A tricky thing called early Spring

Our garden is starting to wake up from its winter slumber. This photo was taken this week.

Spring is definitely just round the corner, with buds enlarging on several deciduous trees and shrubs, as well as some perennials starting to peep out from their winter dormancy. Even several woodlanders are starting to push out now. It's nice to see some 'life' starting to come back again all over the garden.  

But it's also this time when most of the evergreens are showing winter weariness and looking their scruffiest, and last years growth on some plants seem to wave at you, begging for your attention, needing to be cut back in preparation for this season's new growth. And it has been a harsh December too which left a few unexpected casualties that needs clearing out.The weather has been relatively mild for the past few weeks, mild enough to start getting stuck in with spring maintenance. And there seems alot more to do this year compared to the previous ones.

Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty'



Digging up a dead palm



It's good to start early, left too long it becomes a mad rush come April when the tidy up post winter merges in with the preparation for the new growing season. I usually take a few days vacation that month to dedicate my time with this spring preparation, so I can be on top of things rather than drag them on. So anything that gets sorted and ticked off the 'to do' list will help ease off the April rush.

One of the things that can be done this early, plant out a bamboo. Or in this case repot it. I line the sides (but not the bottom) of a terracotta pot with plastic to make it more water retentive as bamboos require more moisture but good drainage.

In truth, things never really get entirely finished. There's always something to do and other things do crop up on the way that you weren't expecting before that needs sorting out. That's gardening in general for you though, a never ending process that is mostly enjoyable to the hobbyists like us. All sorted or not, as long as most of it is done then I'm content with what I've achieved.

As tempting as it may be to get fully stuck in, early spring is a tricky time of the year and can be unpredictable. You have to be careful and cautious on what you do, as well as limited by the current conditions, unable to rely too much on the forecasts. The weather may be mild, but the threat of frosts, low temperatures, and even snow is still there. A constant eye on the weather is still needed.


Epimedium looking good after the winter



One word that comes to mind now is the word Tidy; you can't be too tidy at this time of the year, or rather just be selectively tidy and not be in a rush to do everything too quick. It's true that early spring can be the scruffiest time of the year in the garden (with autumn being the messiest) and the temptation is there to tidy up everything so the area is more pleasing to the eye. But it's best not to remove all of last years growth on certain herbaceous plants, they also serve to provide some protection to the tender new shoots starting to come back from the growth. And you can't remove all of the winter protection you have afforded on some plants, nor place outside all of the hardier plants mollycuddled inside the greenhouse. Not yet anyway with the weather still unpredictable. 

A lot of our evergreen ground ferns were flattened by snow last year, and are currently looking all splattered. But the fronds are still green and photosynthesizing, giving support to the new growth that will unfurl later in the season, so best left untidied for now. Tree ferns all still have their crown protection but I've loosened them up a bit to increase air circulation.

Gunnera tinctoria

Our Gunnera tinctoria however is bursting to get out of its protection so I have uncovered it from its fleecy blanket. A section of it was actually under the plastic roof panels covering the pond, and it was only bought to my attention that it needs uncovering when it actually pushed up one of the panels. That is remarkable strength from the plant considering the panels were weight down with stone blocks! It was lovely to see this prickly giant bursting to life, it's put on a massive display of leaves last year and looks like it will get even bigger this year.

Despite the limitations we've managed to do loads already, and looking forward to much later in the season when the weather is a little bit more stable and predictable (although it never really is). And that's when we can go full swing.

Which reminds me, I need to book some time off from work soon.....