Garden tips and advice from our resident expert Helen Yemm. This week: seascape gardens, weed control and a 'sad case'
The tide has turned
Amid all the busy pre-Christmas hoo-hah a slightly tetchy-sounding reader felt moved to object, on the Telegraph website, to me wishing others "seasonal jollity" - a term he obviously regards as too PC by half.
Seaside style: A moden seaside garden
I must say I, too can get a bit tetchy in that run-up to Christmas, although for different reasons: I can't stand the sight of my messy garden and, given a daily invasion of airborne oak leaves that continues for two months or more, there is no incentive to do anything resembling a clear-up.
However, everything changes with the almost imperceptible lengthening of the days and the undoubted frisson provided by that first mild, blue-skied afternoon of the New Year. It was no surprise that I found myself touring the garden looking for signs of life amid the mess and, with a song thrush trilling away in the offending oak tree, the re-bonding process got under way.
My first flurry of activity involved cutting down the last ratty remains of border perennials, leaving 10cm (4in) stumps as an aide-mémoire. Then, on my hands and knees, I carefully removed the drifts of now-clammy autumn leaves that had become wedged around them, revealing and dispatching as I did so small black slugs already moving in on the premature green shoots beneath.
As I progressed through my borders bagging the debris, accompanied by a daftly brave and sweetly twittering robin, I eased up the compacted soil surface with the fine tines of my little shrub rake, careful not to disturb the daffodils and snowdrops already shoving their noses upwards.
Too idle to consistently label groups of bulbs, I have learnt the hard way (by too often shoving a trowel through them) that it is sensible at least to mark their whereabouts with unobtrusive drifts of wooden kebab sticks, and to keep a list of varieties planted.
Thus this pre-spring border-trawl, apart from being a much-needed clean-up operation, served to remind me what to expect in the coming weeks.
Next, mindful that such mild and sunny afternoons are bound to be followed by an Arctic blast, I dug out the contents of a leaf heap (made in autumn 2006 and already pretty well broken down, thanks to the leaves having been shredded before composting), and spread it around.
The bases of the newly cleaned up perennials each got a dollop, especially the oriental hybrid hellebores that were now relieved of last year's untidy foliage and already shoving up their fresh new leaves and flower heads.
There was still more to do. I generally set myself a target of pruning my climbing roses as soon after the New Year as possible. And if I don't cut back my grapevine by the middle of the month, I may find that the powerful sap has already started to rise and the result will be shoots dripping alarmingly.
I finished off my glorious few hours in the garden by shredding my prunings, sweeping the paths and neatening the edge of my poor down-trodden lawn.
The whole place looked lovely and, as the light faded I went indoors feeling re-energised and looking forward to another gardening year - whatever the weather may chuck at us before spring arrives. The way I felt made that contentious term "seasonal jollity" suddenly seem particularly apt.
Seascape garden
We moved to the Isle of Wight 18 months ago, to a new Barratt house with a small open-plan front garden. We are both elderly and my husband is disabled, so we would like to create a genuinely low-maintenance area. We thought a "seascape" garden with grasses, sea campion and lavender would be suitable, but wonder whether it would be better to put the plants in pots rather than plant in the gravel. Mrs. E W Smith, East Cowes
The pictures you sent me were of a neat gravelled area (previously just grass and dwarf conifers) with a paved path. The "seascape" idea is a clever one.
You could plant straight into the gravel if that gravel was originally laid directly on top of the previously weed-killed lawn, or if there is simply a membrane between the gravel and the old lawn soil beneath. But if the gravel had been put down on a layer of compacted hardcore, this would make planting into it impossible without major upheaval, so you would indeed need to use containers.
However, since you sought my advice… I do not find a garden comprised of single potted specimens genuinely low-maintenance. The watering can be a year-round chore, the plants need re-potting and replacing and it can also look scrappy and un-coordinated unless the pots are carefully chosen and subtly grouped.
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