Plants on sale now and looking good this month:
- Real cut and potted Christmas Trees – hurry! They sell through quickly at the start of this month.
- Poinsettias.
- Planted arrangements and wreaths for Christmas available now.
- Cyclamen – ideal for winter containers.
- Seed Potatoes available towards the end of this month.
Top jobs for December:
Check your winter protection structures are still securely in place.
Check that greenhouse heaters are working.
If it’s looking particularly cold in Guernsey, insulate outdoor taps and prevent ponds from freezing.
Prune open-grown apples and pears (but not those trained against walls).
Apple and pear trees trained as free-standing bushes are best pruned every winter to ensure a good cycle of fruiting wood. Trees that are not pruned become less productive and congested with old branches. The aim is to create an open goblet shape with a framework of four to five main branches.
Prune acers, birches and vines before Christmas to avoid bleeding.
Harvest leeks, parsnips, winter cabbage, sprouts and remaining root crops.
Deciduous trees and shrubs can still be planted and transplanted.
Take hardwood cuttings.
Hardwood cuttings provide an easy and reliable method of propagating a range of deciduous climbers, trees and shrubs. Some evergreen plants, hollies for example, can also be taken at the same time of year as other hardwood cuttings.
Keep mice away from stored produce.
Reduce watering of houseplants.
In winter, gradually reduce watering until the compost is almost dry between watering and stop feeding, except where plants are growing vigorously or flowering.
Potato tuber can be chitted once available.