Time for bed

It's the 8th of November and so far this Winter we've been really lucky with the warm weather. Listening to the forecast this morning (as all good gardeners should) I hear there's a frost or two on the way. So, it's finally going to become a proper Winter where I have to get ready for work ten minutes earlier to allow time for scraping ice from car windows and wear extra pairs of socks to keep my footsies warm and toasty.

Looking out at the garden, I figured it would be a good day to put it to bed. My garden is fairly sheltered and so it doesn't require much work to tidy it up and protect plants from cold spells. I have a banana that's been growing happily in a pot for the past five years. To date, I have never needed to protect it any more than pulling it close to the house in the hope that the warmth from the walls will keep it alive. However this Spring it took an age for it to get going again and so I'm thinking I may have to wrap a bit of fleece around it this year for added comfort.

My biggest 'tender plant' is the Gunnera although even this requires little protection in my garden. All I do with it is cut off the abnormally oversized leaves, cut them into smaller, more manageable pieces and layer them over the top of the crown. This gives it the necessary protection and in the Spring I simply put the dead leaves in with the recycling for collection. I would compost them (before you comment) but my garden's so tiny, there isn't room for a composter unfortunately.

The only other job I've done today, in preparation for the frost is to rip out my much impressive Nasturtium. Although it is (correction: was) growing strong, it wouldn't have survived the frost and the thought of having to tidy up a mushy, black pile of rotted stems and flowers didn't really fill me with delight. On the plus side, the shrubs that were being smothered by the jungle of Nasturtium leaves can now see the light of day and may even start to grow a bit faster.

Either way, the garden is clear of fallen leaves, the tender plants are wrapped up and I'm ready for Spring. How long have I got to wait?!