Beautiful as it is, wisteria is a bit of a thug and needs pruning in summer and winter to keep it manageable.
Left to its own devices wisteria naturally produces an untidy mass of foliage and few flowers. Prune the whippy growths back to five or six buds in late August and prune further in January or February to two or three buds. Worry not if you missed the summer prune, it's easy to spot the elongated stems.
HELLEBORES
The beautiful blooms of hellebores are making an early appearance thanks to the prolonged spell of mild weather. Cut back all old foliage to help prevent blackspot getting a hold, while also being careful not to damage newly emerging leaves, buds and shoots.
PLANT A NATIVE HEDGE
Hedges are a great alternative to boundary fences as they effectively filter strong, damaging winds. A mixed variety of native plants, such as hornbeam, beech and hawthorn provide the perfect habitat for birds, insects and small mammals such as hedgehogs, as well as giving year round interest from flowers, seeds, berries and colourful tones of foliage.
Deciduous hedging plants are sold economically during winter in bundles of bare-rooted plants known as 'whips'. Avoid waterlogged or frozen soil.
ERADICATE WEEDS
Weeds have been having a wonderful time during this mild winter, rapidly germinating and getting ready to cause havoc in spring. Hoe through the roots of annual weeds and dig out the roots of the more stubborn perennials to stop them in their tracks. This will save a huge amount of time and effort in spring.
CHIT EARLY POTATOES
Begin the process of chitting early potatoes from the end of the month. Stand the tubers in a recycled egg box with the end that has the most buds (eyes) uppermost and place in a bright, cool, frost-free area.
After a few weeks, shoots will begin to sprout, thin these to about three or four per tuber to get the most productive crop.
PRUNE FRUIT
Now is the time to prune apple and pear trees, while they are dormant, but leave stoned fruit trees well alone as they are susceptible to silver leaf infections if pruned in winter.
Also prune blackcurrant, gooseberries and redcurrants by removing the very old and diseased branches.
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