{"id":12615,"date":"2022-12-07T13:42:30","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T12:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12615"},"modified":"2022-12-07T13:43:19","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T12:43:19","slug":"12615","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12615","title":{"rendered":"Gardening in December"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/strong><\/em><\/span>HE VILLAGE GARDENER<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

This month\u2019s tips come from the most popular person on the planet at this time of year – Father Christmas<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  1. When we get on in years the main gift we want for Christmas is our health. That\u2019s why the other presents dry up.<\/li>\n
  2. Please send letters to me, otherwise you will end up with socks and another scarf.<\/li>\n
  3. Families cannot fathom why you would want a roll of bubble wrap but stick to your guns.<\/li>\n
  4. Don\u2019t tell the friends and relatives that you can\u2019t help with the clearing up after the Christmas dinner because you need to water the allotment, they won\u2019t believe it.<\/li>\n
  5. If friends buy you a year\u2019s magazine subscription, don\u2019t expect it to continue indefinitely.<\/li>\n
  6. Unlike myself you only have to wear your Christmas jumper this month, so go for it – you know you want to.<\/li>\n
  7. Before the big day make a space in the shed and when the partner asks you why, just say you\u2019re expecting a sizeable gift. Disclaimer, it doesn\u2019t always work.<\/li>\n
  8. Don\u2019t take your new gloves to the allotment in January as the conditions will make them unusable for the rest of the year.<\/li>\n
  9. Give yourself a bit of extra time to think about New Near resolutions, that way some might be achievable.<\/li>\n
  10. Gardeners are a sociable lot and have many friends. Just give a thought to those on their own. Loneliness is miserable.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Although we haven\u2019t had any significant frosts in our area before Christmas for a couple of years it is still best to insulate the greenhouse, replace any broken glass and use a clear flexible mastic on loose panels. A single layer of polythene beneath the glass will reduce the amount of sunlight able to get in by 10%, which at this time of year should not affect the<\/p>\n

    plants. We need to have all pots that are outside, up off the floor to allow drainage. Watering will be at a minimum at this time of year, so it may be a good idea to empty out water butts and leave upside down. With high winds guaranteed, check that any trellis is safe and that plant stakes are fit for purpose.<\/p>\n

    Bare root plants are available now and are good value compared to potted ones. Plant them up as soon as they arrive but they won\u2019t need a feed. Apple trees, vines and acers can be pruned now. If you wait, they may start to bleed which can make them susceptible to diseases. Take hard wood cuttings from now until late winter. Gardener\u2019s World magazine says most deciduous plants will take but some evergreens, such as cotoneaster and holly, are also worth trying. Just take off the soft growth and cut above a bud, then cut just below a bud anything from 6 – 12 inches from the top and stick in a pot or the ground leaving a third above ground. These are going to have to stay put until next Autumn then you can move them to either their own pot or a patch of ground. Blackspot on hellebores is a problem at present. Pull the infected leaves off but don\u2019t compost them; put them in the bin. While you\u2019re dealing with this remove some of the lower leaves to show off the flowers.<\/p>\n

    At the allotment Bernard will be on hand for any advice you may need over the winter period. There will be a lot of netting rolled out to protect brassicas from hungry pigeons. People who put onion sets in will have to place them quite deep or birds will pull them out and they only do this to annoy you.<\/p>\n

    A big thank you to all who contributed to this page (whether they wanted to or not) over the past year and to the What\u2019s On team for giving me space in the magazine.<\/p>\n

    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year<\/p>\n

    from the village gardener.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \n
    \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    THE VILLAGE GARDENER This month\u2019s tips come from the most popular person on the planet at this time of year – Father Christmas When we get on in years the main gift we want for Christmas is our health. That\u2019s why the other presents dry up. Please send letters to me, otherwise you will end up with socks and another […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s6cWjO-12615","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14508,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14508","url_meta":{"origin":12615,"position":0},"title":"Watering, Weeding And Dead Heading","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st August 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER Watering, Weeding And Dead Heading Watering, weeding and dead heading are the jobs that need attending to every day at this time of year in an attempt to keep the garden looking it\u2019s best for as long as possible. 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The garden puts on an autumn colour\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14424,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14424","url_meta":{"origin":12615,"position":3},"title":"The Humble Hoe Is Your Best Friend","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th July 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER The Humble Hoe Is Your Best Friend\u00a0 The humble hoe is your best friend when it comes to keeping weeds under control during the Summer. On dry days just run the hoe between your flowers or veg beds. Not doing this at least a couple of times\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5451,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5451","url_meta":{"origin":12615,"position":4},"title":"January Garden Tips","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th January 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 THE VILLAGE GARDENER Happy new year. Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. January is usually the coldest month, so wrap up warm when you start getting the garden ready for the year ahead. We start as usual with the RHS tips for January. I would really like to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15209,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15209","url_meta":{"origin":12615,"position":5},"title":"This Month for Early Spring Bulbs","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th March 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER This Month for Early Spring Bulbs This month early spring bulbs and ornamental quince will be in bloom. The quince would have been in flower since last October and will continue to flower for months. When we were pupils of Wenvoe school, a long time ago now,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Items for March 2025"","block_context":{"text":"New Items for March 2025","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=420"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12615"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12615"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12617,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12615\/revisions\/12617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}