What jobs need doing in the garden in December?

It's December, Christmas is nearly upon us and we find ourselves in a bit of a mess with Plan B having been implemented. Does anyone else get the feeling we will be onto plan X, Y or Z by the time this covid malarkey is dealt with!

Many of you will probably be working from home again, I am, and, if you are anything like me, you have probably already spent a fair bit of time looking at the garden and wondering what you can be getting on with on your plot this month. Well fear not dear reader I have five jobs you can crack on with. 

Five jobs to be done in the garden in December:

Put up bird nesting boxes. I have a couple in my garden not that anything has used either of them in the last couple of years. I have this morning moved the Tit box from out of the Cherry Tree where it was located last year, and ignored, and hung it on the fence pointing as north-easterly as I can get it.  The RSPB advice is unless there are trees or buildings which shade the box during the day, face the box between north and east, thus avoiding strong sunlight and the wettest winds. Fingers crossed it catches the attention of a passing Blue Tit in 2022. 

Harvest veg. Yes there are still harvests to be had and just the weekend a couple of the Parsnips were dug up on the vegetable patch and enjoyed as part of a full roast dinner at my house. One took nearly five minutes to get out of the ground, some of them have grown really long this year and I will be using the Gladiator F1 variety again. 

Prune climbing Roses. This is actually a job that can be done at anytime during the next couple of months so take your time and don't rush; I often do a bit each weekend over the course of a couple of weeks. One thing to remember, as a rule you should cut just above a bud that points in the direction you want a new stem to grow; avoid cutting above a bud that will direct growth over the garden fence for example as you neighbour might not want it and you won't get to enjoy the roses come summer! 

Keep on collecting leaves and dump them in your leaf mould bin (if you have made one) or on the compost heap. They will keep falling for a while yet, or simply blow in from anywhere it seems, and if left not only do they make the garden look messy but they will potentially give hidey holes for slugs and other pests you don't want in the garden. 

If you live in a particularly cold neck of the woods protect your terracotta pots by lifting them off the ground on 'feet' or wrapping them in fleece or bubble wrap to help stop cracking from freezing. I am relatively lucky where I am and find most decent pots survive but even here on the outskirts of London I still raise many onto 'feet' and keep a number of pots nice and close together to help create a slightly warmer micro climate around them. 

Last but by no means least, it's not really a job, but take time to flick through the seed catalogues. Now is the time to put your feet up with a glass of your favourite tipple and decide on the seeds you want for 2022. That's what I am off to do this evening. 

Cheers 🍺