Gardening Hints & Tips – December & January 2025

December 12, 2024| Previous Issue, Gardening Hints & Tips

December & January 2025

Worplesdon Garden Club is a friendly and enthusiastic club which meets every second Tuesday of the month from 8-10pm in the Old Church, Emmanuel Parish Centre, Stoughton, Guildford, GU2 9SJ with doors open from 7.45pm.

For more information on Worplesdon Garden Club contact Tim Bonnert on 01483 237702

About Worplesdon Garden Club

Membership is only £15 for the year from January (£8 from July) and includes a full schedule of speakers throughout the year, plus a range of social events including Garden Visits, Lunches, Barbecues, and Horticultural Shows. Please see the club website, www.worplesdongardenclub.co.uk, for more details. Visitors (£3) and new members are always welcome.

Club News:

Tuesday 10th December
Club Meeting in December:
Christmas Social Evening.
Emmanuel Parish Centre, 8.00pm.

Tuesday 14th January
Club Meeting in January:
Speaker to be confirmed – Check our website for more details.
Emmanuel Parish Centre, 8.00pm.

For more information on Worplesdon Garden Club contact Tim Bonnert on 07708 455096, info@worplesdongardenclub.co.uk, or visit www.worplesdongardenclub.co.uk where you can read our latest Club Newsletter – www.worplesdongardenclub.co.uk/newsletters

Gardening hints and tips for December and January

Frosts have finally arrived and the stems of many perennials and annuals have been blackened. These can be tidied and removed if they look unsightly or if space is needed for winter bedding or early spring bulbs, but they can also be left as over-wintering habitats for beneficial insects
If possible, apply a mulch of garden compost to beds and borders and to the vegetable garden. This will give general protection from frosts and the worms will do the hard work of incorporating it into the soil.
Any last remaining dahlia or begonia tubers can be lifted, labelled, and stored in dry sand or compost in a cool, frost-free place. Alternatively, apply a thick layer of mulch over the base of the plants in situ to protect the tubers from deep frosts over the winter.
Plant out any last remaining winter bedding.

If possible, apply a mulch of garden compost to beds and borders and to the vegetable garden. This will give general protection from frosts and the worms will do the hard work of incorporating it into the soil.

Now is a good time to sow sweet peas for an early show next summer.
Plant Narcissi and tulip bulbs. Tulips are often quite short-lived and can do better in pots or tubs. Pots are also easier to move to a different location after flowering to allow the leaves to die down naturally.
If you’re buying a Poinsettia, remember that they don’t like draughts or being overwatered. Give them lots of light during the day and don’t trap them behind a curtain on a cold windowsill overnight or they will drop all their leaves.

Bare-rooted roses, shrubs, hedging, and some trees can also be planted now through to the end of February. Bare-rooted plants without a pot or soil are a very cost-effective way to buy new plants.

Tie in wall-trained shrubs and climbers to prevent wind damage and lightly prune shrub roses to reduce root damage by wind-rock where top-heavy plants are pulled out of the ground by the wind over the winter months. Roses will be pruned again in late winter, so don’t be too harsh now.
It is also the time for winter pruning of Wisteria where stems are cut back stems to two or three buds. Also prune other climbers such as Virginia creeper, ivy, Campsis, winter-flowering jasmine, and the late-flowering Clematis – ones that flower on the new season’s growth in mid-to late-summer.
Bare-rooted roses, shrubs, hedging, and some trees can also be planted now through to the end of February. Bare-rooted plants without a pot or soil are a very cost-effective way to buy new plants.
Make sure that any fallen leaves or old stems of herbaceous perennials don’t smother emerging bulbs or winter bedding. Avoid walking on frost-covered grass to prevent damage and the appearance of brown patches.

…as you enjoy your garden and the frosts that paint the stems and foliage, spare a thought for the birds, and put some food and water out…

Harvest and enjoy root crops and brassicas from the vegetable garden. A frost on parsnips will help turn more of the starches in the roots into sugars, making them even sweeter.
Finally, as you enjoy your garden and the frosts that paint the stems and foliage, spare a thought for the birds, and put some food and water out – they will repay you later in the season by eating lots of the pests in your garden.