Due to complete neglect there are a good few days work required in my garden to get it to where it should be at this time of year …. But even with a 3 week span of home isolating ahead of me the chances of a constructive stint in the garden are highly unlikely .. The business has to be sured up to be ready to hit the floor running when we are allowed back out, not to mention 2 bouncy children to home school … To avoid complete frustration I try and hit it for small stints, say 15 to 20 minutes, as often as I can .... All my tools are left in the garden, handy for when the opportunity arises …
Let the dog in the garden, quick chop, kids need some time out in the garden … grab the spade … The effect looks really bitty with some areas pristine and other complete chaos but by the end of the 3 week period all should be in order…
I do a final cut back of wisterias in February (March at my house ..) removing all the wispy growth as the buds are all formed. I’ve done a few little tweaks this week, mine is on a south facing wall and some of the flowers have started to open this week.
Another job for late Feb, early March, is to dead head and thin out hydrangeas. It's very tempting to do this earlier but the old flower heads offer the tender new growth some protection against frost so best to leave them until the threat of frosts is past. I also enjoy the look of spent flower heads and seed pods, particularly on a frosty morning. Cut the dead flowers back to a good strong pair of buds and remove any old or weak growth down to the ground.
The final job in my little plot is the grasses. I love using grasses as they bring movement and life to a garden. They are also really easy to look after. I think my favourite is Stipa Tennuissima but the Miscanthus are beautiful for Autumn colour. Again the seed heads look stunning on a frosty morning. The finer grasses I comb through and give a little chop to tidy the ends up but the miscanthus and more sturdy grasses I cut back to about 3 to 6 inches off the ground to make way for the new growth.
Very satisfying ….