The cold, dark and rather sombre days of winter are upon us. Our gardens are asleep. They are dreaming of the light and warmth that will arrive in the weeks to come. Give or take a little climate change, their alarm clocks are set for the spring equinox. The time when the daylight hours will lengthen and plants will arise from the soil, buds and branches will sally forth, and our gardens will resurrect themselves in resplendent glory.
But, for now at least, that time of light and warmth seem a long way over the horizon. The deciduous trees remain bare and skeletal. The herbaceous borders nude and devoid of primal colours. The birdsong is limited to the chorus of those brave birds that favour wintering with us in our northerly latitude rather than seeking warmer shores. The resident honeybees that have made a home in the eaves of St Andrews, my local church in Much Hadham, are holed up in those ancient roof timbers drawing on honey reserves that they worked so hard to make all last summer.
Out in Suffolk in the meadows and lanes around the Dedham Vale, where I am lucky to spend time when not in East Hertfordshire, the native flowers that we do see in these cold months are in the main yellows and whites. Mother Nature has chosen these colours for her winter bouquet because they are the best suited to the light levels the sun emits when it tracks low across the sky.
For gardeners like me, this is the time for pouring over seed catalogues, sharpening and oiling tools, a time for organising the shed and planning the planting for the coming season. I feel at ease designing at my desk in winter because I do not feel compelled to be outside with my hands in the soil working through a border or planting out a new scheme.
However, winter is also a time for one of my favourite jobs: pruning fruit trees! Lopping and secateuring an ancient apple tree is one of those garden jobs that I relish. In fact, I was in a garden near Stoke-by-Nayland last week working on a magnificent Bramley. It's one that I've had the pleasure of looking after for some years now. When I first took it on it was in a sorry state of neglect. But now, with a little love and Zen pruning, it has made a return as quite a garden feature. I look forward to apple crumbles from its fruit in the autumn.
Happy gardening. Guy
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