Gardening: Small winter jobs that make a big difference

The arrival of December isn’t always synonymous with gardening, but it’s definitely a month for needing to get away from the constant festive sales pitch.

Now is a great time to stroll around with a mug of tea and look at gaps in the borders that need to be filled. Doing this will give you more colour and less area for weeds to grow and self seed everywhere else.

Michaelmas daisies, or Asters can be dropped into a neat space to give you late colour. They will look like a lilac cloud
from a distance but on closer inspection they resemble a daisy that has been reinvented in the 70’s with purple petals and a vibrant yellow central disk florets.

Due to its popularity, this aster has numerous variations. ‘Little Carlow’ is a national favourite, probably in part due to its resistance to disease as much as its vibrant violet slimline petals.

If you want a slight variation in colour, then ‘Royal Ruby’ (the clue is in the name) is a deep crimson but with the same yellow centre. This colour is so attractive to insects its usually planted at the front of a border to attract pollinators from their motorway that is the lawn.

There is a local variety ‘Combe Fishacre’. This is a small neat bushy plant that won’t grow beyond 1m in height or spread more than half that. It fits neatly in a gap and seems to enjoy brushing up against its neighbours and blending its tiny, almost
coneflowers, among other perennials.

If you want to plant one but are so well organised there are no gaps, then it's possible to dig out a large perennial but don’t divide it until next year. It will be fine in its root ball until it’s time to separate it.

I find as I get older that doing gardening tasks in stages is advantageous and more enjoyable as long as the conditions are
with you. It also gives me a bit more to do when windows of dry weather can be restricted to a morning or an afternoon.

On the Plot

In the frosty weather, wheelbarrows of manure and compost can be moved onto the veg beds without damaging the soil structure. This is an outstanding example of working with the conditions.

Obviously you will need to be careful but its great to be out on a sunny, invigorating morning where the afternoon turns into one were you couldn't guess the season.

Frost shouldn’t damage seedlings of broad beans or cabbage, unless they get uprooted by weather or desperate birds raiding the plot. After the frost has thawed, press down the soil around the seedlings to firm them in again and help the roots reach through the soil without air pockets sometimes created by frost.

To obtain early potatoes, place a few tubers in shallow boxes in a dry and light place ready to plant up in January. They can then by put in a cold frame or outhouse until they re ready to support leaves and then planted outdoors at the earliest opportunity.

If you're fortunate enough to have a greenhouse or indoor planting space then tomato seeds can be planted now to give them the best chance of enjoying maximum sunlight when they need fruits to ripen.

Getting ready for the frosts and keeping one step ahead is good housekeeping for the allotment. Make sure anything remotely vulnerable is protected by fleece or mulch. Leaf mould can be put to good use here too as it offers good insulation and
will offer an environment for helpful bacteria to grow when planting time comes around.

There’s a lot more free time to be putting work in now to make maintenance easier next year especially around making plants stronger and keeping weeds down by mulching beds so perennial weeds can’t take hold now.