Stihl Mini Chainsaw and Pole Pruner review

Okay which MAD person put me in charge of not one, but TWO chainsaws? 

Those were my thoughts as I took delivery of two mean cutting machines, kindly gifted by the crazy people at Stihl for me to use during the pruning of my fruit trees, and for chopping up large bits of wood for fires. I have an apple and a plum tree which need periodic pruning. I also love a fire, and keep any and all of my prunings to use in my firebowl at regular intervals.

I recently had an extremely unpleasant run-in cutting cucumber slices on a mandolin - and a mandolin, darlings, has no moving parts.

Yup, so it was with a fair amount of trepidation that I finally opened the first box, after a couple of weeks just looking at it suspiciously. It comes with a lithium ion battery which you need to charge for a few hours. The battery fits into its charger completely intuitively…no need to read any instructions (shhhh you didn’t hear me say that). 

The instructions (which I DID read) say you need to wear lots of safety equipment. You need a helmet that fits correctly, and a pair of good gloves and boots, and a pair of sturdy trousers.

I am a person who gardens in whatever I’m wearing, but some unfamiliar, sensible part of myself tells me firmly not to skip this step, and I put all the stuff on, which instantly gives me the confidence to put the battery in the machine and get going. I’m very familiar with what wearing appropriate clothing will do for you in terms of experience. Jumping in muddy puddles, for example, is infinitely more fun when one is NOT wearing a skirt…the whole thing is just not as pleasurable is it? And so it is with wielding a chainsaw; it feels infinitely safer and more fun when your’e wearing proper garb. Also, the trousers are really rather sexy, if I do say so myself (they should be at this price). They feel a bit like ski trousers - close-fitting, lovely and warm and , well, SUPPORTIVE, if you know what I mean….It’s not that I need clothes to be sexy, but hey, it’s better if they are isn’t it? The boots are glorious -

I mean they’d look better with a floaty dress, but hey, this isn’t fashion…it’s GARDENING, so onwards we go, with our thick trousers and our huge boots and our helmet and gloves. Although, to be fair, the incredibly hot man in the promotional video for this chainsaw (click the link below, and you’re welcome) is simply wearing eye protection.

Stihl Compact Cordless Chainsaw MSA 120c with battery and charger

Like most other motorised gardening equipment, switching it on requires two actions - pushing a button whilst pulling a lever. The chainsaw though, has an extra safety catch which has to be pulled towards your body in order for the thing to work. This catch also doubles up as a hand guard, protecting your hands from any flying detritus which might head their way (although if you are wearing good gloves, that shouldn’t be a factor). 

I expected a good deal of vibration once I’d got the saw going, but in reality it felt a bit like an electric toothbrush (have a look at my instagram highlights under ‘Pruning'!’) and that’s when the last bit of trepidation left me and I started having fun. The blade cuts through wood easily and smoothly…yes, a bit like a hot knife might slip through butter. I adored the feel of it - easy to manoeuvre, and not too heavy (2.5kg). I cut several large logs up for my stock of wood. It is pretty quiet too; a lawnmower would bother me much more if I were my neighbour. (thank goodness I’m not)

Overall I am in love with this tool, so much so that I wish I had more to cut dammit. But seriously, if you need to prune large branches off a tree, or have wood that needs chopping this is a lovely bit of kit to have in your armoury. For storage, you need to keep the battery and charger away from extreme temperatures (I keep mine in the house) and the cutting part of the machine has a plastic cover that slips over it.  I will also need to get to grips with tensioning the chain, and adding oil, which I’ll save for an instagram story at some point in the near future. But all in all, this little thing sits on a shelf in my shed and looks at me seductively from there. I am quite smitten.

HTA65 Electric Pole Pruner

This is a chainsaw on a stick - something I realised I needed once I got to work on my apple tree and needed to chop some of the larger, inward-facing water shoots - too thick for loppers and unreachable with my ladder. The pole pruner works in exactly the same way as the mini chainsaw, except that the battery is at the bottom of the pole and the chainsaw is at the top. This is rather more unwieldy than the mini-chainsaw (as you might expect). It takes practice to balance the thing properly, using the strap that comes with it, and at 3.1kg in weight, it does require a certain amount of upper-body strength. Having said that though, It is once again a joy to use, with that electric toothbrush feel, and the tiny blade means that you can pick and choose what you want to prune off, put the saw in the right place, press the trigger and get the bit you want without damaging any other parts of the plant. 

A brilliant piece of equipment for anyone needing to get at thick branches, high up, but unless you are in charge of vast swathes of orchard or woodland, then it would obviously be better to borrow one of these than to buy one. 

Important information:

The above equipment were kindly gifted to me by Stihl. These items were not given to me in exchange for a review. I am reviewing them in response to lots of requests after I posted some Instagram stories about them. I’m not being paid for this review, but writing it because so many of you wanted to know about these products. This is not a comparison either - other chainsaws are available! Hope that’s all clear!

xx Laetitia

How to get a carpet of snowdrops

… or indeed, a mini-carpet in a pot

Do you have a carpet of snowdrops luring you outside right now?

I say this explicitly, because one or two snowdrops just aren’t going to do it are they? So while it’s very easy to get caught up in galanthophilia, spending precious hours and money on special varieties, none of that obsessiveness is going to get you a carpet without plenty of planting, lifting and dividing at this end of the year, and that carpet is going to look glorious, no matter how expensive the variety. With that in mind, make sure you have the essential conditions (shade and damp) – if you don’t have trees then between shrubs in the border is good, and volume is the important thing here, so buy as if you were a Russian oligarch on a binge. To this end (and because I’m presuming you’re no such thing) go for ordinary good old favourites that are large and sumptuous. G. ‘Magnet’ is my number one choice, followed closely by G. ‘S. Arnott’ and G. ‘Atkinsii’, and begin with just a few… Or a simple, much cheaper job lot of nivalis (you can see these three types in my shopping list post here). They’ll arrive by the beginning of March, looking worse for wear; this is what’s called ‘in the green’ and it’s the best time to plant. Add lots of humus-rich compost or soil improver and plant six inches deep. Existing large clumps that are looking congested can be lifted out of the ground and gently teased apart once the flowers begin to go over. Replant as before and keep things random by putting some closer together than others.

This is certainly a labour of love rather than a five minute fling, but I’ll tell you what… I’ve been growing snowdrops in containers since my balcony days and I think they are JUST as heart-stopping. You just need good multi-purpose compost, and the addition of some lovely leaf mould every year.

I’ll be planting the beauties I’ve ordered in my lawn (will they love it? I don’t know!) as soon as they arrive, in the knowledge that I’ll have to be patient and let them take their own sweet time to spread.

x Laetitia

ps if you want a much more personal run-down of all my five minute forays, I write a newsletter every week which drops on a Saturday or Sunday. It’s full of the rather messier, more real, and, let’s face it, rather less pin-worthy stuff that life throws at me, and it’s the thing I enjoy writing most of all. Hit the button below if you want to have a go…and know that you can unsubscribe any time if it’s not for you!

How I'm pruning my apple tree this winter

If you follow me on Instagram you’ll know that I’ve been doing a little pruning project on my apple tree. 

Gorgeous looking…not so gorgeous eating!

 The tree was pruned last year, very badly (my own fault… I didn’t use a professional and I left him to it). When I returned, he had given my tree a general ‘haircut’ – i.e. cut about a third of the crown off from the outside. This has resulted in a squillion small upright shoots (or ‘water shoots’) rocketing skyward, both ruining the look of what was once a lovely gnarly old tree, and crowding the crown out, which has the effects of increasing the likelihood of disease and an over-production of small fruit. 

Personally I couldn’t care less about the fruit here – the apples are cookers and not very good ones at that…but I do love the tree, and its blossom and I want it back to its best, so the other day I took my secateurs and began pruning. It’s a bit of an endeavour that’ll have me doing small amounts over a sustained period of time, but here are the rules I’ll be following, which I found on the PTES website.

1.    I’ll be removing any dead wood, and any wood that looks diseased. Just as I would do with any pruning job.

2.    I’ll be looking for any branches that are crossing together and rubbing. This rubbing damages the bark and again, allows disease to get in and take hold. 

3.    I’ll be looking at the general shape of my tree, and removing any branches that don’t contribute to the shape that I want. With fruit trees the general rule of thumb is that you want an open shape – a ‘goblet’ really, so that there’s really great air circulation, and you don’t have lots of branches shading out those below. This means that branches growing towards the middle of the crown should generally be removed. There’s an old saying that you should be able to throw your hat through the crown, and it’s a useful image for the shape I’m after.

4.    Once I’ve done the above, I’ll tackle my water shoots. This is something I’ll be doing cautiously, because I don’t want to shock my tree by removing the whole lot in one go. I’ll start in the centre of the crown and remove a third of the total number of shoots. This will, I hope allow air and light into the centre of the tree. I’ll repeat the process next year, and in 2021, with a little summer pruning thrown in, to deal with any new shoots produced by each winter’s cuts.

Not a five minute project, by any means, but one that can definitely be done in five minute bursts, and it’s something that excites me tremendously, because I get to watch and learn.

Watershoots of doom

As for the prunings, I’ll be using them for staking, kindling, and I’ll also be creating several small piles of them in different areas of the garden, for insects.

A note on tools.

I lost my pruning saw a while back (something I mean to rectify soon!). Secateurs are very good for the small water shoots where I can reach them. For larger branches, and for chopping the resulting wood, I’ll been using a little battery-powered chainsaw, and a telescopic lopper, both kindly gifted by Stihl. Reviews of these tools (and an update on the pruning) coming soon.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the above. Any tips and tricks I should know about? Please let me know! I’m a novice at this and, as the loving custodian of a beautiful apple tree I want to do the best I can for it!

x Laetitia

Winter container garden hacks

As you might expect, Petersham Nurseries does winter rather well, seamlessly sailing through the bleak season without any of the bald patches from which we mere mortals seem to suffer.

Of course, this is partly to do with their gorgeous stock and legions of staff to make things gorgeous, but that’s not the whole story. There are some very simple hacks they’ve employed to keep things lovely with minimum upkeep. Here are their tricks:

1. Go big or go home

Everything here is on a grand scale. It’s a very good idea, especially if you are time-poor, as it creates instant impact with very little work over the summer months in terms of watering. Paperwhite narcissi here are crammed into a gigantic urn; the bulb fibre covered with moss and sticks plunged around the edge to keep things from flopping. It’s a classic idea but on a big scale, and it would work even in a small room. Use an urn, and you have an instant layering effect, with the added bonus of not having sacrificed any table space.

Paperwhite narcissi in an urn at Petersham

2. Use erigeron everywhere.

You’ll have heard me go on about this plant enough, but seriously, let me tell you one more time about the wonders of this Erigeron Karvinskianus. Not only does it soften and relax every hard corner or line, and self-sow itself politely around into the tiniest cracks and crevices, it will also cover up a multitude of sins (bareness really) at the base of any permanent planting. But most of all, it will continue flowering pretty much all year round, so whilst your deciduous shrub languishes in its twiggy bareness over the winter, this little darling will give you something lovely to look at.

3. Use muehlenbeckia everywhere else

Bare deciduous shrubs in pots? No problem with cascading muehlenbeckia

Rather lesser-known (and unfairly vilified as something which can be invasive), this gorgeous thing is an absolute blessing as long as you keep it in a container, doing very much what the erigeron does - softening and beautifying, only with a trailing effect rather than a flower. Put it in a pot with absolutely anything; it will make your bare viburnum gorgeous and it will even make plants that don’t look so lovely on their own, like heather (see below) unspeakably chic.

Muehlenbeckia on its own is great too.

Suddenly heather is sexy…because muehlenbeckia (and also an URN)

4. Put ferns in a gigantic pot

…an urn, or other GINORMOUS container. Whatever it is, it must have height, to elevate the fronds…it’s something to do with balance. This is also an illustration of the Go Big or Go Home trick, but also, ferns are the great unsung container plant hero and we should all be using much more of them on our patios and terraces. This one above is an indoor affair, but there are plenty of excellent evergreen ferns which, given the right treatment will flourish in containers outside. Blog post on which ones to use coming soon.

5. Plant the pants off all the hellebores you can afford

Hellebores in pots

Deadly pretty, perfect container plants that you can put into the ground if you get bored with them. I’ve been making a large container up with one, the recipe for which I’ll be sharing on my newsletter which drops at the weekend….It contains a rather more personal run-down of all my five minute forays in the garden during the week - sign up here if you’d like it, and never fear, if you don’t like it…(and it’s not for everyone I admit) then you can unsubscribe any time.

xx Laetitia

Bulbs and plugs I'm ordering this month

I don’t do much gardening in January…a bit of nonchalant weed-pulling, some chopping of gone-over things, and some deadheading if I’ve got winter bedding (cyclamen, pansies) on the go. More time is spent spring cleaning…getting the shed tidy and in order, sluicing out the bins (yuck) and clearing any gutters low enough not to induce vertigo.

My favourite gardening endeavours then, take the form of dreaming, and leafing through catalogues. Getting in early and ordering the things you want is always a good idea.

Here is my January shopping list.

Snowdrops.

Galanthus S. Arnott - a classic I want in my lawn

Having decided to put snowdrops (Galanthus) in my lawn last year, I then went and forgot to order any. The best way to plant them is not as bulbs, but in flower, or having flowered (or ‘in the green’) as gardeners say. I shall be ordering three each of G. Magnet and G. S. Arnott to start off what I very much hope will become a carpet of snowdrops. For these particularly tall varieties I’m prepared to wait, as I’m also mindful that I don’t want to spend lots of time and money planting hundreds of snowdrops only to have them turn their noses up at the conditions they’ve been given. Slow gardening then, and I’ll be buying them from Avon Bulbs, who always deliver good quality specimens, and whose packaging is completely plastic-free. If I had a large space and wanted an instant carpet though, I’d probably go for this deal. They are simple G. Nivalis, and very gorgeous, and good value to boot.

Gladiolus callianthus murielae

Gladiolus Callianthus - which I can’t live without

These are the stunners I plant in containers ever year, successionally and they give me a continuous, scented display from midsummer right through to the first frosts. I love them unconditionally and if I had more space, I’d fill it with them. I actually planted some in the ground last year, and left them there over winter to see if they come back, an experiment I’m not holding out much hope for, but hey, it’s good to try! I’ll be buying 80 bulbs from Farmer Gracy who I bought from last year. Their bulbs were cheaper than I could find elsewhere, great quality, grew really well and their packaging was plastic-free.

Argyranthemum frutescens

Argyranthemum is a must-have

These daisies are the hardest-working container plant in my garden over the summer months. I buy them as plug plants, grow them on and plant them in my big pots once my bulbs have left the building. I water and feed the living daylights out of them, and they reward me with continual flowering until well in to November and beyond. I used to buy them from Sarah Raven but was disappointed by last year’s plants - the colour was so much duller than before. So this year I’m going to get them from Brookside Nursery and I’m changing my colour choice and going for a variety called ‘Halo Pink’ - not just because I love the rather outré colour, but also because they’re selling a tray of 42 plants for £30 and I love the idea of having them EVERYWHERE. The safe option is to go for the gorgeous white one…which is never not charming and gorgeous. Over to you.

That’s it (for now).

x Laetitia

ps if you want a much more personal run-down of all my five minute forays, I write a newsletter every week which drops on a Saturday or Sunday. It’s full of the rather messier, more real, and, let’s face it, rather less pin-worthy stuff that life throws at me, and it’s the thing I enjoy writing most of all. Hit the button below if you want to have a go…and know that you can unsubscribe any time if it’s not for you!

Spark Joy in the Garden: KonMari for your outside space.

Whilst I’m in no way a slavish devotee of Marie Kondo and her principles (I read her first book with the uncomfortable feeling that she was mentally ill, what with the whole talking to your handbag thing, oh, and I have three children for heaven’s sake) I have been slowly but surely tackling forty plus years’ worth of stuff, using her recommendations, and for the first time in my life, I feel like there is a chance I may get my house in order before I actually die. 

 Here’s my adaptation of the Kon Mari method, for my garden

1    Shrubs and trees

Take all your shrubs and trees out and pile them up high on your bed… On second thoughts, don’t do that. Just take stock of your shrubs and trees. Think about what life might look like without this or that shrub or tree. Would your garden (your life) be improved with the removal, or ADDITION of one particular element? Or does something need moving? Perhaps (and this is so often the case) a bit of surgery is needed, to improve the look of a tree or shrub? What would that big holly bush look like if you removed all the lower branches for example? 

2    Perennials

Take a good look at your borders. You could, actually, if you really had the energy, do a proper Marie Kondo here; take everything out, lay it out in front of you, decide what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of or move, and then put the whole lot back. It’s an enticing thought, but beyond the means and inclination of most of us. The balanced way then, is to look at each plant and ask yourself whether it sparks joy…yes, really. Plants that spark joy for me are ones that really earn their place in my garden – the hardworkers that do their thing no matter what the weather (or my neglect) throws at them – the geraniums, the verbena, the alchemilla mollis are three examples. Other plants that spark joy for me are those which extend the season – the rudbeckias, the sedums, the anemones. Whatever your criteria, you’ll want to do away with any plant or group of plants that doesn’t fulfil them. Don’t forget to THANK them for their service before you give them to your friends and neighbours!

NOTE: The part of Marie Kondo’s method that has many people drawing a firm line in the sand and saying “uh oh, no way” in a rather scoffy way, is imminently sensible when I am in the garden. No, I’m not going to say thank you to my anorak for keeping me dry because, well, it’s NOT A LIVING THING, but look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t walk around your garden in the summer, smelling the roses and whispering “You’re gorgeous!” Just me? Somehow I don’t think so….THANK YOUR PLANTS.

3    Komono (Misc) – garden furniture, pots, tools, machinery

This is the tough bit. All the stuff you accumulate; pots of whatever description, old tools that have long since ceased to serve their purpose, seeds you meant to sow but didn’t, plants you meant to plant but didn’t, garden furniture that you no longer use. Games, languishing in the shed. None of these things are rubbish, but in many cases, many of them are redundant. And here, you really can put everything in one place and sort through it, piece by piece, deciding whether it sparks joy for you or not. Donate (or sell if you have the energy) – get rid of these things responsibly, but don’t leave them where they are. The spaces freed up by this exercise can be repurposed for the things you really love and which are useful to you. THANK these things too if you want to…whatever floats your boat babe.

4    Sentimental items – think ‘miscellaneous with memories’. It might be a pot your granny gifted to you. It might be a plastic wendy house your children loved while they were little. It might even be a gnome. If you love it, and it sparks joy, then think of making a special space for it in the garden, and if you baulk at that idea, well then perhaps you don’t love it as much as you thought? 

So what do you think? Would this work for you? 

Xx Laetitia

Monstera love

Ubiquitous they may be, but that doesn’t stop them being fabulous; Monstera deliciosa have shed their dusty, corner-of-the-room triffid image and are now elevated to superstar status. Basically, if you haven’t got one, then who actually ARE you?

Here’s a little vid that I did with the RHS explaining how to care for them, and if you’re thinking of getting one, I would urge you to go for something small and let it grow, rather than haemorrhaging money on a great big beast. Buying a small plant means that if you DO make a mistake and lose it, all is not lost, and if you don’t then it will actually grow better, because it has been acclimatised to your space from babyhood.

Let me know if you think I’ve missed anything out here - care tips that work for you.

x Laetitia

Indoor salad, for dark days

Indoor salad for darker days

We still have a way to go before Spring does its thing. This is an easy way of banishing the blues, and far healthier than gin. 

Microgreens are a great favourite with me as they satisfy my yearning for sophistication whilst valiantly accommodating my slapdash sowing skills. No thinning out is needed here, as I snip the leaves off in their baby stage. All you need is a plastic seed tray or pot set within another larger tray for watering, some multi-purpose compost and some seeds; I adore radish, rocket, basil and mizuna, or you can buy a mixture of seeds specially packaged as microgreens - this is a great starter pack.

Or, if you can’t be doing with compost, then I recommend this kit, which has everything included, and you just use kitchen roll, (or loo paper if you’re us!)

Fill your tray or pot with compost, removing any big bits and tapping it firmly on a hard surface to remove any pockets of air. Now sprinkle your seeds liberally over the top, aiming for an even coverage. You don’t need to worry about spacing here because you’ll be harvesting the greenery before it has a chance to need any space. Cover the seeds very thinly with a bit more compost, sieving it over the top, and fill up the bottom tray with water for a few hours until the surface of the compost is damp. Given the warmth of your kitchen, the seeds with germinate fast, and in a couple of weeks you’ll be snipping and sprinkling just like all the posh chefs.

x Laetitia

A gentle reminder

…. That your garden, or outside space, whether it’s a windowsill or a vast swathe - has a purpose, and that purpose is to SERVE you.

Here are the ways in which I need and expect my garden to serve me:

1. It should bring me and my family joy

2. It should bring me and my family peace

3. It should be a retreat from the stresses and annoyances of every day life

None of this means that my garden should look a certain way; if my space is tidy and minimal and that brings me happiness and contentment, then that is the garden for which I should strive. But if I find those same feelings as I enter or sit in my wild, overgrown patch (which is more likely), then that’s fine too.

Too often in the past, my garden was a source of anxiety, as I looked longingly into it and wished it were all different. When I finally analysed my own feelings and realised that it had become the polar opposite of what it was supposed to be, I knew things had to change. I decided to change the way in which I tended my space, (doing enjoyable little snatches of five or ten minutes each day, rather than entire days every month or so), and began to enjoy my garden again.

It took a while for the garden to show these benefits, but in my head and my heart, the change was instant. Yes, it happened overnight. My garden was fulfilling its purpose once again, and I could relax and enjoy it.

I don’t expect many to read this post - it’s not giving you a recipe or practical steps, or telling you how to prune your roses, but to me it’s infinitely more important than anything else I’ve ever posted here, because after all, why do we garden? What’s it all for? Why do we bother spending time taming nature to our whims if not to create a space in which we can be joyful and calm?

So this new year, ask yourself whether your outside space is serving you as it should, and if not, then perhaps it’s time to find a way in which that can become possible…?

Happy 2019 to all of you my dear friends

xx Laetitia

Planting Hippeastrum (amaryllis)

Hey! I know it’s after Christmas and you are feeling all mince pie’d out and cobwebby but I have the answer! Go out as soon as you can and find some hippeastrum bulbs (they’ll be on sale…BONUS!). Get yourself a pot or two and some compost and try this… I promise you will NOT be disappointed.

My love for these bulbs will never wane. I adore them to the moon and back, mostly because they are so very massive and otherworldly and make me feel accomplished and smug and happy that I had a hand in growing something so amazing.

Here’s a little video showing you how to plant them….couldn’t be easier…do have a go!

Are you a hippeastrum aficionado? What’s your favourite one to grow, and what are your tips to get them flowering again the following year?

x Laetitia

My tiny front garden - planting phase 3

At last the tree is in!

This is the last of this series on my minuscule front garden..I totally PROMISE. There will be no more chatter about this space until it has filled out and throughly deserving of some more attention.

The final touch to the planting here, was the multi-stemmed crabapple tree, which I agonised over for far too long. I got several quotes for multi-stemmed specimen trees (not just crabapples) and each of them would have looked totally glorious, but I had to rein myself in, because I didn’t have the money for any of it.

Accordingly I went for a small crabapple from Ornamental Trees Ltd, which cost me a grand total of £71.93 (including delivery). I want to big up this company, because the tree arrived in perfect condition, in a huge card-board box.

The only plastic was the pot it was grown in (which I will re-use) and a black bin bag which was attached to the base of the tree in such a way that I could re-use that as well.

The variety is called ‘Red Sentinel’ - very well-known to be a ‘good doer’ and disease-resistant.

Being small-ish, it went in easily (another expense avoided) and as with all plants, a younger specimen will in the end, grow to be stronger and better in its environment. Worth the wait I think.

If you’re planning on transforming a space, and desperately want that ‘finished’ look immediately, know that you are not alone! Also know, though, that if they’re well looked after and planted properly, plants grow faster than you think, and you have the added benefit of watching this happen, which is always a joy.

Here then, for what they’re worth, are my tips for filling a new space on a budget:

1. Choose bare-root hedging (see this post) The cost is minuscule compared with shelling out for ‘the finished product’ and they grow faster than you think!

2. If you need to make an impact straight away, then large specimen trees really are worth the money, but if your budget can’t stretch to this don’t despair; you’ll certainly be able to find something sufficiently imposing in the form you want. Search the internet using your form keyword (eg. full standard, half standard, multi-stem etc) and be open to changing your mind on species and variety. Bear in mind also that these companies know their plants; the ones that do well and are popular are also usually the cheapest so don’t get hung up having something that ‘everybody else’ has…Everyone has one because it’s a great plant!

3. Give yourself time, and plant in stages. If you can, plant specimen trees and shrubs first, and then add your herbaceous perennials and bulbs etc. As you can see, I did my space entirely the wrong way round and very awkward it was too! Once larger plants are in, you may easily find that your other plant requirements change as you may have more and less space than you initially thought. So slow down already!

x Laetitia

Keeping containers cosy in the winter

Getting caught out (or short) is THE WORST; it leads to lots of swearing and self-flagellation, not to mention DEAD PLANTS and CRACKED POTS so be your future friend and get this kit ready now!

Group your pots together in a sheltered spot and, if you fear a prolonged cold snap, wrap them with old bubble wrap to prevent them getting frozen. I know, it’s such a boring thing – all the books tell you to do this but you never do it, until one day your expensive, large terracotta pot that you saved up for and adore, cracks. Gather up all your old bubble wrap and tie it around each large pot with string. If it looks too revolting for words, then you can cover the hideousness with sacking.

It’s also VERY much worth investing in some horticultural fleece, which you can wrap around precious plants during prolonged cold snaps. Get a few packs of it now, before the new year brings beasts from the East, and put them in a safe place. Then make a note of where you’ve put them and stick it on your fridge (or perhaps it’s just me needing to do that).

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Last minute wreathery

Wreath making can of course be outsourced to the professionals if you can’t contemplate it, but if you’re someone who feels that it is beyond you, I would urge you to think again. I use a rattan wreath form like this one which makes the whole thing unspeakably easy; you just poke the foliage in – no wire. If you have holly with berries then lucky you, and I would suggest cutting some as soon as possible and putting the branches in a bucket close to the house so that the birds don’t take the berries. Once you’ve foraged or bought your chosen foliage it’s simply a question of covering the wreath form and then adding any decorations. Again, with this sort of wreath form you can keep adding and subtracting without any wrangling with wires, and please please don’t worry about it looking profesh… in fact you can make a virtue of the whole thing being fabulously wonksome by being intentional and unapologetic about it. Leaving spaces is also a jolly good idea - check out the wonderful Jessica Rose Williams and her beautifully minimalist wreath. Why, just one sprig of something is better than a bare door at this time of year. Remember; it’s for YOU as well as everyone else.

I also love putting twinkly fairy lights on my wreath - these, from Lights for Fun are battery powered and lift the whole look at night time, giving it the ultimate cosy vibe.

Winter scented beauty

Scented winter wonders are not only great structural additions but also thoroughly better-making; if anything is going to get you outside, then it’ll be these.

First up is Sarcococca confusa (above)– glossy green, smart, clippable, dry-shade tolerant and smelling of sweet-shops. You will never regret having it. Next, Daphne odora ‘aureomarginata’ –

with absolutely stunning pale-margined green leaves and waxy pink flowers that smell like you’ve died and gone to heaven. You have to be nice to it, and give it a sheltered spot with well-drained but fertile soil, but if it likes you then glory will be yours. My tip is to get small plants (I’ve linked to a set of three above) so that you can plant in different parts of the garden and if one doesn’t like its spot, then you won’t lose out too much. Last but not least, is Viburnum tinus Don’t turn your nose up and tell me it’s only for a car park…this is a true beauty – loves being clipped and preened, into lolly pops (linked above, which I heartily recommend) and hedges and all manner of things, and has scented flowers from December onwards. And one more thing; if you don’t mind a bit of messy, then Lonicera x purpusii ‘Winter Beauty’, has the gorgeousest scent of all.

How to grow sempervivums

Easing oneself outdoors at this time of year requires something a bit special, and the jewel-like beauty of Sempervivums is where I always turn when everything needs cheering up a bit.

Sempervivum (or Houseleeks) are beautiful, endlessly fascinating and (most importantly) virtually indestructible. Curiousplants.co.uk sell a great collection of 20, or you can find them in small containers in most nurseries. The best option is to use a shallow container on a table for easy gawping, but equally shove them into cracks and crevices in walls, paths or steps that either exist due to benign neglect, or are created by you, who prefer plants to mortar. They don’t need a lot of soil. Use a very free-draining mixture of 70% multi-purpose compost and 30% horticultural grit (or you could buy a bag of cactus compost)…wetness is the enemy here. Either plant them an inch or two apart so as to leave room for the babies to establish, or put them shoulder to shoulder, and you can remove and re-plant off-sets as they appear. For cracks and crevices, push some compost into the hole and squish the plant in until it feels secure. You can be rather more brutal that you think; these are tough plants and a few squashed leaves won’t matter. Otherwise, it’s highly tempting to make patterns, although once a rosette has flowered it dies off, so you’d have to replace it in order to maintain perfect symmetry, which might rather take the pleasure out of gardening.

How to feed the birds but not the squirrels, mice or rats

As the weather becomes more hostile, now is the time to start feeding the birds.

You can begin with something as simple as a fat ball, (mix lard with bird seed) hung from a tree, or a bird seed feeder, filled with one of the many bird seed mixes available from most large supermarkets. Rodents though, are unbelievably agile and can climb almost anything in order to get to a good food source. Keeping raids to a minimum requires you to do a few things –annoying, but rather less so than the sight of a revolting rat stealing your bird food. Hygiene is a priority; keep the ground below the feeder clear of detritus. Next, site your feeder in the open, so that squirrels can’t jump from neighbouring trees. A pole system, such as the Garden Pole from Birdfood.co.uk, particularly if it is greased with Vaseline, and fitted with a ‘baffle’ (see the RSPB website) is harder to navigate than a typical bird table. Surround the food with a cage, such as the RSPB’s Bird Feeder Guardian, so that it can only be accessed by the little birds you want to see, rather than the big ones (and rodents) that you don’t. Lastly, vermin detest chilli, so put a generous amount of powder into your fat balls, or coat your bird seed with it by adding powder and shaking it about in the bag. It doesn’t bother the birds one bit.

Best gardening gloves

There are a host of reasons to wear gardening gloves

– mine have slowly but surely migrated from simple hand vanity to the rather less glamourous need to pander to small children at a moment’s notice. Either way, cold fingers can ruin any gardening experience, and for warmth there is no substitute for real leather. Gold Leaf’s Winter Touch leather gloves are really good for warmth. For protection, Sophie Conran’s gauntlets are favourites. They offer a very good compromise between sensation-less gardening and injury, especially because they protect right up to the elbows – I can quite happily grab a thorny stem and strip it wearing these. Next are fair-weather gloves, which will help you to do all the weeding, lifting, pruning and digging whilst offering a layer of protection. For this I love the neoprene biker-like Ultimax gloves by Town and Country – padded in all the right places but flexible too, whilst being easy to get on and off. They are my go-to all-round glove. Lastly, the new generation of super-light, super-thin gardening gloves such as those from Joe’s are a brilliant option for many gardening jobs. They are really just a tougher, knitted step-up from your marigolds (which, by the way, are a sound option too, if you happen to be glove-less). With all these gloves it’s worth scraping your fingernails over a bar of soap before putting them on, as none of them will make handwashing redundant.

How to grow your own Garlic

Success is crucial in gardening, where one has so little control over the elements and minibeasts that can scupper the best laid plans,

…and this is why I love growing garlic; it seems to work, growing and doing its thing without any coddling or worrying. You can even grow it in a container if you like (use a 50/50 mix of multi-purpose compost and John Innes no 2 with a few handfuls of grit. Just like other bulbs, it goes in the ground in Autumn or early winter, which is a welcome break from all the chopping, sweeping and raking at this time of year. You need some garlic – there are a million varieties to choose from (order from a specialist such as Really Garlicky or The Garlic Farm rather than just planting supermarket garlic for more varietal choice). Prepare an area that gets a good amount of sunshine, with well-drained soil. Break some good fat cloves off from the bulbs, making sure to retain the flat bit at the bottom of each one and push them, flat side down, into the soil about 2 inches deep and 6 inches apart, cover them up and water if necessary, then wait. You’ll see action in early spring, with tall flowers following. I start digging up bulbs when the leaves begin to go brown. Keep some for immediate use and hang the rest up somewhere cool so that the sap can travel down the stem and swell the bulbs over time. 

Leaf mould how-to

 When it comes to garden alchemy, leaf-mould is one of the easiest and simplest bits of magic.

It improves the texture of any soil, because it makes for happy worms. It also makes the best, most beautiful dark crumbly mulch, and (if you leave it 2-3 years) is a really good medium for seed-sowing. The challenge then, is creating enough of it, and fast enough to satisfy an impatient gardener like myself. The first thing is to get more leaves, as the pile rots down to about a quarter of its original mass. The internets are replete with info on ‘the best leaves’ but common sense will have you steering clear of evergreens and anything diseased, and chopping up anything thick or coarse with the mower. In fact, chopping all your leaves up (coarse or otherwise) as fine as possible will help, as will turning the pile every few weeks. It’s important to keep things moist, so add water if things sound or feel crispy. My bags are stacked on top of each-other and the bottom ones are ready first, so weighting the heap down creates faster leaf-mould. I would mulch the entire garden with this stuff if only I could make enough; if I had the space, I would replace my usual multiple plastic-bags-with-holes system with a large builders bag, or even better, two enormous compost bays, for once you’ve got a system going, it’s quantity rather than speed that you’ll be hankering after.

A tiny front garden, planting phase 2: THE HEDGE

The hedge arrived!

It was bare-root. Bare root hedges are dug up from the ground and transported to you literally ‘bare-root’ with no soil and therefore not pot or ‘root-ball’. This reduces the product’s weight, which means you pay MUCH less for it.

Bare root hedging is younger than ‘instant’ hedging, and as such beds down better, and acclimatises to its surroundings with greater aplomb.

Bare root babies ready in their trench

All in all, it’s a budget option that will give you a better finished product. All you need is a gigantic dollop of PATIENCE.

It was pretty tricky to put the hedge in without trampling all the other planting I had previously done. But I managed it eventually, and I even used a mycorrhizal fungi ‘dip’ for the roots before I bedded them in. Studies have shown this to be a ‘good thing’, and I love a study, so the mycorrhizal fungi thing basically had me at hello, but it’s not essential.

gloopy mycorrhizal fungi dip

What IS essential is totally tender loving care in the first few months and beyond. The ground was pretty wet when I planted, but I watered the following day, and I’m watering every three days until it gets really cold.

beginning of something beautiful

I can’t wait to see this hedge come to life, and for it to block out the cars in the road. Perhaps I’ll do a post every year to show its progress.

All this needs now is a multi-stemmed something to go in the middle. I’m still wavering on this but watch this space!

xx Laetitia