Now the nights are drawing in we don’t get as much time in the garden as we do during the longer, warmer summer months. But we can still enjoy the garden to a certain extent, so there is no excuse for not making the most of every dry and sunny moment to wrap up warm and head outside to see what needs doing.
There are plenty of winter plants which can be used to make sure the hanging baskets don’t look sad during the colder months. Winter pansies are a perfect example – they can be planted out just the same as normal pansies, and they will last through the winter so you have something nice to look out on even on Christmas Day.
Of course no garden looks as vibrant and colourful during the winter as it will during the summer months. But with that said you can still make sure it looks relatively neat and tidy. Take the time to dig out the weeds from the flower beds after a light shower of rain; it will make them superbly easy to pull up. Make sure you do this before the cold weather hits and freezes the ground though, otherwise the same job will be virtually impossible.
Even this small amount of tidying can make all the difference in this respect. Your garden may not look its absolute best during the winter, but it is nice to be able to look out onto a tidy garden that holds clear potential for the year to come.
In fact you can use this time to plan for the following spring and summer if you like. Why not make notes in a notebook kept especially for this purpose? In addition you can take pictures and cuttings out of magazines to give yourself ideas to work with as soon as you can get out into the garden for a full day’s work again.
Another key point to remember when you are getting set for the winter months is to make sure all your garden tools are safely locked away so they don’t rust. In addition you can stow away any foldaway garden furniture so that it doesn’t have to sit out in the elements all through the colder months.
In short there might be more to do come winter than you thought there was. Is your garden ready for this time of year?