December; a season of gifts

"Mummy, Mummy - that's the man who lives in our tree house!"

I felt I had finally made it into the local children's folklore. It made my morning and bought a long chuckle to my client too as her daughter pointed to me in awe. I momentarily considered becoming an unlikely extra in "The Hobbit".

Sometimes we seem to get "gifts" from the most unexpected sources. At a time of year when we are about to pour millions into the economy by buying presents that we often don't need, it is worth keeping our antennae up.

My allotment is looking pretty desolate - but the colours of the crab apples are stunning; even in the gloom they seem to glow. There is a mysterious purple to the shrubs in the evening. The cotoneasters and pyracanthas come into their own and the hollies are usually alive either with birds or berries. All beautiful and inspiring.

Winter scent can be bought into the house with cuttings of Mahonia, Witchhazel, Viburnum fragrans and a number of others; put them together and you will have the most dramatic arrangement on your kitchen table.

Even the much maligned Privet hedge can be raided for it's bright leaves; mix them with some dark evergreens from your boring laurel hedge along with bright stems of dogwoods you find out on a walk later this month and you will have the framework for an arrangement. I am no expert but there are a thousand ways you can go on from there using silver spray and ribbons.

December top-tips;

• If you are planting a tree or shrub in a particularly wet patch then plant in a mound slightly above the soil level. This will prevent the roots becoming water-logged
• On that note - you may have areas that become a muddy mire in winter. Don't go to the gym; get out there with a fork and jump on it at 150mm intervals to improve the drainage. (Then have that glass of wine).
• That climbing rose you were given last century can be renovated in stages; cut out a third of the stems now and then the same in the following years and it will show new vigour.
• As the frosts begin to come in wrap up the more tender plants that will take a knocking. Some plants ( such as the climber Passiflora and some Clemetis) will die back a bit but pruning them in spring is fine and no real harm will be done. It is the more tender species such as Abutilons and Yuccas from hotter climates that can suffer permanent damage so hessian, fabric or fleece will all help.
• Remember; it is the damp not the cold that will kill off perennials in the winter months so aerating the soil as well as the lawn may be necessary. The long-term strategy for this is to add organic matter and even grit to damp borders or better still - plant species that love their feet in moisture.

My experience is that it all gets a bit mad at this time of year. The real gifts for me are things that come in an unexpected way. Are my ears, eyes and hands open?

Am I really ready for gifts this Christmas?