My snowbird friend has gone to warmer climes for the winter after doing her usual razing her perennials to the ground. Well, she won’t be looking at it will she? My garden is quite exposed and if I took all the top growth off my dying-down perennials I would lose around 1 out of 5 plants. Besides that, the skeletons of the Agapanthus and Allium will look brilliant-especially when highlighted by frost. Also perennials such as the woody-stemmed lavender, my purple sage and Artemesia (the variegated wormwood) would be killed if I pruned their stems too hard. Time enough in spring. So what about the fabled garden clear up for winter. There are only really x areas.

1)      Partially pruning the roses when the current flowers realise the growing season is over after a frost or two. Cut out wayward runners from rose hedge and make tidy.

2)      Remove soggy dead tops of peonies and hemerocallis that just rot on the ground and do the plant no good.

3)      Cut down my autumn fruiting raspberry canes down to the ground when the current fruits are finally over (the last picking was November last year). The new canes will grow from the bottom each spring and fruit on the new canes each year.

4)      Cover the vegetable beds with weed control fabric. Not only does it keep the beds weed free but also helps the soil warm up quicker in spring. Take them off before planting to let the birds munch any pests and such.

5)      Sweep the paths and weed them.

One of the nice things about a garden in the north is that you and the garden get a nice long rest until spring.