Angling

Gifts for the Gardener

IN MY ARTICLE LAST DECEMBER I SUGGESTED MY TOP 5 GIFTS FOR GARDENERS, BUT IT HASN’T BEEN DIFFICULT TO THINK OF A FEW MORE INVALUABLE ITEMS THAT GARDENERS WILL ENJOY

Christmas seems to come around more and more quickly as the years go by and it can be difficult to think about what to give your loved ones when it only feels like a couple of months since last Christmas! Luckily those who are keen gardeners will always need new tools, books, plants and decorations. Tools

Winter is a time for tree pruning, removing all of the dead, damaged and diseased branches and pruning to develop a well balanced and productive crown. When we are out and about demonstrating good pruning practices many of our customers are envious of the long reach pruning saw that we use. It is great for taking out medium sized branches from a safe position on the ground and standing well back from the falling branches. We invested in a professional-standard telescopic Silky Saw because we do a lot of pruning work and it is well worth spending that bit extra for a quality tool that will stand the test of time, but at around 300 euros it is worth looking at other brands for less expensive alternatives if you will only use the saw occasionally. A good pair of long-reach loppers and a handheld pruning saw also make up the kit for tree pruning. We recommend using hand tools for most pruning work because they are more precise and controllable than a chainsaw which is designed for tree felling and chopping up fallen wood.

Books

This year I received a copy of Arthur Parkinson’s ‘The Flower Yard’ for my birthday. Arthur was a student of mine when he first left school and started his gardening career on the National Diploma in Horticulture which I ran at Nottingham Trent University for over 10 years. Arthur went on to train at Kew gardens and later developed an inspirational rooftop garden at the Emma Bridgewater pottery. (His first book ‘The Pottery Gardener’ describes this). He has more recently worked with Sarah Raven and has created quite a name for himself as a flamboyant florist and his work was exhibited at Chelsea this year. Although ‘The Flower Yard’ mainly looks

Christmas Box or sweet box (Sarcococca)

at growing plants in containers, Arthur’s flair for planting combinations, floristry, and colour co-ordination is inspirational and the principles can be applied to garden borders and other floral displays. His photography is outstanding, and the book is packed with colourful pages and beautiful plant combinations. Plants

Every gardener that I know is a ‘plantaholic’; whether you are starting out or an experienced gardener you can never have too many plants and they give so much pleasure, whether it is the colour, scent, bringing wildlife to watch into the garden, edible or purely decorative. Over the years of gardening here in France we have found the hardy perennial Salvia’s to be outstanding we now have a collection of over 60 different varieties, although some of these are the tender, we just can’t stop collecting them and even those that will not stand the winter outside survive happily in pots in our unheated polytunnel. The hardy sub-shrubs such as Salvia ‘Royal Bumble’, S. ‘Nachtvlinder’ and S. ‘Crazy Dolls’ just keep on giving as they are covered with flowers from May to November. We have even developed our own hybrid which we have named ‘Le Jardin Créatif’ and are trialing a couple of others which we will be naming next spring. So why not get someone started with their own collection! If you want to give someone a plant with winter interest as a Christmas present then a Sarcococca (the ‘Christmas Box’ or ‘sweet box’) is perfect, although this genus is in the same

family as box, they are not susceptible to box blight or the box caterpillar and produce highly scented flowers in December. Another great shrub for winter scent is the shrubby honeysuckle Lonicera fragrantissima. This non-climbing variety produces flowers through the winter with a perfume that can be detected from several metres away. It is a godsend for the bees, providing nectar for those that wake up on sunny winter days needing an essential energy boost. Solar powered garden lights At any time of the year lighting in the garden at night-time is atmospheric and encourages you to sit out longer on warm summer evenings and enjoy the garden even more. They are also very pretty around Christmas time, although we do take ours indoors for the worst of Every gardener that I know is the winter to stop water a ‘plantaholic’; whether you are starting out or an getting into the battery and bulbs. We have found the LED strings of fairy experienced gardener you can lights to be the best and never have too many plants most resilient to water and strung up through trees add a magical touch to the garden. We also have some single lights on a stem that can be angled to highlight certain plants and features and have them shining subtly through our stained-glass garden suncatchers. Keep an eye on our website in the New Year for details of our new programme of courses for 2022. Our garden and nursery are now closed for the winter period, reopening in early March. You can still browse our plant list during the closed period and collect preordered plants by appointment: https://lejardincreatif.net

By Caroline Wright

Caroline has been a lecturer in horticulture for 20 years and is now running a nursery and 'garden craft' courses in the Haute-Vienne at Le jardin creatif Lejardincreatif.net

Salvia Royal Bumble