What do you do in the winter?
This is a question I am frequently asked and I’ve been working on developing a satisfactory answer for several years now. “I do what I can” or “I muddle along” have begun to feel like an indicator of resignation, a defeatist attitude that doesn’t ring true. Working outside in the garden during Winter is no less hard than during the warmer months. There is something deeply exhausting about the nature of the work; the cutting back, the hauling of the inordinate amount of waste, the trudging and sliding about in wet clay and the energy sapping cold which, when insulated against, causes uncomfortable perspiration that instantly chills you after peeling off that outer layer. At the end of the day, I feel as though I’ve done a full 8 hours but the reality is I am lucky to do have managed 5. Add to that the days of torrential rain which are impossible to consider working in and my income quickly slows to a trickle. It is a conundrum and every solution I have attempted to implement has not proven to bear fruit, it is the very nature of the occupation I have chosen and I have little choice but to go into partial hibernation.
One of the challenges I face at this time of year is convincing people that there is still important work to be done in the Winter. Much can be done to prepare the flower beds to weather the often torrential and freezing conditions to come in order to burst back into life in Spring. I understand the last thing many people are thinking about in December is their drab, apparently lifeless garden, especially with the added expense of Christmas playing on their minds. It is, however, the perfect moment to deal with those persistent weeds which have eluded extraction during the growing season. Many weeds such as Hairy Bittercress, Alkanet, Couchgrass and Creeping Buttercup will use this time to spread in the otherwise empty beds. Spreading plants like bamboo, ground elder, brambles and nettles, which can quickly dominate a flower bed, are much easier to extract when the ground is saturated, so use this time wisely.
Another important task is to enrich your beds with manure and mulch. By adding organic matter (well-rotted farmyard manure is ideal and cost effective) and topping with a mulch such as bark chippings or ‘strulch’ you are feeding the soil, microbes, plants and insects. This ensures that your garden is a healthy ecosystem, a habitat that provides sustenance to countless organisms that scale from single celled protozoa to earthworms, songbirds and everything else in-between. Mulch has the added benefit of preventing weeds from taking root making them far easier to extract as their root system only grows in the loose top layer of earth. The manure and mulch combination will decompose gradually, adding nutrients to your soil over the year ensuring plants have what they need when they need it. It also helps during the long, dry periods that we frequently experience (although notably didn’t happen in 2024) by trapping humidity and keeping ground temperatures within a reasonable range. This expense pays dividends and will ensure that plants survive and thrive even in prolonged extreme conditions. It’s mucky, tiresome work that requires care and attention to ensure plants aren’t buried or crushed. I have created a lot of garden waste this year and have put my chipper/shredder to good use, producing mulch that will return to the earth, the ultimate form of recycling. You may have luck asking local tree surgeons to deposit any surplus chippings on your doorstep, worth every penny.
I wish you all a merry Christmas and happy new year!
