December and January

December and January are good months for pruning and planning.

When the weather is kind now is the time to prune fruit trees, wisteria and roses as well as vines. Also remove the old leaves from Helleborus x hybridus, or Lenten rose, once the buds are obvious, to control hellebore leaf spot.

When pruning fruit trees do not prune cherries, plums or other members of the prunus genus as winter pruning leaves them more susceptible to silver leaf disease – they should be pruned in late spring once the leaves have started to open or just after fruiting. Even if you do not actively prune your apple and pear trees check that tree ties are not too tight and remove dead, damaged or diseased wood as well as any remaining wrinkled apples to help prevent the spread of disease.

Planning is more fun when the weather is bad and seed and bulb catalogues hold the promise of spring and planting for both summer harvest and colour in the garden.

It is also a good time to think about winter flowering plants, which are often highly scented. There are many good cultivars of Hamamelis x intermedia which is a large shrub with scented flowers in winter. A lax wall shrub Jasminum nudiflorum, or winter jasmine, should provide sprays of bright yellows flowers all winter unless the weather is very harsh. These pick well but are not scented. Sarcococca confusa, or winter box, is a small shrub, approximately three foot tall with small but scented flowers from December onwards. Daphne bholua, particularly the cultivar ‘Jacqueline Postill’, is another smallish evergreen winter flowering shrub noted for highly scented flowers – it needs a sheltered position.

Iris unguicularis is a small perennial which has scented flowers, normally mauve or blue, during the coldest months. Pick in bud to enjoy indoors. It needs a warm sheltered place to flower well where it can be baked during the summer – against a sunny wall is normally the recommended position however the summer foliage can be untidy so not too prominent a place.

Also in January the snowdrops and hellebores should start to flower marking the start of the new year with longer days and more sunshine – although it can be colder with more frost

CAF