The Expert Guide: A Calendar Of Gardening Tasks
Welcome to our overview of what to do in your garden and when. Obviously this can’t be all encompassing - instead we’ll pick a few key actions that we would expect need doing in some of the gardens which I’ve designed for our clients - those who want to enjoy their gardens but not necessarily spend too much time working in them.
Specific advice on specific topics may appear in a later guide but for now here is an overview of your garden by month and season …
WINTER
What to do in your garden in January
January is a month of calm. The hectic days of Christmas have passed and outside you can almost feel that everything is waiting to burst back to life.
For this reason there is still not too much that needs doing in the garden in January. Older gardening books advocate January as a time to dig over the beds - with frost acting on heavy clay to break it up, without the back breaking effort - but newer approaches advocate a no dig garden - maintaining the integrity of the soil and its micro-organisms. In a designed garden though there should be little to do.
One possibility for those who just need to spend time outdoors is to collect worm-casts from the lawn (although if you use fertilisers and herbicides on this you shouldn’t do this - although this most likely would result in a lack of worm casts). These casts can then be used to create a mulch or compost tea to apply to the beds and borders. It acts as a boost for the soil microbes (and a tea for the plant roots as there are claims that once soil has been processed by the worms it can have five times the nitrogen, seven times the soluble phosphorous, eleven times the potassium, three times the magnesium, and one and a half times the calcium of the surrounding soil).
If such effort is not your cup of tea then pruning up apple and pear trees is a possibility - removing dead wood and pruning up the correct shape (be that a goblet, fan, cordon or espalier).
In general though January is a month to take stock and watch.
OTHER JOBS TO CONSIDER IN JANUARY -
Plant deciduous hedges, or move deciduous trees and shrubs if required - making sure it isn’t too frosty, as frosty or snowy soil should not come into contact with bare roots.
Protect your lawn by trying not to walk across it when the grass is covered with frost or is waterlogged.
Keep bird-feeders and bird baths topped up.
Check tree stakes and ties - loosening, fixing or removing them as necessary.
What to do in your garden in February
February is traditionally a wet month! On days when the sun appears though there are a few simple jobs that will make your garden look better - either immediately or later into the year.
First off, now is one of the best times to trim back your evergreen or deciduous hedges. Not only will that be seen as a “cue-to-care” (namely that the garden in tended and cared for even when it’s still waiting to burst to life in spring) but it is the best time to avoid disturbing nesting birds. Just be aware that if you cut back an evergreen hedge (that isn’t a yew or a holly) beyond the green foliage then it will not grow back - which is why if not properly maintained Leylandii hedges get wider and wider.
Elsewhere now is the time to cut back deciduous ornamental grasses to just above the ground (or just above the green shoots if they have started to appear already). They will have provided their silhouette to your winter garden so it is the time to take them back. Whilst you have the secateurs out now is also the best time to cut back the buddleja so that it does not outgrow its space.
Finally, as your snowdrops start to go over if you want a more exuberant display next year divide the clumps you have and plant the new, smaller clumps out to create a carpet of white next January.
OTHER JOBS TO CONSIDER IN FEBRUARY -
If we get heavy snow, gently shake it from your shrubs shrubs to prevent breakages.
Re-shape borders with edging iron - if they don’t have metal edgings in place.
Remove weeds from borders if they’ve started to grow.
Prune out diseased, damaged or dead wood from trees and shrubs.
Mulch your borders to lock in moisture and suppress weed growth over the summer.
SPRING
What to do in your garden in March
March is one of my favourite months, probably because the last Sunday of the month is when the clocks change in the UK and the evenings get lighter (allowing time in the garden after a day at work)!
So with summer just around the corner now may instead be the time to make sure that your winter garden looks its best at the end of the year! One of the most effective types of plant in the winter garden are those with coloured stems, which look great once the leaves have fallen - Cornus or Salix in particular. However the best coloured stems are young - those that grew in the last year or two. You therefore need to coppice out the older stems which have started to lose their sheen - which sounds complicated but just involves cutting the old stems an inch above the ground (at a slight angle so water flows off of the cut surface).
With eyes to a slightly more timely visual treat, in terms of summer flowering, now is also the time to cut back your bush roses, and climbing roses. There are two schools of thought - one involves carefully cutting back each stem to a requisite number of buds (usually 3 - 5 in my experience), and (for bush roses) cutting out any old woody stems to just above ground level. The other is to take a set of very sharp hedge cutters and cut the rose back to a few feet below where you want it to grow to this year (for bush roses I tend to cut back to about a foot from the ground).
Other than that March is your last chance to plant any new bare root hedging and the best time to get new trees planted (especially if they are also bare rooted). A March planting means that the roots can get growing before the leaves start to appear meaning the tree can find more of its own water and so you will need to water it less in the coming year (notice though that I said less watering and not no watering - all newly planted trees need some help while they rooting system develops).
Hopefully the weather will be with you and you can start to spend some quality time in the garden.
OTHER JOBS TO CONSIDER IN MARCH -
Weed - but only if it’s needed!
What to do in your garden in April
April is the month when the garden starts to put on a show - getting ready for a floral display or maybe just the rich burst of new leaves. It is the combination of increasing temperature and water (from the inevitable April showers) that triggers it.
For this reason the key task in April is probably weeding out what you don’t want and editing what you do want; where there is danger of one plant taking over at the expense of something else, either through the judicious use of the secateurs or moving a smaller, less robust plant to a different spot.
If you’ve planted up your garden with low maintenance in mind then ground cover is the key, whether they are creeping plants or just the sheer size of the plants coming into their own and shading out the weeds. For this reason, except in the first year or two after you’ve had a new garden created, the editing and weeding process should ideally be fairly quick and painless.
It was the Victorians, with their mass of cheap labour, who wanted a garden to look like a museum of floral specimens surrounded by bare soil which then needed forever weeding on bended knee. Our focus should be on providing a haven for ourselves and for nature instead.
The other thing you need to do is decide what to do about slugs and snails. I never advocate pesticides for two reasons - first that they risk poisoning beneficial creatures in your garden and upsetting the food chain to the detriment of the garden and its running, and second you are fighting a losing battle. You therefore need to decide how much effort you want to make. To save particular plants use beer traps, emptying regularly (onto the compost heap), and pick up any you see on a damp evening and move them somewhere else. However, snails have a homing instinct over distances below 20 metres, so it may not be worth moving them over a shorter distance than that. Alternatively avoid leafy plants that will look the poorer for showing signs of nibbling and get on with enjoying your garden. You may own it in the eyes of the legal system but ultimately you are sharing it and you can relax a lot more when you accept that!
April is a fantastic month to just enjoy your garden!
OTHER JOBS TO CONSIDER IN APRIL -
Plant evergreen trees and shrubs/move existing evergreens if necessary.
Trim back any frost-damaged foliage
Plant summer flowering bulbs, corms and tubers
What to do in your garden in May
With May comes an intense burst of green growth and a feeling that summer is just around the corner. In most gardens there will be flowers in abundance. In an ordinary year, many people will have visited the garden centre around Easter, so most of their plants would therefore flower abundantly for a few weeks before a dip in colour in June (often barely noticed as the weather is much improved and the nights continue to draw out).
For me, May is a time to take stock in the garden. It is a time to stand back, have a good look, see where the gaps will be in June or later and then buy plants to fill those gaps with a few new plant varieties to extend the season of colour. Just remember that the blousiest plants aren’t always the best purchase. They may have been grown on in a greenhouse to look their best and the nights can still get cold enough to check their growth once they are planted out.
If you trimmed your hedges in February they will be just starting to look straggly now. Maintenance trimming to maintain the shape of formal hedges may be undertaken but you will need to check for nesting birds – and wait until September if they are there. Luckily a little wildness around the edges can be a beautiful thing.
You may also want to join in ‘No Mow May’ - a break from mowing for the benefit of your garden wildlife?
So that’s the advice for May - take stock, see what needs tweaking, and let nature do its thing. Simple!
OTHER JOBS TO CONSIDER IN MAY -
The Chelsea-chop – cut back perennials so that they flower later in the year (where you have a repetition of plants in the garden some can be left and others can be cut back)
Cutback withered daffodil or tulip stems once they have turned yellow.
Stake and support herbaceous perennials if necessary
Weed - if it’s needed!
SUMMER
What to do in the garden in June
Past experience suggests that you need to make the most of the first part of June - because once we head to Wimbledon fortnight then there will be rain!
If you have any spring flowering shrubs then June is a good time to prune them to size. The logic with pruning any flowering shrubs is to wait until just after their flowers fade and then prune them to shape - but be aware that pruning anything else at the same time might result in another 12 months to wait before it flowers as expected if you cut off the buds that are forming!
Also, there will always be the occasional stray weed to pull - much better than wrecking the garden ecosystem with herbicides or pesticides. Also, I’m always very cautious removing plants that don’t appear to be doing anything this year - as you’ll be amazed at how often they bounce back as June and July progress.
Finally now is the best time to get into the barbecue habit (or at least eating outside if you can’t get a barbecue to heat up and cook properly); get into the garden in the evening and just enjoy being outside because if you don’t you’ll blink and it will be November again!
OTHER JOBS TO CONSIDER IN JUNE -
Lightly trim box balls and other non-flowering shrubs to shape as necessary
Deadheading could be an option to prolong flowering?
Remember to ventilate your greenhouse!
What to do in your garden in July
July is the month people tend to neglect the gardening in favour of holidays and socialising. Luckily if the structure of your garden has been designed properly then July is a month which should be forgiving of a lack of time (although the lawn will keep growing if you leave it).
If you have time, deadheading the perennials in your garden will encourage a second (third, or fourth) flush of flowers and extend the period when the colour of the flowers adds that little something to your outdoor space. Of course, you don’t have to dead-head (usually just nipping the spent flowers off behind where the bud formed). Indeed, some plants give a fantastic late summer or even winter silhouette of their dried flower heads (think the moody shots of New Perennial plantings in the frost that always appear in the gardening media).
The only other job I find requires regular attention (in those years where there is no deluge through July) is to top up ponds and water features. This is good for wildlife or, in the case of sealed water features, good for the pump to ensure the reservoir doesn’t run dry. Perhaps next time you could have an automated top up of your water feature, so this becomes a job that you no longer need to do?
OTHER JOBS TO CONSIDER IN JULY -
Trim evergreen hedges - but check for nesting birds first
Plant your autumn flowering bulbs
Keep an eye out for potential plant diseases and pests (picking the pests off by hand before they start to multiply)
What to do in your garden in August
August is the month of peak enjoyment for most people in their garden. It is the best time to assess whether your patio is large enough, if the evenings could be improved by a fire-pit somewhere, if the tired barbecue could be replaced by an outdoor kitchen, and whether there is a spot that gets the last of the sunshine where you could site a bench.
Whilst doing this you might also spare a thought for any plants that are looking a little wilted. Wilting is a plant’s natural reaction to a lack of water and if caught soon enough is quickly rectified with a watering can. If you leave it too long, or forget, then if a plant reaches its permanent wilting point its foliage wont perk back up and it will die.
Notice that I referred to a watering can and not a hose. Although it’s sometime hard to believe when it seems to have rained every day for months over the autumn and winter, water is a precious resource and blanket spraying with a hose is not always needed, or environmentally responsible. One of the things I try to consider when creating a new planting is matching the plant to its soil and position. By doing this the planting scheme can usually withstand all but the hottest of summers and the plants need less care. Indeed, this is why planting design is such a complicated task.
Also, by using a watering can where needed, you can target the plants that need water, avoid watering the foliage (which can cause mildew or scorch problems at worst or simply prevent water from reaching the roots at best), you can get a little exercise, and you can also use the harvested rainwater from the butt that you installed (or will install) against one of the downpipes from your roof!
OTHER JOBS TO CONSIDER IN AUGUST -
Mow summer flowering meadows
Deadheading could be an option to prolong flowering?
AUTUMN
What to do in your garden in September
September is a month when many gardeners look not at the passing of summer but at the rejuvenation of their garden for the next year…
It is an unavoidable fact that some perennials start to look past their best after a few years - most often seen in them flopping outwards from the centre. To improve their look and fill in any gaps that have appeared elsewhere though is easy. Dig up the plant and with a sharp spade chop it into a few pieces (usually 2-4 depending on the side of the roots). Then trim the plant back (leaving a few leaves for photosynthesis to help the re-growth of the roots) and re-plant the pieces.
It really is that simple. Just don’t cut the pieces too small and remember that if you’re unsure whether a plant can be divided, and want to double check, you can always Google it!
Another way to fill in some gaps and provide additional spring interest is to get your spring bulbs ordered and planted - you just need to select the type of bulb and colour scheme. When it comes to planting, I find it best to plant in clumps (rather than neat rows).
For a naturalistic effect you can fill an old pot with bulbs, cast them across the surface of the bed, and plant them where they fall. Also, the general rule of thumb is to plant at a depth so that the layer of soil over the bulb is equal in depth the the height of the bulb (i.e. small bulbs are planted more shallowly than larger bulbs), and in clay soil you may want to sit them on a layer of horticultural grit.
Maybe try some interesting colour combinations - for tulips the light and dark of ‘Queen of Night’ and ‘Clearwater’, to name just one example of thousands, or perhaps Fritillaria imperialis and a yellow Narcissus.
OTHER JOBS TO CONSIDER IN SEPTEMBER -
Prune lavender to neat balls if that’s the style you want
Collect and get rid of any rose leaves with blackspot or rust to reduce infection next year
Rake and aerate lawns - especially if you’ve been using them to gather all summer
What to do in your garden in October
As we head towards the end of the year, winter is on its way, and as is always the case, there are a few little jobs we can do to make our garden a little better. However, apart from tidying here and there nothing is really that urgent by October should you want to have a break from mowing, weeding, or pruning.
Nevertheless a word of caution when it comes to tidying up. Removing leaf litter and other plant debris removes food for soil organisms (like worms) and removes places to hide for the micro-organisms to live over winter (and then eat your plant pests in the spring). Obviously removing fallen leaves that have rusts or leaf spots on them (particularly under roses) is important in controlling the spread of these in a fungicide-free garden, but others should be left. Desiring to see bare soil is a Victorian, gardenesque concept which should not have a place in the modern, environmentally-conscious, garden.
It is not just ecologically sound to be a little less tidy than tradition would appear to dictate. Piet Oudolf, and before him Henk Gerritsen, have for years been trying to make us appreciate the beauty of the plant silhouettes that should remain in the winter garden. The frost touched, sculptural forms look amazing in certain lights, and the acceptance of the cycle of birth and death within the garden is something that we can all connect with.
OTHER JOBS TO CONSIDER IN OCTOBER -
Transplant any perennials or grasses that need to be moved.
Now is a good time to plant trees and shrubs for root establishment before the frosts start
Gently prune climbing and rambling roses to avoid wind rock
What to do in your garden in November
November comes with longer nights and shorter days but there is still a quality to the light which creates an ethereal quality to a garden at sunset. With the last few flowers hanging on in the hope of pollination the garden is tempting you back to see its final hurrah. So don’t forget to pop on a coat and wander around as and when the sun appears.
A little tidying here and there (but not too much) is probably needed and cleaning walkways if they are becoming slippery is important - so that you wont lose your footing when walking across the garden in the dark or at dusk.
However, your garden is starting to go into hibernation. The leaves of deciduous plants have captured their chlorophyll before leaves senesce and fall, leaving berries and fruits for you to appreciate - be they rosehips (such as the hips of Rosa moyesii), sloes, or amelanchier berries. However you may find no berries and this will likely be because the blackbirds have been grabbing them for weeks.
So in November spare a thought for the birds that inhabit your garden. Some will scavenge among the uncleared leaf litter for invertebrates while others can be attracted in with bird seed. Hang some bird feeders and spend hours watching the song birds that will arrive (as well as the occasional acrobatic squirrel and wood pigeons barging the feeders to knock seeds to the floor).
If you encourage the birds in now they may well return the favour and return in spring to devour the invertebrates that would otherwise nibble at your plants.
OTHER JOBS TO CONSIDER IN NOVEMBER -
Remove dead leaves from ponds
Check bonfires for hibernating creatures
WINTER (again)
What to do in your garden in December
The simple answer here is…not a lot. There is still plenty to enjoy with the change of seasons but nothing really needs actively doing! So for this month I’m going to talk about holly instead!
The holly is one of the few trees that is instantly recognisable to all. Its prickly evergreen leaves and red berries are synonymous with Christmas time. Indeed the terms ‘Christmas tree’ and ‘holly’ were one and the same in Britain before Queen Victoria and Prince Albert popularised the practice of bringing conifers inside the house and decorating them.
Christmas aside, hollies are wonderful additions to the garden. They grow in most conditions (except in very wet or very dry soil), can be pruned hard, and offer evergreen structure and interest throughout the year. They are also dioecious, which means that different plants will have either all male or all female flowers. This means that in order to get red berries not only do you need a female holly but you also need a male holly nearby for pollination to occur. In most gardens this does not cause a problem as hollies of all types are common but if you find that your holly doesn’t give you berries then either you have a male (and need to buy a female) or you need a male for pollination. Just to make things complicated though you can’t rely on the name of the holly to determine whether you’ll get berries as Ilex aquifolium ‘Silver King’ is female and Ilex aquifolium ‘Silver Queen’ is male (and this confusion is not uncommon in the naming of other hollies too).
There are also many varieties that differ from the lustrous green leaves (that reflect light so well in the winter sun) and the red berries with which we associate so closely. There are variegated hollies with gold or silver margins to their leaves (such as Ilex x altaclerensis ‘Golden King’ or Ilex aquifolium ‘Argentea Marginata’), and those with orange or yellow berries (such as Ilex aquifolium ‘Amber’ or Ilex aquifolium ‘Bacciflava’ respectively). However my favourite holly is Ilex aquifolium ‘J.C. Van Tol’. Not only will it produce berries even if a pollinating holly is not close by but its leaves are relatively smooth - a boon when collecting leaves without the use of leather gauntlets!
OTHER JOBS TO CONSIDER IN DECEMBER -
Relax!
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