Winter Solstice

We have now passed the winter solstice and for the next six month the days will be getting longer. The Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice (also known as Yule) is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world. Early people were hunters and gatherers therefore the seasons and weather played a very important part in their lives, pretty much as it does for gardeners and golfers. Because of this many ancient people had a great reverence for, and even worshipped the sun. The Norsemen of Northern Europe saw the sun as a wheel that changed the seasons. It was from the word for this wheel, houl, that the word yule is thought to have come. At mid-winter the Norsemen lit bonfires, told stories and drank sweet ale.

Sadly, I am increasingly of the belief that materialism has corrupted the joyous Christmas season. The antidote for me is simple, to relish the company of good friends and family and then to get outdoors and appreciate the raw beauties of nature. Of course, I am not the first to express these sentiments.

"The Christians stole the winter solstice from the pagans and the capitalism have stolen it from the Christians" George Monbiot (author and environmental campaigner)

Consequently, I heartily recommend getting your dose of fresh air, particularly if you can share it with family, friends or felines.

Hecate inspects translucent honesty seed pods

Mili in thoughtful disposition

 

 The Pennine vistas can still be appreciated from the top of the garden, despite the cold.The farmers fields a reminder that the season of celebration and merry making are still a time for grafting for many others.

And once you are outside seek out the remaining flashes of colour that seem especially valuable at this time of the year, the polyanthus and the grasses try their best before the first spring bulbs break the surface.

  

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you who visit these pages or stumble across them by accident all the very best for Christmas and hope you all have a wonderful prosperous and healthy new year.

With Pointed Leaves

Yesterday, as is my usual habit on a Saturday morning, I read Nigel Colborn's gardening column in the Daily Mail. He wrote an interesting piece on hollies in our gardens. This prompted me to think about how the Ilex aquifolium, meaning with pointed leaves has a really undervalued role in our Pennine garden. It can clearly tolerate a variety of planting locations and as such it has served a range of understated but very useful functions.

The specimen to the left forms part of the boundary between ourselves and the neighbours. It is currently adorned with the bright red berries that are synonymous with the holly and which are much appreciated by the bird and animal life in the garden. Of course, both male and female plants are required if the tree is to produce its berries.

At the front of the house the hollies serve to mask the rather functional and not to pretty brick steps. They are particularly valuable because their evergreen nature distracts the eye somewhat from what is now rapidly becoming a rather bare looking cotoneaster plant. The evergreen characteristic is the reason why the pre Christians are thought to have believed that bringing inside boughs of the holly tree would ensure a return of Spring after the winter. It is connected to the integral magical powers that allowed the holly to retain its leaves. Of course, like many pagan traditions it has since been incorporated into Christian beliefs so that the berries are now symbolic of the blood of Christ and the sharp points (of many but not all hollies) represents the crown of thorns.

Elsewhere the hollies serve to give that all important winter structure, such as as backdrop for the ornamental grasses. As you can see they are in need of a trim not least because the holly is actually a tree and will keep growing if not kept pruned. However, this is not a major task  because most hollies grow at only a modest rate, but my top tip would be to plant with a medium to long term view and get a decent pair of gardening gloves.

Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79) had some advice about the best spot to plant,  in  “Historia naturalis”, an encyclopedic study of plants and animal life, he noted that if Holly is planted near a house or farm, it would repell poison and defended it from lightning and witchcraft. You might want to bare this in mind as well.


The hollies we have at the front have lovely variegated leaves. These are particularly nice, as when using the steps, at the front or side of the house, you are certain to get a good close up view of these lovely and underrated garden plants. 

I am often guilty of giving too much time and attention to my garden specimens that are either "flashy" or rather tricky to grow. But Nigel Colborn has reminded me not to take the plants that do well, without much fuss, for granted.

Putting the Garden to Bed

Before I retired it was always a sad but satisfying autumn half term when the garden was put to bed for the year. The essential jobs were done to keep our plot safe from the realities of a Pennine winter. The last mowing, collecting the leaves, combing the grasses, forking the lawns, trimming the heathers, bringing in the tender plants that will need protection from the harshest frosts and snow and cleaning up the ponds from the debris which might otherwise cause some wildlife threatening water quality issues (particularly a danger with smaller ponds).
Top tip: embrace the comfort involved in "putting the garden to bed" but do not skimp on the jobs as they will all pay dividends in the spring.

Now that I have more time on my hands the whole process of readying the garden for the winter is that bit more relaxed but none the less satisfying. The joys of autumn can be savoured without undue hurry and the first frosts can be awaited patiently. The jobs will all get done (assuming the rain eventually abates) and the winter months can be enjoyed in front of the fire and in the potting shed.

Agapanthus are lifted ready for storage

Pond is now cleared of fallen leaves and debris

At this point it is worth while sitting with a cup of Bovril and reviewing the scene; time to start making plans for next year. Where did I leave that seed catalogue?

Clearly nobody has told Hecate to avoid walking on the lawn when it is frosty

A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust. Gertrude Jekyll

Hecate & Mili Brave the Elements

Now the autumnal conditions are firmly set in, it is not only the gardeners who need a little motivation to leave the fireside and get outside. Hecate and Mili have found the allure of an open hearth rather hard to resist. The damp grass is a challenge and the stiff wind blowing across from the moors rather daunting for the smaller felines. However, to their credit they will venture up to the top of the garden, at least when their human is outside to provide some much needed reassurance.

Hecate

Mili

   The two cats are are welcome distraction from the tasks in hand. Collecting leaves and keeping the pond respectably free from the arboreal debris being important jobs for this time of the year. The benches will also be getting a last brush down and treatment, and then, one of the sadder points of the calendar, they will be covered over for their winter hibernation.

Top Tip: it is worthwhile taking a little bit of time and effort to protect your garden furniture, as even hardwood pieces will succumb, eventually, to the ravages of a Pennine winter .

Grey Skies and Rainbows

 

Looking to the West across the valley the vista has been predominantly grey and gloomy. However, there has also been several sighting of rainbows, including the one below which appears to be rising out of the quarry. The rainbow never arrives without both rain and sunshine, so to the garden and its myriad of mini wonders.

Sometimes working outside in the rain has its compensations!

Caught in the Act

Earlier this week we had some cheeky visitors over for a meal or more precisely breakfast as these snaps were taken at 9-00 in the morning. There was a total of three deer in the garden, each of them munching away happily on our plants!

Enjoying the ox eye daisies

Head down for second helpings

What, me, not guilty!

Jobs for the Rainy Days

Now we have well and truly returned from our Scotland sojourn, the garden was supposed to be the antidote for any post holiday blues.  But how wet has the weather been for the past two weeks? I am writing this blog entry because it is once again pouring down. Luckily I was able to shower dodge this morning and did get outside for a few hours.


Normally, we look for things to do inside when the weather is inclement (and it has to be bad to stop most gardeners getting outside). Tidying the shed, pottering in the greenhouse (conservatory for us) even building and mending jobs in the garage. But somehow this does not satisfy my cravings for a bit of fresh air. It is easy to just get wet (as the professionals must have to) but it is not always advisable to work in borders when they are wet and heavy and likely to compaction. For us just traversing the back garden means walking on the grass, not the ideal preparation for the autumn/ winter hiatus. Working in the rain can be counter productive if we are not careful.


Consequently, I do have a few outside jobs which I can leave for the rainy days.

~ washing out the plant pots in the shelter of the back door
~ tending to plants that are either climbing the house walls or growing in its lee, such as on the patio
~ power washing the pathways and steps, which is always a wet job anyway
~ even tidying out the ponds (always awash with extra vegetation growth at this time of the year)

So my top tip would be plan ahead for all the British weather contingencies but when prudent to do so retreat indoors anyway, like Hecate and Mili!