DECEMBER UK
DECEMBER UK
SPECIAL OFFERS
- Gardening: Crocus Herbs, fruit, vegetables, plants and trees Suttons Thompson & Morgan
- DIY Bargains: Travis Perkins Big Bathroom Shop
- Stores: Coopers, PRC Direct, BargainFox
- PC'S & Appliances: CurrysPCWorld, PRC Direct
- Books: Home and Garden Bookshop, Gardening, Harpercollins, Waterstones
- Special: Hampers
- Protect newly planted shrubs and those at risk from frost by covering them with an insulating material such as horticultural fleece, plastic bubble wrap or straw.
- Plant out Bare-root roses, fruit trees and bushes.
- Plant out winter and spring bedding plants including:
- Polyanthus
- Wallflowers
- Prune trees and continue to plant new trees, check ties, supports and stakes.
- Protect tender, soft growths from frost.
- Plant out tulips.
- Grow winter flowering Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) indoors.
- Create Christmas Arrangements.
- Clear and dig beds for use next spring provided the ground is not waterlogged or frozen.
- When the ground is not too hard, continue digging out perennial weeds and manuring.
- Cover weed-free soil with a mulch.
- Keep the garden tidy and weed free to give overwintering pests fewer places to shelter.
- Check tools for repairs, clean and put away.
- Order seeds for next year.
- Clean and service the lawnmower and other garden tools.
- Use cold winter days when it is not possible to work outdoors to plan design improvements and new plantings for the spring.
- Keep an area of the pond ice free if you keep fish.
- Lag or drain outdoor pipes.
Greenhouse
- Check plants in the greenhouse, cold frames and under cloches to see if they need watering.
- Open the greenhouse ventilators on sunny days but close them early in the afternoon before the temperature drops.
Vegetables
- Continue to blanch chicory.
- Remove perennial weeds by digging out roots.
- Dig up rhubarb roots to force in your shed or greenhouse and start forcing selected crowns.
- Start to force chicory.
Fruit
- Propagate vines from stem cuttings
- Prune apple and pear trees and treat the cuts with a wound paint.
- Prune fruit trees and continue to plant new trees, check ties, supports and stakes.
- Keep greasebands sticky outdoors.
Ponds
- If barley straw bales or pads were used to reduce algae during the summer months, these can now be removed and added to the compost heap. Let them sit by the edge of the pond for 24 hours before composting, so that pond insects can find their way back into the water.
- Rake out fallen leaves or shake off those that have gathered on protective netting.
- Use Pond Net to prevent hungry herons depleting your fish stocks.
- If the pond becomes frozen do not be tempted to smash the ice on the pond with a spade or hammer as the shock waves could kill fish and other wildlife. Put some boiling water in a pot and hold it over the pond to melt away a hole.
- Before the pond is likely to freeze float a tenis ball in the water before it freezes. Once the ice has formed, remove the ball to create a breathing hole.
- Prevent the pond freezing invest in an Air Pump or Pond Heater or Air Stone. These kits will keep the water aerated and moving.
- Create Christmas Arrangements.
General
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