JOBS FOR THE WEEK

23/12/2007

EASY
It’s sprout-picking time! Pull off the first ripe buttons when they reach the size of a walnut, starting at the base of the stem. Cook the stem tops like cabbage.
Cover a mature clump of rhubarb with a forcing pot or dustbin lined with dry straw for stems to be ready in six weeks.
Fragrance your home with hyacinths – pack the flowers in tight for impact, top-dress with moss and support the top-heavy flower spikes with twiggy stems or simply use coloured glass chips and bamboo canes to match the clean lines of a contemporary home.

EFFORT
Check your brassica crops and tread in those loosened by frost. Check wallflowers too – but be careful not to stamp on emerging bulbs.
Tidy the garden shed, wash and sterilise used trays and pots and discard damaged ones. Smash and wash broken clay pots to be used as drainage crocks in patio pots.
Open vents in the greenhouse during the day to allow air to circulate and prevent a build-up of condensation.

TOUGH
Inspect garden plants for recent storm damage. Prune broken branches and tie in climbers to their support. As a precaution against future snow damage, loosely wrap string around conifers to tie up the branches. This will prevent snow lying heavy and ripping them off the main trunk.
Clean the trunk of silver birch to make it bright and shiny. Wear gloves and rub off the oldest, algae-covered layers then lightly scrub with soapy water.
 

DESIGN IT
Winter-flowering heathers are a brilliant solution for many gardening problems. For example, they’re perfect for roadside borders that are frequently splashed by salt spray or difficult-to- mow banks, which when clothed with these ground-hugging plants become safe from erosion and easy to maintain. Lime-tolerant, white-flowered Erica carnea “Springwood White” will make dead soil dazzle on Christmas morning and those with brightly-coloured foliage and flowers can be used to brighten up your doorstep for Santa’s arrival. Simply fill a pot with these luminous plants and thread with pansies, Cyclamen coum and other brightly-coloured winter blooms.

DIY IT
Save the stones from avocados and grow them into exotic leafy houseplants. Balance the stone, pointed end exposed over a glass of water, and keep in a warm spot where you can watch and wait for the seed to split and sprout roots. 

GOOD IDEA
An old jam jar with a hole punched through the lid makes the ideal weatherproof dispenser for balls of garden string.
Janet Gooch, Morpeth, Northumberland