Be at one with nature as you plan your 2024 garden

AT the start of a new year, it is time to contemplate the past year in the garden, and make plans for the new year ahead.

It is the time of year to consider changes that we could like to make, to plan for new hobbies or interests we would like to pursue.

This year, one of the main aspects I would like to enjoy more is observing the garden and nature, and taking more notice of what is going on around me in the garden.

Working out in the garden can sometimes, for me, be about making lists, ticking things off the list, meeting deadlines, and achieving certain tasks by particular deadlines, and this can create some pressure.

This year, I am looking forward to watching what works in the garden, the interaction between plants and birds, insects and the wider environment. Stopping to smell the roses, if you like!

Indeed, there are of course jobs that need to be done to keep the garden looking good and productive all through the year.

I also believe that it is just as, if not more important to drink in all that is around us in the little oasis that we create in our gardens, whether they are large or small in size. To ire all of the little interactions that we are partly responsible for happening, as we create habitat for nature to occupy in some small way.

Once January comes, the garden feels different somehow, there are still a few weeks of winter to go but it is like we have turned a corner. Then, of course, once we see a noticeable ‘stretch in the evening’, we begin looking forward in earnest to the arrival of spring, watching every day for signs of life in the garden.

Plants truly are amazing though, particularly the winter flowering ones that produce blossoms during the most inclement weather and cheer us along through the winter months.

Walking through the garden, ittedly it has been unseasonably mild for the last few weeks, and this has resulted in a lot of plants getting ahead of themselves.

Some early flowering snowdrops are appearing already, and the foliage of daffodil bulbs are beginning to appear above the surface of the soil.

The 12th ‘Annual Snowdrop Gala and other Spring Treasures’ is happening early next year, at the end of January - the 27th - at Ballykealy Manor in Carlow and Altamont Gardens. [email protected] for further details.

There are a number of snowdrop events happening in different locations throughout the country throughout the months of February.

These little flowers really do herald the arrival of springtime, even if it is still a little winterish when they begin to appear. They offer us the hope of what is ahead!

The Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland (RHSI) run Bellefield House, near Birr in County Offaly, and are hosting a snowdrop weekend on February 8-11, check out www.rhsi-bellefield for more details.

Jimi Blake has a number of snowdrop guided tours at his garden at Huntingbrook in Co .Wicklow, on February, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23 and 24.

Tours with Jimi will cost €15 per person, and to book a place, go to www.huntingbrookgardens.com/shop.

There are plenty of snowdrop events to consider this January and February. Other gardens worth a visit during the winter months include Fota Arboretum and Gardens, near Cobh, Blarney Castle and Gardens, Blarney, and Mount Congreve Gardens in Co. Waterford. These are all open over the Christmas period and display a great range of plants looking good right now.

It is a great way to begin the gardening year and to get out into the gardens to ire the less showy flowers of the winter months.

It’s interesting that winter flowering plants are less showy, the flowers are generally smaller in an effort to minimise damage from the wind and the rain and other regrettable elements that winter brings with it.

Every year, the Daphne ‘Jacqueline Postil’ never fails to disappoint at Christmas time, smothered in strongly perfumed pink/white flowers that will continue to flower right throughout the springtime.

Scent is an important feature in the garden during winter and positioning a scented plant so that the benefits are enjoyed is something to be considered. Close to the patio, a pathway, at the entrance to the house or en route to the fuel store or garden shed, all make sense as we do not tend to spend a huge amount of time outdoors if the weather is inclement - however, we still need to come and go from the house.

Strategically planting scented plants along a route frequently travelled will result in heavenly winter scents encountered frequently!

There is a beauty in the bareness of the garden in winter, as it reveals the bones of the space when leaves are stripped bare from the branches of deciduous trees.

Tree bark takes on a new importance and we gravitate towards the peeling bark of Acer griseum and the glossy dark brown bark of Prunus serrula.

Some gardeners like to wash the already white tree trunks of Betula utilis ‘Jaquemontii’, but I prefer to let some algae and moss develop.

The ordinary Betula pendula and pubescens are not to be sniffed at either during the winter months with their grey/white bark colour.

We look for the details in the winter and this brings a different perspective to the garden during these months. Every season has its own unique beauty.

Happy New Year, let us hope that it will be an enjoyable, healthy, reflective and productive one for us all!