Gardening jobs for December

With the weather getting warmer, getting out in the garden to work is probably the last thing you want to do. But with some scorching hot weather sure to hit during December and January, it’s especially important to prepare your garden now.

Here’s our list of jobs you should be doing in the garden this December:

• If you haven’t already, make some portable shade cloth tents you can use to protect sun-sensitive veggies during summer as the heat becomes more intense.
• Prune any spring flowering plants that have finished blooming. You should also snip off the old blooms of roses that have finished flowering and fertilise well.
• If you are going away over Christmas, consider installing some drip irrigation lines to keep your plants watered. Install with a tap timer and you won’t have to worry about asking family or the neighbours to pop in and water them for you.
• For pot plants, sprinkle some water crystals in each pot to help keep them watered while you are away.
• Herbs such as basil, rosemary, oregano and thyme may be starting to produce flowers, which will reduce leaf production. Slow this process down by tip pruning the plants regularly, then giving them a liquid feed and a water. This encourages side branches to shoot, producing even more leaves.
• Help shrubs, trees and flowers withstand dry conditions by avoiding frequent light watering.
• Pot annuals for late summer colour and plant them in the garden to fill any empty spaces you may have.
•  If you have a worm farm, cover it with damp hessian to keep it cool and shaded.
• Top up the mulch after watering the patch first. Make sure to choose a sustainable mulch that will enrich the soil as it breaks down.