Plant rhubarb crowns
Winter is the perfect time to plant rhubarb, making it one of the most rewarding winter garden tasks for productive harvests in the years ahead. June is when garden centres stock fresh crowns ready to go. Choose a sunny spot with excellent drainage because rhubarb hates wet feet. Before planting, add plenty of compost to enrich the soil. Position the crown so the buds sit slightly above the soil level, then water in well. Finish with a layer of sugar cane mulch to help retain moisture and suppress weeds. Be patient during the first season. The more time you give rhubarb to establish, the more productive it will become for years to come.
Transplant roses from the wrong spot
If you’ve got a rose that’s never quite been in the right place, winter is the time to move it. This is one of those winter garden tasks that can make a big difference to a plant’s long-term health and performance. Roses are dormant now, making them far more tolerant of root disturbance and pruning. Start by preparing the new planting hole ahead of time. Improve the soil with compost and mound slightly if drainage is poor.
Prune the top growth back by about half, then carefully dig up the plant, taking as much rootball as possible. Trim any damaged roots with clean secateurs. Wrap the rootball in hessian to help hold the soil together and protect the roots during the move. Replant at the same depth as before, firm the soil gently, water thoroughly and mulch generously with sugar cane mulch. Keep the soil just moist through winter, then gradually increase watering in spring as fresh growth appears and the plant settles in.
Head over here to find out how you can manage black spot on your roses.
Take hardwood cuttings in winter
Taking hardwood cuttings is one of the easiest winter garden tasks for gardeners looking to grow new plants for free and one of the most rewarding jobs you can tackle this month. Winter is the ideal time to propagate deciduous plants like hydrangeas, lilac, wisteria, figs, mulberries and grapes, and hardwood cuttings are wonderfully simple. Choose healthy stems from this year’s growth, about the thickness of a pencil. Cut lengths around 20–25cm long, making a straight cut just below a node at the base and an angled cut just above a node at the top. The angled cut helps you remember which end goes up.
Dip the base into rooting hormone powder, then insert the cuttings into pots filled with propagating mix, burying one or two nodes. Place them in a sheltered position out of direct sun and keep the mix only slightly moist because overly wet conditions can cause rotting. Hardwood cuttings are slow, so patience is part of the process. When spring arrives and new buds and leaves begin to appear, roots will usually have formed below.
