Looking out of our study window as I write in mid-January, the view at long last looks less like a swamp and more like a garden. So, I can soon get onto the borders and clear them of the claggy mess that the storms bequeathed us to let the spring bulbs come through.  One good thing I guess is that at least everything has had a good water! I will still be leaving some of the old stems and seedheads for the wildlife.

Last time our garden was under water we eventually lost several trees that presumably had had their roots in the suffocating wet for too long, preventing them breathing and thriving.  The answer some years back in a corner of our garden that seemed to be always damp, was to put in a swamp cypress (see photo).  It worked; it very quickly grew into a beautiful tall tree. The Swamp Cyprus  (Taxodium distichum) is unusual in that it is a deciduous conifer; a gorgeous tree that sheds its lovely fern like leaves in Autumn after turning striking shades of red and orange. It is long lived as well as beautiful, some living over 600 years so as my mother would say in her later years ‘it will see me out’! 

I’ve been hoping all winter that the wet weather hasn’t caused the thousands of spring bulbs we have planted across the garden to rot. Most of them hate perpetually soggy growing conditions.  However, they seem to be coming up well so far and we already have daffodils and snowdrops showing colour. One bulb that doesn’t mind damp is the snake’s head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) and we have a decent patch of them growing now that are gently seeding around. It is a member of the lily family so in danger of attack from those red lily beetles that emerge around March time.  I’m a peace and animal loving gardener but cruelly despatching a red lily beetle is a priority more or less every day in spring!  They munch lilies mercilessly and the adults cover the leaves with yukky goo containing their larvae that looks like bird poo. Not good news!

There are loads of jobs to be getting on with in the garden now. Time spent weeding, pruning and mulching now really reaps rewards later in the year. And there’s nothing like sowing some seeds to bring you some post winter cheer so here’s a few ideas to get you out there:

·         Sow some sweet peas.  Put 3 seeds in a small pot, keep them out of the way of mice, water them occasionally. They don’t need much heat to germinate, I have them in a cold frame outside.  Once they have grown to around 20 centimetres, nip out the tops to get bushier plants and more of those gorgeous flowers. They can be put outside in April as long as it isn’t freezing;

·         Prune roses to encourage strong new flowering shoots;

·         Cut down ornamental grasses. Tie string round the clumps first to make them easier to clear away;

·         Divide herbaceous perennials that flower later on such as day lilies and phlox;

·         Start your dahlias into growth with a handful of new compost and a water, keep them frost free;

·         Start chitting your early spuds in an old egg box on the windowsill;

·         Dig up some of your snowdrops once they have finished flowering and plant elsewhere in the garden, there is always room for another clump in a shady spot that isn’t too dry.

Spring is coming, enjoy!