Money
saving tip: Take your own hardwood
cuttings of roses, shrubs, conifers and
even some trees. After
12 months you will have a large, well rooted
plant ready for the garden. Any good gardening
book will explain how or ask the gardening
panel on Radio Ulster鈥檚 Gardener鈥檚
Corner
2.
Time
saving tip: It can take 12-18 months
for leaves to decompose into leaf mould
but if you add some
nitrogenous fertilizer, granular or liquid,
the bacteria will break them down more quickly.
3.
When
the lawn is coated in frost stay off it.
If you walk over it the crunching sound
is caused by grass leaves breaking. Later
you will have yellow foot prints over the
grass.
4.
Yucca
plants are beautiful but the leaf tips are
deadly sharp. It isn鈥檛 called Adam鈥檚
needle for nothing. To work safely in the
area cut the points off using a pair of
nail clippers.
5.
The
giant leafed gunnera isn鈥檛 totally
hardy and the crown will benefit from some
frost protection. The big dead leaves can
be draped over the plant and left as a covering
until spring time.
6.
Once
snowcrops have stopped flowering lift and
divide as snowdrops do best when replanted
"in the green".听
7.
If
you took my advice earlier you can now check
if the forced rhubarb has produced any new
leaf stalks ready for pulling. They don鈥檛
need to be large and there doesn鈥檛
need to be a lot. Just enough for a nice
tart or pie.
8.
Finish
pruning fruit trees. A bit of knowledge
helps but common sense will allow you to
do a good
job. Firstly cut out any diseased branches,
especially those with canker. Then remove
any crossing branches which are rubbing
and those growing towards the centre of
the tree. Low branches can be a nuisance
so prune them off close to the trunk.
9.
Check
on the beautiful, spring flowering forsythia
shrub. If the flower buds are swollen cut
some branches and bring them into the house.
Make an arrangement in water and they will
soon open, providing early colour.
10.
A
thought for the whole of the new year. If
you hoe the soil surface before you see
the annual weeds you won鈥檛 have any.
