Top Tips for Gardening in December
- by Nics Mowing
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- 06 Dec, 2018
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Take a look through some essential gardening tasks for December, just don’t forget to wrap up warm!
Gardening in the colder months can seem like a bit of a chore, with a drop-in temperature you’ll feel less inclined to venture outside and tend to your plants. I’ve lined up some essential gardening tasks for December, just don’t forget to wrap up warm!
1. Composting
Turning your compost heap gets it ready to use as mulch in a flower border, providing much needed sustenance to your plants. At this time of year compost heaps attract frogs, toads and other small animals as they go to seek warmth, don’t forget to check for wildlife before you start using your gardening tools.
2. Bedding Displays
Summer flower beds always end up looking worse for wear by the end of the year. If your soil isn’t frozen, you can still plant some spring flowering bulbs ready for the new season. On top of this, there are some beautifully colourful and hardy winter flowering plants to lift your spirits through the grey cold days.
3. Check Your Greenhouse or Fences
The winter can not only bring cold weather, but also damage to your property. Fences and greenhouses are susceptible to damage from strong winds and freezing weather. Check there aren’t any weaknesses in either and replace anything if necessary.
4. Give Your Mower Some TLC
During the cold winter months your lawn won’t need mowing for a while. Take this time to clean off any accumulated dirt or grass from your lawn mower blades, clean any blades with light oil and cover it with a dust sheet until the new year. That way you’ll have no nasty surprises when it comes to that first cut of the year.
5. Garden Furniture
It’s easy to be complacent and leave your summer furniture out over winter. Clean your outdoor furniture with warm soapy water and place inside your shed or garage if you have one or have room. If you don’t have a garage, aim for the most sheltered part of your garden.
Get in touch with me to discuss your gardening requirements if you're struggling to find the time, or you just need some help this winter.
Quotes are free, so if you’d like to discuss any of these services, do let me or a member of the team know.
Mowing the Lawn
If you haven't managed an initial cut yet try and get on to it sooner rather than later as April can be a warmer wet month which will speed growth but makes mowing difficult. Keep the mowing height on the high side until May unless you're raking or scarifying and then you'll need a fairly low cut.
A few early mowing tips:
- 'Squeegee' the lawn in the morning to brush off any overnight dew
- Mow in the afternoon to allow the grass daytime drying time
- Keep the cut on the high side until you get to a more frequent mowing pattern
- Be careful with the turns as the ground can be soft
- Thoroughly clean the mower - wet grass sticks under the mower
Mowers
For the mowing season you need to do two things: keep it clean and keep it sharp so starting off with sharp blades in the spring is best but alas rare! If the grass is damp it can easily build up inside the mower so always give the mower a good brush, scrape or hose down after every use. Secondly, if you do a lot of mowing, then be prepared to sharpen or swap blades mid-year to maintain a clean cut. Order your spare blade now before the shelves empty!
Feeding the Lawn
This is the month to get your spring lawn feed into the lawn. The demands of the winter will have taken their toll and a spring feed is critical for a healthy lawn. Your timing will depend on how things are warming up in your part of the world. If you're doing any other lawn maintenance such as moss control and raking or scarifying, then put your lawn fertiliser in afterwards. Your weed control should be done after fertilising preferably in May or even June.
Weed Control
Don't start applying weed killer to the whole lawn just yet as many more weeds will come through over the next month or so. Plan on treating individual weeds or manually removing any obvious large weeds now. If there are too many, treat the whole lawn at the end of April or into May about two or more weeks after fertilising.
Moss Control
This winter has been fairly wet and dull so a lot of moss about so this is where a lot of your effort should go if your lawn has suffered from heavy moss infestations.
This month is the best month for attacking the moss as the grass will soon be growing well. If you are just applying a ferrous sulphate -based moss killer to control moss growth, then you can get on with it sooner rather than later but after you've done a medium to high cut on the lawn. This means you won't need to mow for a while after application and you'll have uncovered some moss giving better exposure to your treatment.
If on the other hand you're going the whole hog and raking the moss out your plans should include applying an iron-based Moss Killer, over seeding bare patches or even the whole lawn with appropriate grass seed and finally assisting recovery with fertiliser. Scarifying in early May is perfectly acceptable if there is ground moisture available for grass recovery.
Don't forget you don't HAVE to kill the moss before raking it out as applying a ferrous sulphate-based moss killer after raking to kill what remains will be more effective. Treating before AND after is even more effective particularly if moss loves your lawn but you need at least three to four weeks between applications with cool wet conditions.
For those of you with concerns for safety of children and pets that are likely to be on the lawn soon after treating you can now use a chemical free product in your treatment program.
