Happy New Year! We’ve made it past the shortest day and the days are starting to get longer. January is a time for planning what we would like to have in our garden this year, what changes need to be made and looking forward to the rest of the year. There is such beauty in the garden when the frost hits the plants and from the architectural benefit of the dead stems which add real structure to the garden at this time of year.
I have to admit I’m not gardening much at this time of year but am doing lots of reading and thinking. It does make me feel so much better if I can get out for even just an hour to spend time clearing leaves and looking at fresh growth. I found new growth on my Echinops Taplow Blue and snowdrops starting to appear last week.
The iris and crocus bulbs I planted up in pots are starting to appear above the gravel and in a few weeks they should be in flower adding a burst of colour to the garden. Hellebores are bulking up ready to flower and I have a few in flower already. Now is the time to cut off the leaves to give the flowers a chance to shine whilst preventing blackspot from spreading through the leaves if it is present.
We have decided to install new bird boxes after our bird boxes got attacked by woodpeckers last year. The old soft wood seemed to have given easy access for the woodpecker, so we now have two beautiful Tom Chambers Cosy Bird boxes in the garden. My plan is to add a few more over the next few weeks to allow the birds to find them before nesting really starts.
I was really pleased to see the I love Robins Pearl feeder at Longacres to add to the one I already have. This has been filled with Peckish Complete Energy bites and hung underneath a squirrel baffler in our magnolia tree. I would have more bird feeders around the garden if it wasn’t for the squirrels, magpies and pigeons so I just have to limit them on our pole feeder which has a squirrel baffler and works perfectly at keeping the squirrels at bay.
As another way to aid wildlife in the garden I have also put up a new bug hotel which I can see from the kitchen window. My 11-year-old pointed out we are encouraging insects into the garden for then the birds to eat… well observed and all part of the garden lifecycle. You have to start at the bottom of the food chain and work your way up, then the predators come into the garden and eat the pests like the aphids, blackfly and slugs to create a balance without using chemicals. The more you can do to encourage wildlife the better and I’ve noticed a reduction in pests over the last few years since going chemical free.
This year, I need to get organised for opening my garden for Camberley Gardeners Open Gardens. A facebook group I set up 6 years ago, the group has been invaluable over the last nine months, and with member numbers doubling since lockdown we are looking at how to keep the motivation going for those new to gardening. Opening my garden does make me realise I need to start a bit earlier with getting my garden organised. Every two years I mulch the garden with manure to bulk up the soil and nutrients, as we are on light sandy soil. I can tell the difference on the bed that has received the most amount of manure over the years, yet the nutrients still wash out so easily it needs additional feeding throughout the year, but I have faith it will retain a few more nutrients each year. We also now need to bulk out my daughters flowerbed to help her grow vegetables for the guinea pigs (and maybe us if we are lucky), which will be a fun project this year. The list of things to do is long, plant my Raspberry Splash Pulmonaria, which look like they will be a stunning colour, prune my wisteria, divide primroses, mulch, cut back dead stems, install more bird boxes to name a few. Until I get started and add to that list I think I’ll just have another coffee and go and stare at the plants in my garden for a while.
