January in the Garden - Lilybud Gardens by Design: Brighton Garden Designer

Happy New Year to you all and here's to 2010 giving us a hot, sunny summer with acres and acres of blue skies - it sure feels like we deserve it, after 2 rubbish summers.

Until the lazy days of summer, there are a few things to get on with. For instance, how about a new garden project for this year? Something I've been interested in doing for several years now, but haven't had the opportunity to, is a green roof. Well, luckily for me, a new client has just given me the go-ahead to create one. It's not strictly a green roof - well, it's not really a roof at all, but let's not split hairs. Let's just say, it's a visually uninspiring large slab of old concrete in desperate need of something doing. At first my client wanted to get rid of it to create a larger lower patio but I think I may have depressed her a little bit with talk of skip-load after skip-load of rubble being carried through her house. Add to this, the expense of building the significant retaining walls that would be required. In this case, it's quite a large garden so they are not short of seating areas, so the option to beautify this ugly area at a fraction of the cost of all that "bash and smash" is an attractive one. As there's only very difficult access to the area (virtually abseiling down a steep bank), creating green roof type planting makes sense. If made and planted up properly with the right materials, they require a bare minimum of maintenance. As the adventure unfolds, I'll share any interesting bits with you, and maybe some of you will get inspired to add to the small but growing collection of green roofs in Fiveways.

Something worth doing now is checking shrubs and trees for dead, damaged or diseased branches and pruning them out. There's obviously a lot less foliage in the way at this time of year, so you can see more clearly what you're doing. If the plant in question is too big for you to deal with, then get a gardener in and get them to incorporate a general tidy up too. Lots of gardeners have little work at this time of the year so you shouldn't have trouble finding someone. Tasks that you know are a good idea, but somehow never get round to doing could be handed over - maybe think of it as a post-Christmas treat for yourself. Cleaning pots ready for spring and summer planting, cleaning, oiling and sharpening tools, clearing dead leaves from ponds, sorting the compost and even tidying out the shed are all jobs that you could ask a gardener to do. Redefining lawn edges is also well worth the effort. There are some great products on the market that are excellent at keeping your lawn area clearly defined. There are edges out there for all budgets, ranging from plastic to steel.

How about planting up some containers for winter interest? Whether you go for any of the wide range of winter bedding or fancy something a bit different, there are lots of great plants to brighten up your patio or windowsills at this time of year. If you have already planted up things like winter pansies and they're looking a bit tired, then give them a pretty serious hair-cut and within weeks they'll bounce back with lots of new flowers. While on the subject of pots and containers, don't forget to take saucers away so that they can drain properly - not many plants are happy sitting with their roots in water.

Best wishes

Lisa

For an initial consultation call Lisa on 01273 500407 or 07957 751218 or email her at info@lilybud.co.uk