WINTER It might be winter but there is still plenty to do in the garden, especially as there are so many less daylight hours available. December and January give you a chance to catch up on jobs for the coming year, lift any winter vegetables and
JOBS
prepare the ground for the next season, in particular using the frost to help breakdown the soils. December is also a great time to use some of the garden foliage for making wonderful Christmas wreaths and decorations. Whether you are preparing a border or the vegetable garden, you need to be digging and preparing for next year. If you are getting into the ower border or fruit cage, then you should be pruning a
number of plants including roses and fruit trees. Once you have pruned then you can look to dig the borders and vegetable plots. Look at digging them over and giving a good covering of manure or compost and then let the frosts help to break down the soils. When digging in the vegetable plot you can choose to do a light dig and add compost or if you are not rotating your crops then maybe a chance to change the soil with a layered approach with a double dig method. Double digging is really beneďŹ cial when starting a new vegetable garden or a new border. The system is simple, dig a spade depth
