To many people, it might seem like the north of England in January and February is a place and time when there is little you can do in the garden. If it is not blanketed in snow, it will be frozen solid for much of the time and may also be soaking wet at others. Moreover, it’s not a lot of fun spending hours working outside when it’s very cold.
However, there are things you can do very usefully at this time of year. Undertaking groundworks in Lancashire is not something to leave until March, but an important undertaking that can set things up for the work you can do in February and beyond.
Indeed, the Royal Horticultural Society has listed a lot of ways in which you can get your garden set up for the months ahead. That can include landscaping work such as digging over vacant plots to ready them for the spring.
This may also be a good time for composting, dead heading winter pansies, and shoring up any stakes supporting weaker plants so they are not flattened by the winter weather. Gardeners World also suggests establishing new snowdrop colonies by picking the best blooms.
While much of this work is remedial to help protect the plants that are flowering over winter and help others to survive the winter in the best possible shape, the key thing to note is that this time of year does allow for a bit of practical work on the shape of the garden.
Whether that is laying artificial turf, establishing a rockery or fixing the fence, now is a good time to do it when less of your attention will be taken up with maintaining new blooms, planting and seeding, or simply sitting in your garden on a warm, sunny day admiring the fruits of your hard work.
It might be chilly and dull just now, but the work you put in at the start of the year will help clear the way for all the tasks ahead to make your garden beautiful when spring and summer arrive.
