The cheering presence of snowdrops

OUR garden is dotted with snowdrops now we have reached the end of February. The first shoots appeared in the New Year and every now and again I have popped out to check on their progress.

These tough little bulbs have weathered frost and ice, emerging unscathed as the soil has thawed and frozen on numerous occasions over the past couple of months.

When snowdrops first appear, they are so tiny with the smallest sharpest green points popping up through the earth. At the base of these a pinprick of white can be spotted which will eventually develop into the anticipated flower.

As the leaves increase in size, a flower stalk grows through, the whiteness at the end beginning the form into a teardrop-shaped bud that dangles above the foliage. More and more clumps appear, patches of light under shrubs and trees and awakening perennials.

The snowdrops in our garden are well established, planted by a previous owner. I was glad to see them the first winter we came here.

I had been remembering the ones I had planted in our previous front garden that had just begun to increase and attract the attentions of passers-by. Now into our third February here I can relax, knowing it won’t be long before they appear again.

It can take a number of years for snowdrops to become established, but they will do so if left alone to bloom and seed. As time passes the clumps increase in size and odd single flowers begin to pop up some way from the original group.

If they have found a good spot in which to grow, it is best to leave them be as they will probably do well.

Sometimes a stray plant can be found in a less than ideal spot, a path perhaps where the new shoots will get stood on or in gravel which won’t provide deep enough soil for the bulb to mature. Then they are best moved, even though snowdrops hate disturbance.

Just lift with plenty of soil around the roots and replant straight away into the moist soil and light shade these plants love.

It is usually recommended that snowdrops are planted ‘in the green’ which means they are bought while growing rather than as dry bulbs. This makes February a good month to increase the stock or to start planting a new garden.

Pots of snowdrops in flower can be found in nurseries and garden centres, market stalls and high-street shops. It is good to get them in flower so the blooms can be enjoyed this year, but look out for bargains too when the flowers have finished. These can be planted now too, keep the leaves intact as they will feed the bulbs which are carrying next year’s flowers.

Weekend catch-up

OVERGROWN shrubs form a boundary between our garden and next door. Last weekend, my neighbour and I began to tackle this area.

We had been talking about this for a while, but realised the job needed to be done now because the birds would soon be nesting. Garden boundaries can be tricky and this one is our responsibility, should fencing be required.

The remnants of the old markers can still found, simple concrete posts driven into the ground at regular intervals and threaded with wire.

These have been supplemented in parts with picket fencing that has been gradually pushed aside by the girth of shrubs as they have grown into trees to straddle either side of the invisible line. One such tree is a Portuguese laurel which, like many shrubs along the boundary, had grown far too tall and cast too much shadow.

We took turns to go up the ladder and saw, or to cling on to keep it steady while directing operations.

A couple of hours later the tree was a large shrub. The multiple trunks had been reduced to six feet or so and the forward facing side shoots trimmed back.

Many of the lower branches had already been encouraged to grow horizontally to form a low hedge, so it won’t be long before this quick-growing shrub becomes a dense, more manageable boundary hedge.

One down, several more to go.

Gardening TV and Radio

Tomorrow
8am, BBC Radio Humberside, The Great Outdoors. With Blair Jacobs and Doug Stewart.

9am, BBC Radio York, Mark Forrest. With gardening advice from Martin Fish, Nigel Harrison and Lizzie Tulip.

9am, BBC Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther and Joe Maiden.

2pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Chairman Peter Gibbs is joined by panellists Chris Beardshaw, Pippa Breenwood and Bunny Guinness who advise gardeners from Milton Keynes.

Monday
8.30pm, C4, Wild Things. Chris Myers, Sally Eaton and Trevor Dines are in Merseyside where they find out how the invasive New Zealand pygmy-weed has adapted to growing in the dark.

Friday
3pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Matthew Biggs, Bob Flowerdew, Christine Walkden and chairman Eric Robson answer questions from the audience in Crickhowell, south Wales.