Winter-flowering wonders

Well I knew I had spoken too soon. What fantastic frosts and a really, really cold spell has crept up on us. The difference it is making is not only to the gardens we look after, but to ourselves. It is a joy to wake up with sun and blue sky as opposed to grey skies and pouring rain. You don't need to suffer from SAD to feel depressed and blue when there is unremitting grey rain.

And it is with this colder weather and the leaves off the trees that some of our winter plants come into their own. One of my favourites is Cornus Midwinter Fire. The fantastic orangey red colour of the twigs stand out like neon lights without the covering of their leaves. It looks awful when you first plant it. The leaves look yellowy and can be prone to frosting. Leave the plant unpruned for two years to let it get establihsed and then prune back hard every late spring. The result wil be these gloriously stunning coloured stems. The Lonicera is an unsightly, spreading-itself-everywhere, type of plant. However the small honeysuckle flowers scent up the cold winter air with a lovely lemony fragrance. Plant it at the back of a border or in a shrubbery that you walk past. Sarcococca is more of a jasmine-scented plant that can be overpowering if too many are planted together. But in a small group it has a wonderful fragrance that lasts as it ages.

Welcome to my Sunday

6 December

Well the day started spectacularly; stunning sunshine and blue skies. The great thing about most Sundays is that if you get up and out before 9am there is usually no-one around. So I crept out of the house (as much as you can with 3 Jack Russells, one of whom is as obedient as a recalcitrant teenager) and into the beech woods that run behind us. The winds that we have had means that all the leaves are now carpeting the ground rather than the trees – fantastic fun if you are a dog with ‘manic’ as your second name. The leaves also hide a great source of food for a number of small and larger birds. The chaffinches are there in droves fossiking around; jays – I saw a group of 3 together – are busy burying acorns; and all the small tits are scurrying around trying to find the last of the insects; blue tits, great tits and my favourite the long tailed tits. The joy about the woods too is that it is relatively dry. Unlike the gardens we currently look after. The rain has left many of them a squelching mess (and the day has now turned grey with more rain pouring down). At this time of year we are doing the last grass cutting (if we can even get onto the lawns). It is a bit like playing box and cox around the place. All of our clients pray for a dry day when we are due to visit and then of course it pours with rain - again. Luckily most of the gardens we look after are so up and together that there is very little last minute work to do before we close for Christmas.

That said, December is one of our busiest months. We are frenetic cutting back perennials; cutting lawn edges and putting down layers of soil conditioner which act as a mulch and over the winter gets pulled into the soil by the worms.

Bulbs are already showing their new growth; I have seen early daffodil and snowdrops poking their first points of green above the soil. And, I have also seen new green leaf buds on some hazel behind us. I hope that there will soon be some seriously cold weather else spring will be upon us before we have even had winter!

Gardening ideas for Christmas presents

I don't know about you, but I find that whenever I am asked for ideas for Christmas my mind goes an instant blank, while the rest of the year my wishlist for the garden is forever growing. Here are a few suggestions for green-fingered Christmas lists and some of my reommended sites.

With all this rain, it really is a crime not to be collecting run-off from your roof into water-butts. Some of my more particular friends complain of the aesthetics of green plastic and I do know what they mean. But you can find beautiful examples made from recycled oak barrels – try www.oak-barrel.com for a wide range of sizes and tap options, starting at just £89 for a 40 gallon butt.

I first came across Green Gardener when I was researching sources of bugs for eco-pest control, but I am delighted to see that now their range includes all kinds of useful (and entertaining) products for the eco-gardener. If you have a friend or relative unhappy about putting food scraps into compost because of the faff involved, the Bokashi bin might be the perfect conversion tool! Completely sealed and unintrusive, this two-sided bin accelerates the composting of household scraps and is on offer now for £39. My favourite, however, on this site are Green Gardener's Camera Bird Boxes. Easily installed in the garden and connected up to a PC or TV, they come in black and white or colour versions. A wonderful present for the whole family that will come into its own through the Spring and early Sumer months - £139 for a colour version.

For all kinds of rustic presents, try www.plantstuff.com. Traditional wooden riddles for that perfect tilth start from £22, a Wellie Boot knocker can be yours for £10 and I also rather like the multi-coloured wellie-liners from Hunter, as the first frost arrives.