Scott Robinson
December is a great month for planting all different types of shrubs, evergreen, deciduous, trees, climbers and roses, all of which you will find a great range of in different colours in your local Garden Centre.
Autumn and Winter flowering shrubs for beds and containers are readily available, ie heathers:
skimmia rubella, red bud until January, then turning into a white flower; skimmia revesiana, red berries throughout the Winter; levcothoe carinella/scarletta, multi-coloured foliage; mahonica charity, evergreen with yellow flowers; camellia, shiny green foliage, full of buds; berberis red jewel, red and purple foliage; viburnum tinus, pink buds turning into white flowers, plus many, many more.
December is also a good month for tidying up in the garden to relieve the stress of Christmas shopping.
Spray fruit trees with armillutox to kill the eggs of pests, or Winter wash
Plant fruit trees and bushes
Clean, oil and store away all garden tools, tidily
Clean and prepare the lawnmower for Winter storage
Dig and turn over vacant beds and borders, and apply manure or compost.
You can still plant Spring bulbs as it is still mild. You will find a selection in your local Centre.
CHRISTMAS COLOUR
When you look at your front door or your patio, where all Summer you have seen an array of colourful pots and baskets, you tend now to look and see space.
Why not take your baskets and pots back out of the shed or storage and fill them with an array of colour - from pansies, polythantus, violas, cyclemons and ornamental cabbage, with an ivy draped over the side for that finishing touch.
Cut Christmas trees are now available in full swing, along with potted Christmas trees, from noble firs to lodgepole pines, neither of which drop their needles.
Holly wreath and Christmas posies are also arriving daily in your local Garden Centre.
For that special present, there is a large range of semi-mature shrubs, topiary plants and ornaments. Can't decide? Gift vouchers are also available in your local Centre.
Wishing all our customers a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
