Gardening is great for improving mental health and decreasing stress. Don’t just take our word for it, click on this link and find out what the charity Thrive says.
While taking some time to tend your garden can be relaxing, your efforts can also result in a sense of achievement, boosting confidence and self-esteem.
Here are some tips to get your garden ready for the winter months:
- Add some conifers for some much-needed shape and colour for the winter months. Conifers are starting to become popular again with the gardeners, with the range of vibrant, cheerful colours in blue, green and gold. They also often smell wonderful too, adding a sensual lift to your day as you brush past them.
- Winter blossoms from plants like Viburnum and Christmas box are mood-boosters when the weather is dark and miserable.
- Deciduous hedges are best planted during autumn/early winter when bare-rooted plants are available. Top tip cut the hedge 30-60 cm lower than the height you want, to allow for new growth. Hedges are wonderful for the environment too, as they can support many species of animals.
- The birds during the winter months really depend on the food you put out, so continue feeding them until spring. You can make household foods into bird cake with melted lard. However, avoid desiccated coconut that swells up in their stomachs. Attracting birds into the garden is great for anyone who may be housebound or lonely as they provide endless entertainment as you watch them feed.
- Make sure your tree ties are secure and don’t rub the trunk, as frosts and winds can lift and loosen new plants.
- Remember to check your stored bulbs, fruit, vegetables and tubers every few weeks. Ensure that the compost around dahlias and other tubers isn’t allowed to dry out completely. Throw out any showing signs of rotting.
- Borders can be weeded at any time throughout the winter, rake up fallen leaves, dig up and compost annual weeds, but burn off and throw away the roots of perennial ones.
- Make sure to check your bonfires before lighting them, as hedgehogs and toads often crawl into garden rubbish to hibernate. You could even make a hedgehog home at the bottom of the compost heap by using a wooden box or another similar structure.
- Try to plant both container-grown and bare-rooted plants from December to March too to give them a head start on next year.
- Winter is also a good time to plan for next year. Get yourself a garden calendar or planner that you can keep details of your gardening successes on.
It’s important to continue gardening during these troubling times, as it’s great for your mental wellbeing and general physical health too.
Your local garden centre will have all you need for your winter garden. To find your local centre click here, but please check COVID restrictions before travelling.