Arthur's top tips

• Continue winter pruning of trees and fruit bushes.
• Prune indoor growing grape vines now, it will soon be too late.  If you prune them too late when the sap is rising they will bleed.
• Dig in compost or farmyard manure into vegetable beds giving it time to get broken down by frost and worms.  Farmyard manure should not be dug in where you are going to sow onions and carrots this season.
• Cloches or black plastic placed over soil will help to heat up the soil and keep it dry and more suitable for early planting.
• Greenhouses and poly tunnels should get a good washing down now with Armillatox or Jeyes fluid and will help with disease and pest control.
• Plant strawberry plants now, indoors for an early crop.  Pile on farmyard manure around rhubarb. Rhubarb stools covered now with a large pot, keeping out all the light will produce a tasty crop in 5-6 weeks.
• Don’t forget birds will sing in your garden after they have had breakfast.  Snowdrops and singing birds is a sign of good things to come.

When I’m putting this article together, foremost in my mind is keeping it interesting and relevant. Gardening fashions change and there are some groups of plants that have gone from been must haves to almost forgotten. Personally, I think it’s a mistake to be a slave to fashion, no matter how I try, I find it very difficult to get excited about growing vegetables and I know this is not flavour-of-the-month all that healthy eating and so forth, that’s for another day.  I am always inspired by the diversity of evergreen conifers which over the last number of years have gone out of popularity for no good reason.  Conifers come in all shapes, sizes and colours.  Nearly all are extremely hardy and easy to grow requiring, no real work except the odd trim for some of the larger types. 

Conifers really come into their own this time of year.  Many of them intensify their colour as the days get colder. Crytomeria Japonica Elegans (Japanese Cedar) turns a lovely shade of bronze which lights up with winter sunshine. It needs a bit of room and in time will reach 5 metres high, there are more dwarf forms available. In contrast to this, Pinus Wallichiana (Bhutan Pine) with its soft tassels of dark green ferny foliage, which produces blue-green cones in time, is well worthy of the space it will take up.

Where space is a premium, plant Pinus Wintergold which turns from green to gold with the season and can easily be kept in shape. Under plant with winter flowering heathers, there is one called Challenger with its deep pink flowers, it’s guaranteed to brighten up any winter garden. Taxus Standishii is another torch for a winter garden. 

When choosing conifers you do need to take care of the eventual height. They all look much the same in the garden centre but there’s a huge diversity in eventual height, making the wrong choice or getting the wrong advice I think in the past is part of the reasons for their lack of popularity. If you have the space, the large blue cedar is fantastic but in a small garden Juniperus Communis Compressa, which even looks lovely mixed in with alpines, will hold its own and always look good regardless of fashion and only reaches 3 feet high and no more than 9 inches wide in 10 years.

• Gather up the last of the fallen leaves as accumulation can cause damage to your lawn or shrub beds.  Ideally, put them in a compost heap.
• Prune bush and shrub roses to prevent root rock.
• Weather permitting give your roses, fruit bushes and beech hedging a winter wash with Armillatox, this will help to prevent black spot and greenfly attack next season (you need a dry day).
• Keep an eye on houseplants, don’t over water but most will benefit from been misted on their foliage twice a week if possible.  This helps to prevent the edges of the leaves turning brown.
• If the weather is agreeable try and get out for a walk in the lovely countryside of Westmeath.
• All those gardening books you got for Christmas will have some new ideas, armchair gardening in moderation is allowable.

Getting your garden into shape

You would be forgiven for a lack of enthusiasm to get into the garden this time of year.  But if you are suffering from cabin fever there’s always loads to be done.  Plants are at their most dormant now so it’s the ideal time to do any moving i.e. plants that have outgrown their space or ones that need to be divided as long as the ground isn’t frozen solid, now is the best time.  It’s also the best time to plant beech hedging, whitethorn and all types of trees, plants planted now will have a head start.  Pile on farmyard manure around rhubarb for an early crop in spring. 

If you don’t feel like doing any digging, it’s a good time to take a look at your garden and see where changes or additions need to be made and if there is no colour in your garden right now, plant any or all of the following to rectify the situation. Hamamelis Mollis (Witch-hazel), Viburnum Tinus, Viburnum bod. Dawn, Mahonia Winter Sun to name but a few.  One of the fundamentals of good garden design is that it should contain a minimum 20% of evergreen plants to give it substance and background during the months of winter.  Oh if you’re like me I’ve just found a packet of autumn bulbs I meant to plant weeks ago, I’m going to do it now.  So that’s all for this week, they’ll still flower

• Continue pruning of fruit trees and soft fruit.
• Plum trees and cherry are best pruned in July/August.
• Clean borders and rake up any remaining leaves.
• Roses and herbaceous perennials benefit from a good top dressing of farmyard manure now.
• Winter wash on fruit trees and roses with Armillatox on a dry frosty free day.
• Beech hedging which suffered from aphid attack last summer should be given a winter wash now with Armillatox to prevent reoccurrence of the problem.
• Move plants growing in the wrong place.
• Mulch the crowns of tender plants.
• Prune summer-flowering clematis.
• Prune the oldest stems from blackcurrant.
• Check crops that are being stored and clear old crops from the veg plot.
• Sow hardy annuals for early flowers and use cloches to warm the soil for early sowings.

Hope springs eternal, there’s a little bit of a stretch in the days and the new season supplies of bulbs and seeds are starting to appear in the garden centres and garden shops.  Everybody with an interest in gardening wants to get going.  Even though it is quite mild at the moment sowing seeds and bulbs outdoors is a little premature.  If you have a green house or polythene tunnel or even a large cloche there are a number of plants that you can now sow, sweetpea, broadbeans and garlic will all grow quite well afforded some protection. 

If you’ve made a new year’s resolution to take up gardening and enjoy the delights of home grown food, you do need to hasten slowly. My advice would be to start off with a little bit maybe one raised bed where you can grow some salad crops. The last thing you need to do is dash off, dig up half the garden, spend a fortune on glasshouses and end up with a mess, this is guaranteed to put you off for life, as with most things in life practice makes perfect  and success leads to success. 

Encourage your children to plant some seeds, in doing so they will learn a respect for our environment, get a fantastic sense of achievement from seeing something grow not to mention discovering the superior taste of home grown fruit and vegetables.

• Carrots and parsnips that are still in the ground will remain there perfectly happy for another month.  Just make sure that the crowns are covered by 2-3 inches of soil
• Check crops that are in store and discard any that are showing signs of rot.
• Clear away dead foliage from perennials, this can be added to the compost heap.  Is important when removing the dead foliage not to cut it back too far as to do so will expose the new, emerging shoots to wind and frost
• In the case of some plants, the dead foliage is used to protect the crown from winter damage.  Gunnera is an example, the large leaves are just bent back over the crown and secured with some soil or stones.  Sedums are best left unpruned as are ferns
• The very mild weather has resulted in the growth of some perennial plants such as lupins, I’ve seen damage in my own garden from slugs so take appropriate action

Reasons for Getting out & Doing it in January! 

No 1, It’s the best time and No 2, you won’t be playing catch up in February when there’s so much to be done and every year by the end of February when I don’t have time I lament not doing more gardening in January.  I don’t know why but I find it hard to get stuck in, in January but this is what you can be doing now. Wisteria will flower better in spring if it gets its winter pruning now, to get the best from wisteria you have to prune it twice in the year.  First in July, the new season’s growth is shortened back to 5 buds and this is further reduced in January to 3 buds, usually not more than 6-9 inches in length of the current season growth.  By doing this the plant will put all its energies into the reduced amount of buds with longer and bigger blooms for you to enjoy in spring. 

Trim back vines grown indoors now.  Now is the best time to prune apple trees, this mystifies most people but if you keep in mind the following principles, it should simplify the operation.  No 1, pruning is carried out to reduce the size so therefore any branches that are growing way too high are removed.  For fruit to ripen and to reduce disease apple trees should have an open airy central structure, what I mean is a bush with no branches in the middle.  Try and encourage this from an early age, to achieve this on an old neglected tree can be quite difficult and should be done over a number of years.  If you do it in one fell swoop you throw the whole tree out of kilter and it will produce an abundance of soft new branches; as I said do it gradually by taking out a small number of mature branches every year.  Also, branches that are crossing or rubbing off one another should be removed as the damaged tissue resulting from this can cause canker and canker should be removed yearly.  Do not leave these affected branches on the ground beside the tree. 

When pruning, try to cut just above outward facing buds, this will result in new growth growing outward thus creating the desired shape.  Always use a very sharp secateurs when pruning, you need a clean cut rather than a crushed stem, no painting is necessary with pruning-compound.  Trees will recover from pruning naturally.  A winter wash, now with Armillatox will reduce insect populations next season and help to control the spread of canker.  I will be giving a talk and demonstration on all aspects of pruning in early February.  I will let you know the exact date later.  Pruning apple trees is one of the jobs I enjoy on a sunny winters day probably because I am envisaging the fruits of my labour

• Check greenhouse heaters daily to ensure they are working efficiently and that fuel levels don't need topping up.
• Force rhubarb by digging up a crown and replanting it in total darkness or placing a large bin over the existing crop.
• Prune gooseberry bushes to improve air circulation around the fruit.
• Squash mistletoe berries into apple tree branches to germinate your own supply for next year!
• Cut down old stems of sedums.
• Plant bare-root roses in well prepared ground.
• Trim away unwanted suckers from tree bases.
• Clear borders and rake up leaves.
• Spread a thick layer of mulch around fruit trees and bushes.
• Prune blackcurrants.

Garlic is a key ingredient in much of our cooking and nothing beats the flavour of a home-grown crop. It needs a long growing season in the midlands so the key to success is early planting, between November and the New Year. Break garlic bulbs into individual cloves ready for planting. Take care not to damage the cloves as this can lead to rotting. In mild conditions, you can plant the cloves in well-prepared soil spacing them 10cm apart. Simply push the cloves into the soil so that the tip of each one is just below the surface and then cover them with cloches in frosty weather.

To speed up the growth rate of the crop, you can plant the cloves in divided seed trays of multi-purpose compost. Water well and place trays in a cool greenhouse or cold frame to grow on. Garlic plants grown in trays will be ready to plant out in March or April. Use a trowel to make a hole and set the plants at the same level as they were growing in the trays.

How to start growing your own... dessert.
The stalks of rhubarb are a delicious treat when there's little other fruit available. Left to its own devices, rhubarb can usually be pulled in late April and May but, by covering the crowns early in the year, it's possible to force it into growth up to eight weeks early.

Forcing rhubarb by covering the crowns will encourage the plants to make early growth. These forced stalks can be harvested for use in cooking when they are 20cm - 30cm long and make a useful substitute for fruit when there is little else in store from the garden. It’s very simple to do, firstly clear around the base of a rhubarb crown, removing old leaves and weeds. Use a large pot, dustbin or decorative rhubarb forcer to cover the crown. Plug any holes to exclude light. In cold regions or to speed forcing, insulate the outside of the pot with a thick layer of straw.

Most years, forced rhubarb will be ready to harvest eight weeks after covering. Avoid forcing a single crown of rhubarb for two years in a row. Leave it to crop naturally instead, and always have more than one crown so you can force in alternate years

• Spread a layer of compost over borders, around shrubs and along the base of hedges as a mulch.
• Thin out the top growth on standard roses to prevent damage and wind rock.
• Use cloches to warm the soil in preparation for early sowings.
• Plant fruit bushes and trees.
• Give fruit trees a winter wash with Armillatox to kill overwintering greenfly.
• Apply potash to strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries and red currants.
• Remove dead leaves & flowers from stored geraniums and fuchsias to prevent disease.
• Remember to open the windows in your greenhouse on warm days to give ventilation.
• Prepare a trench 24” wide and a spades depth for runner beans and add a bag of manure for a bumper crop.
• Force rhubarb by digging up a crown and replanting it in total darkness or placing a large bin over the existing crop.
• Plant roses in well-prepared ground.
• Trim away unwanted suckers from tree bases.
• Clear borders and rake up leaves.
• Spread a thick layer of mulch around fruit trees and bushes.
• Prune blackcurrants.
• Bring potted peaches under cover to prevent an attack of leaf curl.

Getting your garden into shape

Winter pruning check-list
Fruit; cut out the oldest and weakest branches of blackcurrants, removing about one shoot, in three. For gooseberries, cut out the oldest weakest shoots and reduce new growth from the main branches by half. Side shoots to just two buds from the old wood. Now is the time to cut autumn fruiting raspberries down to the ground. With apple and pear trees cut out any branches that are diseased, dead or damaged. Also any that cross or rub, or that are spindly and badly placed. For pears and most apples which bear their fruit on spurs, shorten the new growth on each branch by about a third. Also, prune side shoots to five or six buds and thin out overcrowded spurs. With pleached trees or tunnels the work of tying in new shoots continues all year round, but the dormant season is the time for structural pruning and shaping.

While winter pruning is best avoided with stone fruit such as peaches, plums, and cherries, fine-tuning the arrangement of branches if grown on a wall is a lot easier before they come into leaf. For the more adventurous among us that grow kiwi fruit, you can now cut back the plant to three or four buds beyond the last fruited stems. I would recommend though leaving figs alone till all risk of frost is safely past. Late flowering shrubs; to stop plants such as Buddleja, Spiraea, Lavatera (marshmallow plant) and hardy fuchsias becoming leggy, chop back last year’s growth to within two or three buds of the old wood.  With Clematis, the rule of thumb is “flowers before June do not prune” however the large flowered hybrids such as ‘Jackmanii’ and small flowered Viticella, Texensis and Orientalis groups, cut back to first or second pair of buds from the bottom of each stem. When doing all this important to have a sharp secateurs as a squashed cut leads to disease. A clean cut just above a bud at an angle is always best. With apple trees and roses prune to an outward facing bud.

• Pick off hellebore leaves with black blotches as this is a symptom of leaf spot disease.
• Lift and divide congested snowdrops when in leaf, also known as 'in the green'.
• Prepare plant supports ready to pop into position to support tall or floppy perennials, such as delphiniums. When planting freesia bulbs it’s also handy to pop supports in at the time of planting..
• Feel like a challenge now is the time to prepare areas for planting asparagus.
• Cut down willows and dogwoods to their base to promote strong new canes and cover with a compost mulch.
• Plant new fruit trees, canes and bushes.
• Use cloches to warm soil for early sowings, if you have a greenhouse you can raise lettuce and salad crops in pots for early pickings.
• Now is time to prune grapevines before they come into growth when their sap starts rising.
• If the rain and murky skies are keeping you indoors, you can still get your hands dirty Start sowing seed of summer bedding and crops that need a long growing season to mature, such as pelargonium, petunia, verbena, salvia, lobelia and begonia. You can now get windowsill propagators that won’t take up the entire back kitchen.
• Start Chitting your Potatoes. To get the best value and results from your potatoes it’s time to get started. If you want the early new potatoes then choose First Earlies and start to prepare them now. It’s too cold to plant them out, but you can give them a head start and chit them in a light frost-free place. It just means that they are allowed to sprout and start growing, so that when it’s warm enough to plant them they have already developed strong healthy growing shoots

Getting your garden into shape Problem solving:
Canker. Left unchecked, canker can gradually spread to affect whole branches and sections of trees. Severely-infected old trees may be beyond rescue, while young trees are vulnerable to infection, particularly where other susceptible trees are growing in close proximity. Where trees are suffering stress as a result of drought or waterlogging, they may be more liable to infection. Canker may also infect fruit, so they rot on the tree before harvesting or when in store. If your trees have suffered this in the past and you're considering replacing them, choose canker-resistant varieties such as the apples 'Grenadier', 'Laxton's Superb' and 'Newton Wonder', and the pear 'Concorde'. The signs of canker are Leafless shoots, or twigs with sparse, small foliage. Also, bark that's sunken and distorted, or swollen and cracked. Use secateurs to cut out all infected growth. Infected branches show dark staining of the creamy coloured wood inside, so prune back to healthy wood that shows no sign of staining. Carefully slice away cankers on large branches and trunks using a sharp knife. Afterwards, sterilise your knife and secateurs with methylated spirits to avoid cross-contamination. Where canker is a problem, choose resistant Bordeaux mixture can also be applied after fruit harvest and during leaf fall. If you are in doubt of the diagnosis, bring a branch out to me and ill try and give you the prognosis.

Flower of the month: Heather's
Bring life to your garden with all year round colour and low maintenance, with our busy lives, many of us don’t have the time to spend evenings and weekends looking after our gardens. The beauty of Heather's is that once planted you can sit back and enjoy the benefits of your work, with little aftercare, giving you more pleasure every year.  

• Check crops that are in store and discard any showing signs of rot.
• Trim back ivy and Virginia creeper from around windows and guttering.
• Clear away dead foliage from perennials, chop it up and add to the compost heap.
• Remove weeds from borders, and dig deeply to sieve out roots of perennial weeds, such as bindweed, ground elder and couch grass.
• Improve compacted soil by mixing in extra compost. Take care not to walk on or dig up spring bulbs.
• Spread a layer of compost over borders, around shrubs and along the base of hedges as a mulch.
• Give fruit trees a winter wash with Armillatox  to kill overwintering greenfly.
• Force rhubarb by digging up a crown and replanting it in total darkness or placing a large bin over the existing crop.
• Plant roses in well-prepared ground.
• Trim away unwanted suckers from tree bases.
• Tidy up piles of flowerpots and debris that could harbour snails.
• Raise patio containers on feet or bricks, to ensure their compost drains properly.
• Avoid walking on lawns covered with heavy frost, as you'll kill the grass.
• Provide birds with fresh water and food.
• Fork compost into the soil and clear old crops from the veg plot.
• Getting your garden into shape.

Winter pruning check-list it’s important to remember that cutting back flowering trees and shrubs severely at the wrong time may lead to the loss of a whole season’s floral display. The standard advice I would give is to check the precise pruning requirement for each individual tree and shrub before reaching for the secateurs or shears. The number one rule is to buy good quality tools and make sure they are sharp.  Winter prune wisteria .Vigorous wisteria needs pruning twice a year if it is to flower well. Cut back all the long whippy growth that has been made during the summer and prune again in July to encourage the development of flowering spurs.

Flower of the month: Daphne.
This might sound a bit odd but if you’re a committed gardener you will know what I mean. If I were going to be reincarnated I think I would like to some back as a Daphne. Anybody who is familiar with Daphnes will know why, and if you haven’t got a Daphne in your garden, consider it incomplete. There is no excuse to have at least one they are quiet, easy to grow in the midlands and they like a bit of shelter from the prevailing winds as they flower in winter early spring. Not too shaded and will grow in any reasonable soil. Most of us can accommodate these requirements. There are many different varieties of Daphnes, Daphne mezereum being the most freely available, growing to about 4 feet, covered with highly scented lilac blooms early spring. There is an exquisite dwarf variety called Retusa which flowers in May/June. Not easy to get but well worth putting your name down on a waiting list. My favourite Daphne is Daphne Bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’ which is evergreen, now going into its third week and will flower for at least another 3 or 4 weeks. The scent is heavenly, plant one if you can near your house where you might pass by in winter (i.e. on the way to the turf shed) I guarantee it will shorten your winter.