Welcome to the English Garden newsletter and 2008 greetings!

The weather in Gloucestershire at the moment is very wet and windy - the garden is far too muddy to do anything in. So I am concentrating on hedging when there breaks in the rain!

We have a hazel hedge down one side of our plot and it has grown up too much so we are cutting out some of the growth and laying the rest. Hopefully in a year or two this will give us a hedge that is easy to maintain, looks good and will be a haven for wildlife.

January is a good time of the year to plan your summer garden. If you kept a garden diary have a look through it - what plants did really well for you and which ones didn't?

Are there spaces in your garden that you want to fill this year with shrubs, annuals or perennials? Did you manage to plant your spring flowering bulbs?

Have you read and made notes from any seed catalogues that you have? If you haven't got any - there is still time to send off for them. Ads in the back of gardening magazines usualy have a list of seed supplies.

Growing perennials as well as annuals from seed will save you a lot of money and the satisfaction of having raised your own plants.

Make sure that you read the plant descriptions carefully and look at the type of soil and situation they need - this will ensure you get plants that will thrive in your garden.

Work out whether you have plants that will give you colour and blossoms in each month of the year.

If you do not have much space for seed growing - take a look at the window sill propagators that are available and you can get small plastic ones that are ideal for small spaces or balconies.

If it is wet where you are then remember to make sure your outside pots have good drainage - stand them on feet or bricks to help the water drain through.

January is a good time to can plant bare rooted roses and shrubs now as long as the ground isn't frozen. It is also a good time to move any roses or shrubs that you feel are in the wrong place.

Best of all you can curl up indoors, out of the weather and immerse yourself in flower books and catalogues and marvellous plans for your summer garden - Enjoy!


Here's the latest article from the English Garden site at BellaOnline.com.

How to Plant Container Bought Perennials
How to plant container or pot bought perennials in an English Garden and get the best results.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art54816.asp

Please visit englishgarden.bellaonline.com for even more great content about English Garden.

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about English Garden located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=283

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback!

Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!

Hellie T., English Garden Editor
http://englishgarden.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com