NUMEROUS studies now have suggested that regular gardening is good for the health.
Not only does the activity keep you fit, but the reward for toiling in the soil and caring for plants is, apparently, a significantly reduced stress level.
While I’m sure that gardening does have many benefits, it is those periods of not gardening because of bad weather or conflicting commitments that I’m concerned with.
Am I the only gardener who gets frustrated by the many obstacles that stand in the way of pursuing my favourite hobby?
Heavy rain at the weekend; deadlines that keep me stuck in front of the computer when it is dry and mild or finding myself standing in the supermarket queue when I’ve got a sack of tulip bulbs ready to be planted, can leave me fuming.
Maybe I need to learn the same level of patience and perspective shown by a gardener from Lancaster who I met recently when I was asked to write about her garden for one of the glossy magazines.
Over the last 14 years she has created a unique garden around her home. It has a woodland area that for part of the year is studded with many thousands of spring blooms and a walled garden that contains an intricate parterre, as well as a beautiful conservatory filled with rare orchids.
This is not a low-maintenance garden. The owner works in it for at least six hours a day and she takes very few holidays.
What is really incredible about it, however, is that she didn’t begin work on it until she had retired.
Before that it was simply an acre of lawns and conifers but in her mind she knew that, once she had time, nothing was going to prevent her from transforming it.
Agnes Stevenson
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Can you please tell me what to do with dwarf plum/peach trees in pots in greenhouse over the winter. Do I just leave them or do I water occassionally.
In a pot in a cool frost free greenhouse there should be no problem. I would be inclined to give the plant an occasional drop of water when it gets dry. Although the plant is dormant over winter, the roots need to be kept moist but not over wet. As the spring approaches (usually in late Feb) you should notice that some of the buds are starting to swell. It is important to keep the plant frost free at that time and to also to start regular watering. Keep it/ them in the greenhouse until late April/May when most of the danger of frost is past and by which time the blossom will have gone over and there will be small fruits evident.
Hope this helps.