Flower Garden.

• Recycle your Christmas tree by shredding or taking it to any voluntary run organisations who will dispose of it for you.
  
• Remove any snow from greenhouse and conservatory roofs and also from tree branches and shake it off shrubs to prevent breakages.
  
• Cut off old leaves from hellebores to expose the flowers and mulch underneath with bark or grit to stop the flowers being splashed with mud when it rains.
  
• If the weather is very cold try grouping planted containers together next to a south facing wall for extra protection.
  
• Check that pots close to walls are getting adequate rain water and if not water on a regular basis.
  
• Check your greenhouse insulation is still in place and that your heater, if you have one, is working properly.
  
• Sow sweet peas in long tubes and put in a heated propagator. Once they have germinated they can be moved to a cold greenhouse or cold frame.
  
• Ventilate the greenhouse on mild and sunny days but don’t forget to close down well before dark.
  
• On fine dry days walk around your garden and inspect that all is as it should be e.g. no plants have come loose at the base with wind rock: tree ties are not broken: tree stakes are not loose: no branches have snapped and left jagged edges where disease could enter etc.

 
Lawns.

• New turf can be laid in mild weather but not if the ground is either frozen or water logged.
  
• Lawn edges can also be repaired to save time later on.
  
• You can also deal with humps or hollows in your lawn now. Cut a cross with a spade and carefully peel back the turf. Either remove or add some soil to the required level and put back the turf, pushing the cut edges together.
  
• Keep off the lawn as much as possible during bad weather, either cold  or rain.

 
Fruit and Vegetables.

• Plant new fruit trees or bushes if the ground is not frozen or waterlogged.
  
• Cut down and remove the stumps of any old fruit trees that are not now worth their keep.
  
• Prune currants and gooseberries.
  
• Place cloches over strawberry plants for an earlier crop.
  
• Start to force rhubarb by placing a large pot, bucket or special forcing jar over the crown.
  
• Sow broad beans in pots and place in a cold frame for planting out in the spring.
  
• For early crops of lettuce, radish, spring onions, etc, sow the seeds in trays or pots and germinate on a windowsill or in a heated propagator. Once germinated the seedlings can then be put in a greenhouse for planting out next month.
  
• Onions grown from seed can also be germinated now in the same way but do not plant out until March.

 
Wildlife.

• As most of the berries and seeds will be gone from the garden by now it is most important that you keep the bird table regularly topped up. At this time of year they really like anything fatty such as meat, cheese, cooking fat, coconut or any other nuts that have not been salted.
  
• Some birds such as thrushes and blackbirds prefer to eat on the ground so if you have any fruit that is past its best these could be left in an open part of the garden.
  
• Keep the bird bath topped up with fresh water and make sure it is not frozen.
  
• If your pond is frozen over hold a saucepan with boiling water on top of the ice and wait until it melts a hole. Do not smash through the ice as this will harm fish and wildlife.

 
Looking Good This Month.

Betula Papyrifera - Tree with brilliant white peeling bark.

Chimonanthus Praecox - Wintersweet. Strongly scented shrub.

Cornus Alba - Dogwood, grown for the brightly coloured stems.

Erica Carnea - Winter flowering heather.

Galanthus nivalis - Common snowdrop. Lovely white nodding heads.

Garrya Eliptica - Evergreen shrub with long dangling tassels.

Hammamelis - Scented yellow flowers on bare stems.

Helleborus Niger - Christmas Rose. White or pink flowers.

Prunus Serrula - Flowering cherry. Bare in winter with glossy bark.

Skimmia Japonica - Evergreen shrub with white scented flowers.

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