Gorefield Village Website > Information


	Information - Gardening The Garden in December

	Churches : Computing : Entertainment : Gardening : Gorefield Show : Groups Helplines : Locality : Local Maps : Notices : Scarecrow Week : Sports & Recreation Web Site Contributors : Submit Information

	Back to Gardening

January : February : March : April : May : June : July : August : September : October : November : December

Must do this month

Order or buy seeds as soon as possible - especially seeds of those plants that should be sown in mid and late winter so that they have a long growing season.

Other jobs to do

	Check bulbs being forced for Christmas and New Year flowering. Do this regularly to ensure they do not dry out and make certain they are given light and warmth at the right time.
	Protect any shrubs of borderline hardiness, especially in cold regions. Even if some damage has already been done, it may not be too late to provide protection as the majority of garden shrubs will grow out of limited frost and wind damage.
	Take winter hanging baskets under cover, either into the greenhouse or porch, before very severe weather arrives. Baskets are particularly vulnerable because the compost in them is exposed to cold from all sides and can freeze solid.
	Bring under cover herbs potted up for forcing.
	Check on the condition of stored apples and pears.
	Lift chicory for forcing, pot up and keep in darkness in a warm place. Also lift rhubarb roots for forcing indoors, and start forcing selected crowns outdoors.
	Lag or protect outdoor pipes if not already done. Better still, turn off the supply and drain the pipes.
	Knock snow off branches of shrubs, conifers and hedges to prevent them breaking under the weight.
	Keep an area of the pond ice free if you keep fish.

With preparations for Christmas and New Year celebrations in train, gardening usually goes on the back burner in December. For anyone who works away from home during the week, there are few days in which it is possible to get out into the garden. Indeed, with the shortening days and onset of winter weather, there may only be one or two weekends when it is suitable for gardening outdoors.

Fortunately, this is a time when an enormous number of house plants are sold, so your home should be bright and colourful even if there are very few flowers out in the garden.

And there are plenty of armchair gardening jobs to be done: looking through the seed and bulb catalogues to select new plants you intend to grow; planning how you are going to redesign or rearrange the garden; or just reading the latest gardening books and magazines.