on anyone’s mind is working in the garden. Fortunately, the list of gardening ‘to-dos’ for this issue is longer for the list of dont-dos.

• Don’t be necessarily tempted to switch off the irrigation system. It might be cooler and yes we have had some rain but it’s only very likely that the top two inches of soil have been hydrated. If you have low lying shrubs under tree canopies the soil will still be very dry.
• Don’t continue fertilising your lawn with high nitrogen levels and forcing it to grow. Lawns need a rest too and are happy to build a stronger root structure below the soil as the temperatures drop, and you will benefit from cutting once a fortnight as opposed to weekly mowing.
• Don’t prune your tender perennials too hard right now especially as temperatures durinq the next two months could fall to around freezing. You might be best waiting now until early Spring.
• Don’t over water your pot plants, the roots will start to rot, it doesn’t have to be a weekly routine anymore.
• Don’t cut back your roses yet, if you still have buds and  flowers forming, roses can still produce colour right into January and you might only need to prune into February.
• Prune grapevines back to a single, sturdy trunk and clip small twigs off at the base. Tie  trunks to a trellis or arbor.

But for the Do List, here’s a reminder of what we suggested to be done at this time last year.

• Top-dress lawns and garden beds with compost to take out sponginess and help to level uneven lawns.
• Sow beets, carrots, radishes, lettuce, spinach, coriander, parsley, watercress, pak choi, and garden peas directly in the garden; cover the planting rows with mulch or compost to warm the soil and keep weeds at bay.
• Finish pruning fruit trees, vines, and bushes but check weather first, this should not be done if a frost is likely.
• Its not too ate to add bulbs into your garden.
• Also a good time to plant any new trees or shrubs, make sure a good hole is dug and check its drainage, fill the hole with water and if it has not disappeared in ten minutes you need to dig deeper or find a new location, otherwise you are fighting a lost cause.
• There seems to have been a bumper harvest of oranges once again. For the fruit to be at its best, you need to picking any left by the end of this month.
• There is still plenty of colour about, and if you are lucky enough to have a medronho tree (Arbutus Unedo), some cotoneaster or a carnelia, your garden will be full of Christmas red for the season. If you want added colour, there are plenty of rainbow cyclamen blooms available in your local garden centres, and if you give them some shade, they will add more colour over the festive season.