When is it too late to plant bulbs? Trim lavender or prune fruit trees? It’s snowy in the Middlesized Garden so I’ve had to put off several gardening jobs. Skip straight to the answers if you need them quickly:
0:00 Introduction
0:52 The Middlesized Garden garden overview
1:45 When is it too late to prune fruit trees? (apple, pear, crab apple)
2:30 When to prune shrubs
3:33 When is it too late to cut back lavender?
3:42 Downderry Lavender – lavender plants for sale and holders of the National Collection:https://downderry-nursery.co.uk/
4:33 When is it too late to plant spring bulbs?
5:47 Gardening Which magazine: https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/gardening-through-the-year/article/guides
6:16 When is it too late to mow the lawn?
7:15 Adventures in Horticulture online gardening club: https://www.patreon.com/loujnicholls
7:16 Naomi Slade, author of ‘Snowdrops’:https://www.naomislade.com/books-by-naomi-slade
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40 Comments
The adorable Lottie has snow-dog zoomies! Thanks for the useful tips on winter garden upkeep. I enjoy seeing your videos always. Here in upstate NY in the US we are deeply snow covered and very cold. This video lifts my spirits. I wish I had some of the personal garden connections that you have.
Hi thank you for these videos I do enjoy them
Your garden is such a joy and I love your dog
Would it be possible to recommend some trees for my garden which is a new build and has a small front garden but I would like a couple of trees planted in there
Thank you so much
Have a lovely weekend xx
Thanks for the tips Alexandria.. I am starting some Munstead Lavender for the first time trying any lavender. After it gets established should I prune it. Blessings
Good morning!!!☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️ Our weather has been super rainy, but mild. My garden areas are slushy. So I'm waiting a bit for bulbs because of flooding. I've got a lot of birds that are digging about. I definitely agree about the shrubs. I held back last spring and didn't think it was a big deal to prune and wow the over growth was mammoth in the spring/summer. I learned my lesson and had it done in January.
Thanks I planted some bulbs in late January and it is good to know it might work out
We still have a foot of snow on the ground! BTW Some shrubs like azaleas bloom on old wood and start setting their buds in the summer. So, it is best to prune them soon after their flowers fade…
I really enjoy your program and have learned so much from it. I have a lovely garden in France but am overwhelmed by voles who have eaten everything in sight
I don’t want to harm them but the only way to protect my plants are to build a wire cage for every plant unless it’s daffodils or alliums etc. Any advice thank you
Hello, Alexandra, thank you so much for this very informative winter garden tour! I cut back my lavender in early July, it grows a second flush until late August which i do not cut back over winter.Come March I´ll cut it back hard to the first green leaves( otherwise it gets very high and will split in June). Yours looks fantastic, even covered in snow! Maybe the zone (here 7b) makes the difference. I really enyoyed your winter wonderland! Stay safe, Hanni.
We're having some mighty cold weather here in the Denver area this weekend. A smattering of snow but I would prefer a really good snowfall. Your garden looks pretty in the snow too!
Christopher Lloyd said words to the effect do the jobs when you feel like it or when you have the tight tool in your hand! That was probably a little 'tongue in cheek' but the sentiment is right. Even Monty said the only thing that might happen is you lose the next year's flowering.
Despite my to-do lists on both paper and phone agenda, somehow there is always something that slips through the net. Like you I prefer to do any gardening job late than not at all, but I have had some bad results with late planted bulbs although they catch up the following year so worth it in the end. Certainly better than throwing the bulbs out!
Great video as always Alexandra
I live in snow and cold. Today is -28C. After Christmas the bulbs are usually 75% off. Buy them cheap and plant in a pot. Daffodils, crocus, and hyacinths will bloom great. Tulips are so/so. Plant outside when your soil has thawed. They do great next year and it saves you money.
I wonder if moving a purple flowered magnolia tree is a good idea? Please let me know, it was planted about 5 years ago and is currently right next to a fence panel, south-facing. I live in the Black Country.
We're having our first snow that's staying on the ground today in Vancouver BC Canada! So no garden jobs this weekend 😀! I've pruned my lavender at all times of the year against all advice (when it's in bud because I wanted to dry them; long after they faded; mid-winter because that's when I got to it; a year late because I forgot the previous year; too far back because I had missed the last year; they've always survived. Mine self sow, so i have a constant supply of seedlings coming up that I can move around to fill gaps. I love lavender!
Love watching your videos. I gardened in the farmland of Kent (Horsmonden) and later Gloucestershire. Now I have been transplanted to the middle of nowhere overlooking the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada, where yesterday the temperature was -30ºC all day under 4-6" of snow. Often deeper, but not – so far – this winter. That temperature not at all uncommon, and obviously colder overnight. We have ferocious winds too, and hot, very dry summers. So gardening is a challenge (to say the least!) but I'm determined to have at least a semblance of an English country garden like I had before. Many failures to date, but also successes, and I have to watch the deer also, but I'm getting there! Your channel helps to inspire me to keep going!
Your crabapple trees are beauties! I prune my lavendars in early spring as I've noticed the sparrows feasting on the lavendars in late fall, but I may try pruning half of the bushes after flowering next summer so the pruning job is lighter in spring. Great advice on planting under deciduous trees or bushes. Enjoyed this video very much! 🍃💚
So enjoyed your dog racing around and your cyclamen tableau
This has been the worst winter in many years. Frigid and snow adding to snow. Can’t really do much outside but I can watch you and dream. 🌷💐
Thank you so much Alexandra !! cheers
Lottie was having a great time out in the snow!
Hello I'm sitting in a sun dress melting watching your video..snow! I wish . This has nothing to do with your winter video but I have several and want natural solution to stop mosquito larvae from hatching so we can sit outside near in the evening I had heard of olive oil and tiny bit of dishwashing liquid what is your thoughts and community without damaging the water lilies.love watching you x
Beautiful! Your garden is delightful, and so are your tips on gardening.🌿✨
Such an encouragement! Yes, I'm behind too!!
Fingers crossed you can plant tulips/bulbs as long as you can work the soil! got bulb collections that were meant to go into a different house so I planted them here in December! we will see what comes up around the peach trees
Great advice as always, thank you. I have always been worried about pruning too late, once the snow has cleared I shall be having a bit of a cut back.
Thank you Alexandra 👌. I'll join the Adventures in Horticulture club and order the Snowdrops book!
My lovely Lurcher has snow zoomies too. He loves it.
Garden looks beautiful under a blanket of snow, we here in Canada have the same look, but the temperature is -11. Thanks for sharing 👍❤️😊
Excellent advice thank you
So helpful, Alexandra. Thanks
I’ve been surprised that mums I planted into the garden, after they finished blooming in the fall, have survived. You never know. 🤞
Love your channel. Q:I've inherited some Hydrangea and haven't pruned them. When do you prune them? They have their big flowerheads, and new growth below. I was going to do it, but glad I have't coz we had a brief intense cold snap– just generally our climate is like yours.
I have had a big flock of robins in my crabapple tree!
My mistake this year was in being impatient and pruning things too soon. I went and pruned my roses and hydrangea in early February and then we had a cold snap with freezing temps and snow. I'm hoping they'll be alright as I have always done them later in past years (I normally follow the rule to prune the roses when the forsythia blooms).
I really enjoyed your advice but even better was watching your dog dashing about in the snow
Thanks for the great info!
This cold snap was a bit terrifying as I really worked on the garden last year during lockdown so I have a lot of plants in their first season. My aster really didn't like it! Nor did my daffodils, they started coming up in December and after this weekend have just flopped down. I'm hoping the warmer weather this next week will perk them up!
Thanks tips friends 🌱🙌
Love love your shows . I look forward.
Goodness Alexandra, I wish I could have your kind of heatwave – we get to 40 degrees C here in Victoria, Australia and minus 3 in the winter. I’m always amazed that perennial plants grow so much bigger in the UK pictures I see in magazines.
Love your channel. Dian
Loved the videos of your dog enjoying the first snowfall of the year. So much fun!