Seasonal Gardening Jobs – December
Let’s be honest, not many people are looking for December gardening jobs to do, but while it’s tempting to curl up indoors with a mince pie and pretend the garden doesn’t exist until April, there are still plenty of jobs worth doing out there to set things up for a good start in the new year.
Wildlife in the December Garden
It is now that holly and ivy earn their place in carols – and in our gardens. Beyond their festive associations, both holly and ivy play vital ecological roles. They provide food, shelter, and structure for hundreds of species throughout the harshest months of the year. Blackbirds, thrushes, fieldfares, and redwings depend on holly berries for sustenance when insects and seeds are scarce. Meanwhile, the dense evergreen foliage of holly and ivy offer safe nesting sites and protection from frost and predators. If you’re thinking of planting your own holly tree a good choice is Ilex x altaclerensis ‘Golden King’ with its wonderful foliage of creamy-yellow margins and bright red berries. This ‘King’ is actually a female so if you want it to produce berries ensure there is a male holly nearby.
A really good one with striking, variegated leaves, is ‘Silver Queen.’
If prickles put you off hollies, Ilex aquifolium ‘J.C. van Tol’ with its smooth leaves, won’t give any painful surprises when you prune. Holly is gloriously unfussy — it’ll grow in sun, shade, and even that corner of clay soil you’ve been ignoring. It’s also one of the few plants that looks good while being virtually indestructible. Just give it a trim in spring and resist the urge to over-prune in summer, or you’ll have fewer berries.
There is always be something of interest to see in a well-planned garden.
The bright stems of dogwoods, underplanted with a winter creeper, such as Cornus Alba ‘Siberica’ and Euonymus fortune ‘Silver Queen’ give a festive glow, especially in the low, early sunshine. Plants such as the winter flowering heathers, Jasminium nudiflorum and Hamamelis mollis should be in flower throughout the month. As an added bonus, most plants that flower in the winter are heavily scented to attract the fewer insects, so make the most of that and place them near an entrance to enjoyed their perfume more easily. Take a few shoots from winter flowering shrubs, such as Virbunum x bodnantense and Prunus × subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’ and put in water in a cool place indoors. Soon the buds will open and the beautifully scented flowers can be added to the Christmas decorations.
Using Leaves Wisely
If autumn was all about admiring golden leaves one of the important December gardening jobs to do is dealing with the soggy brown reality. Clear fallen leaves off lawns and paths where they can turn into a slippery mulch and use them to make leaf mould. It’s very easy to do. Collect all the leaves you can gather, put in a wire cage and leave for at least a year. Alternatively, gather the leaves together in black bin bags (I use old compost bags) and leave in a corner to rot down. After about year you will be rewarded with the most excellent, friable, leaf mould full of beneficial nutrients to add to your soil.
Winter Gardening Jobs – Mulching
Protect plants vulnerable to frost for example, cordylines, and evergreen jasmine, by wrapping some fleece (which you can buy in a garden centre) around them. Some slightly tender perennial plants, such as penstemons and verbena bonariensis, once they have died back, can benefit from an extra mulch to help their roots from freezing.
What Gardening to do in December? Pruning!
One of your December gardening jobs should include finding time to prune back overhanging trees and shrubs that may be obstructing pathways. Have a look at the shape of your deciduous trees and shrubs to see if they can be improved. With no leaves on it’s easier to see what you are doing now. You will need a good pair of secateurs, a pair of loppers and a pruning saw for cutting off larger branches. Cut out any dead wood. In a smaller garden, if the plant is taking up too much space, it can be trimmed. The main point to remember is that the harder you prune, the stronger will be the resulting growth, so when restricting growth, light pruning every winter gives a better result than hacking back hard occasionally.
Please try to resist the urge to make everything too neat and tidy. A small log pile or leaf heap in a corner becomes five-star winter accommodation for hedgehogs, frogs, and insects. Our wildlife appreciates a bit of mess!
Birds are the real VIPs of the December garden. They eat pests, look decorative, and don’t complain about the weather. Put out high-energy food like suet balls, sunflower seeds, and peanuts (unsalted, not from the Christmas snack bowl) to help them get through the cold spells. Water is also vital for our feathered friends, if you have a bird bath pour on warm water when it freezes. The RSPB has provided this useful article on how to help birds through a cold snap.
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