Your Garden in December

Tweet

Looks like we’re starting December off rather nicely on the Wet Coast, sunny and cool. After dipping my shopping toes into the danger filled waters of mall Christmas shopping I think I do the rest online, in my pjs and gorilla slippers…while listening to Dave Cooks the Turkey by Stuart McLean. There is not a ton to do in the garden at this time, but a whole lot of daydreaming.
Ok, ok, there are a few things you can still do for those keeners out there.

Here’s the list:

Garden Beds:
You can still plant shrubs and trees so long as the ground is not frozen or mucky and waterlogged. Don’t panic if you haven’t plunked those bulbs in yet, wait until the soil has dried out a bit and then toss them in. Weed if needed, mulch around plants with chopped up leaves or bark mulch (avoid using fruit tree or rose leaves). If you have acid lovers such as blueberries or lingonberries or rhodo’s you can drag fallen pine and fir branches to the garden beds and leave them until the needles fall off and then drag away the branches sans needles.

Plant for Winter Interest
Thisis a great time to look for plants that most spring-only gardeners would miss. The list is actually quite large, for example: camellias, mahonia, hellebores, wintergreen, holly and more

Pots:
Mother Nature has so handily provided many fallen boughs for me to fill my front planters with. Go for a walk and collect some boughs for swags or garlands. We also have some artfully arranged at the store too. Don’t forget to water those plants under cover outside. While not requiring water every day or even once a week, you’ll still need to water say once every two weeks. Feel the top of the soil and make sure it feels moist. When it dries out, add water.

House Plants:
With the cooler weather, most of us have our furnaces on blowing warm and dry air. Keep an eye on your houseplants, misting and providing pebble trays as needed.

Bulbs for Forcing
you can still start paper whites, Hyacinth and Amaryllis now for late winter blooms.

Lawns:
Those past few winter storms should have taken care of most of the rest of the leaves. Make sure to rake or blow large leaves off of the lawn or you’ll be making extra work for yourself next spring with overseeding all those bare patches.

Seeds:
The seed catalogues should be starting to come in around now and you can settle down with a nice peppermint hot chocolate and a pen and put your feet up and start your wish list. Now is a great time to plan for next year and just think… you don’t have to put up with a pesky garden to-do list until 2012!
Cheers,
Laurelle