COLD WEATHER (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

COLD WEATHER

3:16pm Monday 29th November 2010

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In most gardening magazines we read a lot about what we should be doing in our gardens at any particular time of the year and most of it is very helpful. But however helpful it has to be tempered with common sense, if the weather conditions aren’t right obviously we need to adapt, such as not doing spring digging if the ground is water-logged. This needs to be borne in mind particularly in late autumn and winter when so much depends on temperature and the state of the soil. Having woken up to snow at the weekend it is obviously not the time to be doing outside planting. However, when the soil is still fairly warm late autumn would be a good time to divide large clumps of Helleborus orientalis while they still have time to re-establish. All other types should be left until next spring. For best results plant in a shady position in a moisture-retentative, well-drained loam. To get them off to a good start dig in plenty of organic matter. Using either a sharp knife or a small spade divide the large clumps into smaller sections and take care to ensure that each has at least one mature leaf. Cut away any damaged roots before replanting. Finish off by covering the whole area with a thick mulch to help conserve moisture and at the same time enrich the soil.

But, with the cold weather set to be here for a while we can only dream of things we could be getting on with if only the days were warmer!

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