Gardening: Just one small thing…
During the Christmas lights display at Kew Gardens, there was a corner of the garden dedicated to ‘One Small Thing’, to promote the notion that sometimes if we all did a little, then the sum total of all of our tiny efforts should make a difference
Here is my One Small Thing list for my garden, and perhaps it might inspire you to join me in this plant-centred journey of self-improvement. It is one small thing in three areas – any more jobs might just put both you and me off doing any of them. By the way, it’s never too late start putting things right in your garden.
Top of my One Small Thing list is to ensure my roses are better protected from the onslaught of black spot, and the best time to do this is during the dormant period.
Collect up all the leaves that have fallen off the plant and avoid the thought that leaves will compost down nicely into the soil. Any fallen rose leaf that has even a smidge of blackspot fungal spores on it means the spores will spend a happy winter lurking in the soil, only to pop up in the next season to infect the fresh new growth and so the cycle continues.
My next One Small Thing job to do is to put a note in the diary to prune my hydrangeas in mid-February-ish.
The hydrangea is a plant that I have rather scoffed at over the years, as whatever colour I start with in our London clay soil, all will turn to a dirty pink. However, since the introduction of a greater range of whites, hydrangeas have rapidly moved up my list of must-haves.
Please note this plant that is one exception to the rule that best time to prune is immediately after flowering. Why? The hydrangea stems are cork-like, rather than woody, and hold enough moisture inside them during winter which can freeze and cause damage. Once the sap starts to rise in spring, this risk is diminished.
The third and final item on my One Small Thing list is to give myself time to apply a healthy mulch of well-rotted stable manure, or other good compost, all around my plants.
Whether your soil is light and sandy or a heavy clay, mulching is king. If we mulch our garden soil, then precious plants have a much better chance of surviving the predicted repeats of hot and extremely dry summer weather. This magic mulch supresses weeds, it keeps moisture in the soil, it re-mineralises it and will also improve its structure.
Valerie McBride-Munro, Auntie Planty gardening services
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