JANUARY
The darkest part of the year with short
days. Time to clean your pots and equipment
ready for the year - it's also time
to plan what you are going to plant and
where. There'll be a chance to pick a sprig
of deliciously perfumed wintersweet chimonanthus
(plant against a warm wall it
tolerates both acid and alkaline soils) or
perhaps hellebores (winter roses) to pop in
a vase! Both are lovely in a winter border
with mahonia and daphne.
MARCH
Time to roll up the sleeves on
your winter jersey and start
work - the ground is warming up and bulbs
you planted
last autumn should be blooming,
daffodils are a joy. Trim
lavender and prune your roses.
Dig over the garden and
let any late frosts do their job
in breaking up the soil.
Visit their website
www.opengardens.eu
FEBRUARY
Slightly longer days and time to start pruning.
Buddleia - such a useful plant for hedging and
screening as it's almost evergreen - should
be cut right back now. I have a lot of flowering sage
salvia officinalis in my garden which
comes in a variety of colours, time to tidy and
prune them back too - this is a great shrub
which flowers all summer long. Crocuses and
snowdrops should be starting to make an appearance!
Jardinage et Esprit de Générosité
Generous gardeners
Leggett is proud to be the main sponsor of
Open Gardens / Jardins Ouverts. an association
which encourages owners to open their
gardens to the public. Started in 2013 with a
small trial of just 4 gardens in the Creuse, the
association has grown rapidly and currently
has more than 150 gardens in over a quarter of
the départements in France. Admission is by
an annual membership (€ 10) and entitles the
holder to visit any of the gardens throughout
the year on their stated open days. The vast
majority of the proceeds are donated to charitable
organisations in France.