To celebrate the season of plum puddings and cranberry sauce, Dan and Julia devote this episode to all things fruity. They reveal their favourite fruits and share tips on how to grow and use them. Dan describes one of his favourite tools for pruning fruit trees, and Julia delves deeper into the art of cultivating blueberries.
Listen to the end to hear Dan & Julia's list of jobs to do in the garden over the next fortnight and to find out where they'll be popping up in the run-up to Christmas.
Jobs to do in your garden this fortnight:
- December is the last call for planting spring-flowering bulbs. It's a little late for everything other than tulips, but it's still worth getting bulbs in the ground or pots now rather than wasting them.
- Collect redundant bamboo canes and store them safely. Errant plant supports cause hundreds of accidents yearly, and the last thing anyone wants is to spend Christmas in A&E.
- During cold weather, put out high-energy food and ensure animals can access fresh water. Cleanliness is vital for the health of garden birds, so it's a good time to start cleaning out bird boxes in readiness for the spring.
- If it's grotty outside, or you haven't got the energy to move beyond the sofa, now's a great time to sort your seedbox, discarding any that are out of date (although they could still be worth trying) and making a note of new varieties you'd like to source.
- On fine, dry days, gather any remaining seed heads to provide decoration around the home or use them for making wreaths and garlands.
- Should it snow, shake the excess from trees and shrubs where the weight might cause branches to bend and break. Columnar (pillar-shaped) trees and topiary are particularly vulnerable.
- If you store tubers, fruit, and vegetables in a shed or garage, check them every fortnight to ensure there's no sign of mould, rot, or shrivelling. They should be firm to the touch with taught skin.
- If you planted potatoes in anticipation of fresh spuds at Christmas, you should be able to start lifting them now. Main crop potatoes still in the ground can be dug as needed, but don't forget they are there as they'll begin to sprout as soon as the weather warms up in spring.
- The wind is one of our greatest enemies. Firmly stake new trees and support or 'earth up' tall brassicas such as Brussels sprouts, kale and purple sprouting broccoli.
- Many of our greatest gardens put on spectacular light displays from now until early in the New Year. These events might not offer a complete escape from the madding crowd, but they highlight the magnificent structure of gardens we're used to seeing fully clothed.
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Produced by Scott Kennett at Red Lighthouse Local
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