Choices, choices, there are so many options! What might you like in your salad this summer? What veggies would you like on your plate? Maybe something to add to a smoothie, juice or could it be something to freeze for the winter? With the cost of living going up growing your own is something many of us may consider. Whatever the reasons you want to grow, it should be fun! Get children involved, we all know how much tastier home grown is!

When I was writing last month’s blog, I had hoped we could all get out into our gardens again and start our hands-on gardening year. What a time we have had with the weather! There will be extra jobs to be taken care of now, such as repairing or replacing fences, glazing in the greenhouse may need replacing; you may have needed a tree surgeon too. Devastating for some with the damage caused and the flooding in some areas. Let’s hope March brings a better more settled month. As the weeks pass, we can look forward to those days ahead sitting out in our gardens, enjoying all the hard work we have put in over the winter months.

We have had some cold frosty days of late, the gardener within is longing to get out into the garden and get started! 

Here we are in a brand-new year! We have had a funny old start with the weather not being as we’d expect, milder days have been very welcome though to lift our spirits.

January is a great time for getting the garden in shape for a busy spring:

Puting your lawnmower away for the winter months is something we all do, as the grass growth virtually stops and the lawn is ofter too wet and muddy to walk on, let alone take a lawnmower on.

November is a good time for contemplation. Take a good luck at your lawns. Happy with them? If not, look at an action plan for next year in terms of what needs doing and when.

There are some good companies operating nationally who will come and renovate your lawn and carry out all maintenance leaving you to do just the mowing to do!

One of the great things about keeping a diary is that you can learn from it and this is especially true with a gardening diary. Varieties, sowing/planting dates, soil and weather conditions, pest and disease control, temperatures and rainfall, all can provide useful information to plan your gardening year for 2022.