Gardening Tips

10th June 2011

Sue Beesley - Garden Tips

Sue Beesley, Head Gardener and Owner of Bluebell Cottage Gardens reveals  ‘what to do in your garden’ this January and February.

Top of my list of jobs in January is to prune my apple and pear trees.  Look out for fat buds which will flower and fruit this year. To encourage more buds next year, shorten last year’s side shoots back to two buds to help create new fruiting ‘spurs’ and prune the ends of branches back by half.

I like to mulch our borders in early spring to supress annual weeds and feed the soil, so if you haven’t got enough of your own compost, now’s the time to order in a soil conditioner, ready to go when the weather improves.  If you didn’t get all your bulbs in the ground before last year’s November freeze, it’s still not too late – especially for tulips.

And finally, I have a huge clear up in February, throwing out broken pots, repairing and cleaning tools, sweeping out the shed and leaving everything clean and tidy for the big spring rush.