Winter Growth and Planting

The nights are drawing in, it’s dark and wet outside. It seems as if the ground has gone to sleep.  But there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have a colourful and interesting garden at this time of year.

 

The best time of year for planting shrubs and trees is, surprisingly, during the winter.  Plants that are sold containerised are able to be planted throughout the year, but they do prefer to be planted when they are dormant between September and April as it’s far less stressful for them.

 

Bare-root trees and bushes can be planted between November and March if the ground is not frozen.  The best evergreen shrubs to plant in winter include winter honeysuckle Lonicera fragrantissima, witch hazel Hammamelis, Viburnum tinus, Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’, Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’, Jasminum nudiflorum and yellow wintersweet flowers.

 

Some of your summer and autumn flowering plants will survive during a standard winter and may even provide colour throughout.  These include pansies, cyclamen, hostas, catmint, box hedging, echinacea, lily of the valley, hellebores and bellis.

 

Prune apple and pear trees, gooseberries and currant bushes.  Remove dead or rubbing branches, shorten new growth slightly and keep an open centre to the plant as you prune.  This should keep your garden easy on the eye.  Do clear fallen leaves and autumn fruit from lawns, as this can affect the grass.

 

Finally, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to grow vegetables throughout the winter. Any root vegetables planted in the autumn should still be providing you with food, but you could also consider a cold frame.   Most commonly, salad greens such as spinach, chard, arugula and a variety of lettuces are grown in a cold frame, but you could also successfully grow radishes, leeks and carrots.