Jan
Wow how did we get to December, we survived our 1st storms of the season but check out my 9 Gardening jobs for December to get prepared plus getting ready for Christmas with gardeners gift sets and personalised Tool racks.
1.Gardening jobs for December – Check – boundary fences, Trees, and outbuildings
Unfortunately, during winter, we are subjected to all sorts of volatile weather. From floods, to heavy frosts and snow to gale force winds. We need to be constantly checking for damage and clearing up and debris and fallen leaves. Rotting leaves can be a great attraction for slugs and mould. These will be of detriment to your plants. December is the time to keep checking your beds. Remove any dead plants, leaves, and fallen branches. This helps prevent the spread of diseases and pests.
Check your boundary fences for any weakness in posts and assess if repairs or replacements are required. Ascertain is there are required immediately or if they can wait. It’s good to assess the potential damage that may occur. Do you have dogs or other pets that may escape if suddenly you find yourself without a boundary fence. A falling fence that may damage a neighbour’s greenhouse or property is not worth the risk of leaving. The financial impact or the inconvenience it may cause could be avoided if sorted straight away.
Its also worth checking any trees, sheds and outbuildings for any maintenance required. It is far easier to maintain than replace and deal with the aftermath of a fallen tree or building. Be aware of larger items such as trampolines. These should be anchored as high winds love to take these on a journey to visit other gardens or if your really unlucky roads.
2. Pruning – To make a wreath
This is one of my favourite jobs in December. It really gets you in the mood for Christmas.
Take a big bag or box and get pruning in your garden. Look for evergreen leaves. I love to prune my Choisya, Eucalyptus, Laurel & Hebe’s. My holly tree is a great source for the red berries and the different shape and type of leaves. I love to use different types of conifers. Anything could go really, just make sure it’s got a strong stem, and will look great in a wreath, garland, or table decoration.
I have extra items that I will use in a wreath. Such as pinecones, ribbons, fake berries, gold leaves and decorations. The Range is a great place to look for items to use. Such as artificial flowers and leaves and little Christmassy items to spruce up your wreath.
If you need a bit of guidance of how to make your wreath this is a lovely article which gives you a step by step guide on how to use wire rings & moss to create a wreath, you may prefer to use oasis (the block soaked in water to hold all your green foliage.
Garden Planner
As you are pruning your garden this is a great time to survey all your areas and find if you have any blooms in your garden and where you would have room for some. Your next job would be to find what will work in your garden to bloom in December. You can then plan it on your planner ready to get sowing or planting your seeds w hen the time is right.
If you don’t have a planner don’t worry you can download one here for FREE to help you achieve blooms all year round in your garden
Get the FREE Chester & Cooke Garden Planner
3. Gardening Jobs for December – Parsnips
For as long as I can remember a tradition in our house is to have home grown parsnips on Christmas Day. This is a passion of my Dads. To help harvesting it’s a good idea to place straw around the base to keep the soil from freezing. This really does help when the conditions are cold. If like us you like all the trimmings you don’t want to be without a parsnip on your Christmas plate.
4. Remember the Birds
This time of year the birds are desperate for food. Bird feeders are lovely to attract birds to your garden – you can hang them near roses so they also help to pick any pests off the stems.
Be carful that any seed debris isn’t an attraction to vermin. So make sure this gets cleared away. Its lovely to have them positioned near a window so you can watch them feed. If frosty weather remember they need water too. Keep bird baths clean and filled.
5. Gardening Jobs for December – Mulch
What is Mulch, I hear you ask? Mulch is a mixture of different materials such as decaying leaves, compost and bark which can be applied to protect your plants from freezing temperatures. Mulch also helps retain moisture. It can be used during summer for the use of retaining the moisture but over winter it can be used over the top of plants which have died back to protect their roots from the freezing temperatures.
6. Protect your terracotta pots
If you have any terracotta pots these may not be frost proof so you can either move these to a sheltered position and wrap in bubble wrap or if possible take them inside, if you use a tool rack to get those spades and forks off the ground, you can then store your pots inside.. Its wise to protect tender plants that can’t withstand freezing temperatures, consider moving them indoors or providing some form of protection like frost cloths, piling straw around the base of their stems will help.
7. Clear your pond and make compost
As you know leaves can be a real pain, keep an eye on your pond to ensure that leaves and other debris is cleared out. Keep it at the side for a while for any pond life can escape. You can then compost the debris, which will make great compost.
If you don’t have a large compost bin or regular supply of compost this may be a good time for you to order some well-rotted compost in to dig into your beds over winter. Providing your soil which the extra nutrients in will need for the spring growing season.
8. Get Christmas Shopping for your Gardening Friends – Gardening gift sets and Tool racks.
If you are a passionate gardener chances are you share this passion with a friend. Now is the time to purchase their Christmas gift that will certainly win you some brownie points.
At Chester and Cooke we have a range of gardening products for you to choose from, from stocking filler of seed harvest envelopes, to tool racks and seed boxes that can be personalised.
You can purchase them HERE or you can read our blog on 11 gardening gift Ideas for Christmas
Which gives you a run down on all our products. Below are just a few of them from our gardening gift sets of our seed box organiser set, garden plaques, and tool racks.
Our Tool racks come in small medium and large and can be personalised or come with Tools engraved as standard. – these are great for compact spaces and you can even hang your hand tools on the side arms so super convenient to keep tidy. Our tools racks are available in brown or grey.
9.Gardening jobs for December – Plan for your gardens Future, Order in summer bulbs and seeds use a seed box or a gardeners gift set seed box.
December is an excellent time to start planning for next year’s garden. Take note of what worked and what didn’t this year, and research and order seeds and plants for the summer, hopefully all your spring bulbs have been planted. If you haven’t already done so your plot there position on your garden planner. You can find your own Free Garden Planner below
Get the FREE Chester & Cooke Garden Planner
If you need somewhere to store your seeds – then its good to consider what features of a seed box you should be looking for, this article will help you with that. 10 things to look for in a Gardeners seed box.
You can Purchase seed boxes and gardeners gift set, Seed Box which come with divider cards and harvest envelopes, starting from £65.00 from Chester & Cooke use the link below.
Remember that gardening jobs for December can vary depending on your specific climate, location and the types of plants you have in your garden. Be sure to adapt these general guidelines to your local conditions, I hope this has helped you prepare for Christmas given you some ideas including our gardeners gift sets and personalised tool racks . For all our Chester & Cooke gardening products to help you with your gardening progress – click HERE