Handy Hints - tips for winter 2011/12
Now is the time to start pruning grape vines. This task needs to be finished by mid-January when the sap starts to rise. Cut back all stems to 2 buds from the main framework.
Fruit trees (with the exception of stone fruits such as plums), gooseberries and the currants can all be pruned from now until the end of February, provided it is not frosty.
Check stored fruit carefully. It has been such a warm autumn that fruit is not storing well unless it has been kept in a very cool place.
Delay cutting back perennials until early spring. The old stems protect the base of the plant in winter and provide food for birds. In particular, goldfinches will feed on Verbena bonariensis seeds until April.
Iris unguicularis, the Algerian or winter iris, is a gardener’s gift at this time of year with its yellow-throated, soft mauve-blue flowers and evergreen, strappy leaves. It starts flowering in autumn and can continue until March in mild conditions. It thrives in a hot, dry, sheltered position and in my garden grows happily in gravel. If the leaves start to look untidy, they can be cut back in autumn. They make good cut flowers and when picked in bud will last three days in a vase.
A winter curiosity! These are seed heads of Anemone japonica which can be teased open to produce flowers of fluff as soft as angel’s breath. Another reason to delay cutting back perennials until the Spring. I like to think that the birds use them then to feather-bed their nests, but perhaps that's just a flight of fancy!
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