This time last year we were shivering under a blanket of thick snow. This year I still have hollyhocks and summer bedding still in flower in the back garden! It has been a strange year altogether with unseasonal weather throughout. This Autumn has been the driest and warmest for many years - lovely for us but i wonder how it will effect the trees next year. Time will tell.
There is very little in my vegetable plot at this time of the year, other than the leeks. (as I do not grow Brussels or cabbage) The rest of the garden has been dug over and the soil left in large lumps for the winter frosts to break down. Next spring I will again dig a trench and fill it with well rotten compost where I am going to grow the runner beans. The winter raspberries have been wonderful this year but are just about at an end now. They need to be chopped down to ground level in the spring and now is a good time to give the canes a good feed to help with fruiting next year.
As we look forward to Christmas, you might be looking for a present for a child which is a little different. The children's garden tool set from Planto makes an ideal gift, especially when accompanied by a few packets of easy to grow seeds to promote an early interest in gardening. The tools can also be useful in a sandpit as well as the soil.
The borders are losing their colour as the Summer bedding fades and dies but this year I have added colour by planting some Heucheras. Their neat, close-growing habit makes good ground cover and they are available in all sorts of colours and the purple varieties look particularly spectacular when planted with grey leaved Senecio. They are evergreen and will produce pretty flower stalks in the summer.
Now is the time of year to get next years seed catalogues, make a pot of tea and dream of next year's planting schemes. I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year!!
Happy Gardening!
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