What’s looking good

There has already been a smattering of snow in the garden and I love the way it decorates the Hydrangea heads, now that the flowers are over. In much the same way that I enjoy seeing the first frosts sprinkling seed heads and grasses with an icy coating of glitter. The cyclamen are scattered across the borders and the hellebores are starting to wake up, particularly the white Helleborus niger ‘Verboom Beauty’.

Garden aftercare

Even in winter, there is plenty to do in the garden to keep it looking at its peak and preparing it, ready for next spring and summer,

• Walled trained shrubs and climbers: It is worth checking on and tying in wall trained shrubs and climbers to a frame or wires along the wall or fence, to protect them from wind damage. Given that the first storms of winter have already been reeking damage, I’ll definitely be checking that all the walled train shrubs are tied in for winter in my own garden.
• Compost: Now that most of the garden is hibernating for the year, it is a good time to add a layer of mulch or compost to the borders. It will help keep the warmth in the soil and also improve the soil, particularly if, like me you are gardening on clay.
• Hardwood cuttings: Taking cuttings is a great way of creating free plants for the garden. Cornus and salix are some of the simplest to grow from cuttings, taking 15-30cm lenghs and planting them into the ground in a trench, ready to be planted into the borders next year.
• The last of the crops: Pick any remaining sprouts, leeks and parsnips from the garden, to store, ready to enjoy with Christmas dinner. Full disclosure, I don’t like sprouts but I have been known to grow them for other family members to have with Christmas dinner.
• Catalogues: Ok, I know I mention this every year, but I still enjoy perusing the seed catalogues. A time to plan and dream about what I might plant next year, while the rain is hammering on the windows and its dark outside. I enjoy sowing a few seeds, partly to grow for cut flowers and partly to try out new plants or varieties, to see if it something I want to introduce more widely into the garden or client’s gardens.

Trends

Christmas

As well as decorating the house for Christmas I like to make sure there is plenty of winter colour in the garden. When looking for inspiration for garden colour, Christmas trends offer plenty of good starting points. Perhaps going for oranges and coppers, the spidery copper flowers of Hamamelis × intermedia ‘Jelena’ or ‘Ruby Glow’ or the sweetly scented Orange Peel. This is a shrub you would want to see as a focal point in autumn to enjoy its leaves and winter for the flowers but would need some other interest in front of it in spring and summer. The stems of Cornus come into their own in winter, in vibrant shades of orange, Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’ has the graduated colour from pale orange rising to bright orange with red tips at the top.

Houseplants

Houseplants have been a big trend for a few years now, particularly for anyone who doesn’t have a garden. Perhaps is renting and wants to be able to take any plants with them as they move, or just because it isn’t possible to have too many plants (I may be biased). Around Christmas I love having pots of scented paperwhites (Narcissus ‘Ziva’), maybe a deep red Amaryllis ‘Carmen’ or the red and white Papilio.

Christmas Gifts

There is always something garden related on my wish list, as my groaning shelves will testify I still love to receive a book, something I can flick through for inspiration with a cup of coffee on Boxing Day. There are a myriad of gardening and garden design books out there to choose from. I see this time of year as a chance to wander around local bookshops and add my favourites to a Christmas list or choose something to inspire friends or family.

Camilla Grayley is an experienced garden designer, speaker and writer based in York. She designs gardens and delivers garden consultancy services for clients in Yorkshire and across the UK. Get in touch if you’d like help planning your garden for 2025 on 07887 926095 or info@camillagrayleydesign.com