December in the garden: the essential tasks

The days keep getting shorter through December, meaning your time to get on with gardening tasks is limited. Luckily, with most plants lying dormant, your to-do list shouldn’t be too long. A bit of pruning and protecting here and there should be all the gardening jobs you need to do in December. And if you have extra time, you can start dreaming of all the flowers and fruits you want to plant for next year.

If you’ve ordered bare-root roses ready for next year, December is the perfect time to get them planted. It gives the roots chance to get settled in before their first summer blooms. Avoid particularly wet or cold days when the ground can be waterlogged or frozen.

When planting bare-roots, soak them in water for two hours beforehand to rehydrate them and dig over the soil to remove weeds and large stones. Then simply dig a large hole, add some compost, place the roots in the hole and fill it up with soil so it feels nice and secure before watering.

December is the ideal time for having a good clear out in the garden, ready for the following year. Hard prune roses, wisteria, fruit trees, Japanese maple and overgrown shrubs. Your garden might look quite bare after all this pruning, but your plants will reward you with lots of beautiful blooms come summer.

Tidying up your vegetable and fruit plot is a good idea before you start sowing in a couple of months. Remove weeds and pests, and add good quality compost to fill the ground with nutrients ready for next year. Keep an eye on winter growing veg, too. You may need to place straw around parsnips to prevent the soil from freezing and tie tall brussel sprouts to canes to keep them upright during windy weather.

The next few months will be challenging for lots of garden wildlife, but a few steps can help them along the way and make them regular visitors. Put fresh water and fat balls out for the birds, and give your feeders a clean as any mould or rotted food will put them off.

Frogs and newts like to shelter under pots and piles of bricks, so leave a few tucked away but accessible. Leaving wood and branches in a log pile will help create shelter for insects, toads and hedgehogs. You can also drill holes in logs of wood to create nests for bees.

One of the more enjoyable December gardening jobs is making the most of it for Christmas. Pick holly, conifer stalks, mistletoe and pine branches to make decorations in your home, like a wreath for your door. If you’re using your own homegrown Christmas tree, stand it in a bucket of water outside for a few days before bringing inside.

Hopefully, you’ll be able to enjoy a break from lots of gardening jobs in December, which gives you time to plan for next year. Research the flowers and vegetables you’d like to start growing. As you plan, remember that it’s a good idea to rotate your crops to minimise pests and diseases from building up. Think about when each plant comes into flower and when fruits and veg are ready to harvest, so you can spread them out to have something to enjoy every month. When you’ve made your all-important decisions, you can go ahead and order seeds this month.

We hope our gardening calendar has been helpful for making the most of everything the seasons bring. Stay tuned as we bring you more tips next year.