This wintertime enjoy a thriving garden

With the wintertime fast approaching, you may be tempted to simply shut-up-shop and leave your beloved garden for another year. But that would be a shame, as there’s still so much that you can do to ensure a thriving garden come the spring.

As the saying goes, the amount of care you are likely to give a plant is in direct proportion to how close it is to your back door. So why replant your beautiful flowering creations into a pot located right outside your front door so that you can easily tend to it all-winter long? This way, you can easily enjoy their beauty and aromatic fragrances.

If you are missing the sights of flowers in your garden, there should be nothing stopping you from bringing some in. Why not nip to the shops and hunt out a range of hellebores, skimmias, heucheras, euphorbias and evergreen grasses?

These look good throughout the Winter months when arranged in frost-proof pots – but don’t forget to add pot feet to ensure they don’t get waterlogged.

Winter flowers such as violas and pansies can offer a jolt of colour, but they are more susceptible to the winter season’s elements, so put them in the most sheltered spot possible, such as a windowbox or in an unheated porch. With a wealth of dead leaves and twigs coating your garden in almighty shades of burnt auburn and dark browns, it can be difficult to resist the urge to tidy it all up through strimming, raking or burning.

But many creatures will be sheltering in that leaf litter and the hollow stems of dead plants and log piles. One such creature is the hedgehog, who tend to leave their leafy havens and go for short adventures during the mid-evening and night time. To give them a helping hand, leave out a feast of dog or cat food for them or even meal worms as a tasty treat.

Parts of your home where it is essential to keep clear are your pathways, your patio and your yard. This is because when leaves become wet, they get incredibly slippery and could cause someone an injury. Tuck away these leaves into a corner in your garden to decompose.

Fresh water is vital to keep the wonderful and beneficial insects and wildlife going strong in your garden. Dig a small hole in the ground, place inside it an upturned an old dustbin lid. Make sure that it is lying flush to the ground. Fill it with pebbles and fresh water, and watch the birds and wildlife rush to your humble creation in the comfort of your home.