Get busy this bank holiday

Ruth runs through an impressive list of long-weekend tasks

- Ruth Hayes

IT’S hard to believe we’re getting ready for the last bank holiday before the Christmas break. It has been a strange year and for many people, having a garden or growing plants indoors and on balconies and terraces, has been essential for mental and physical wellbeing during the coronavirus lockdown.

Having the time to sow and grow has been a small consolation in this very strange year we’ve experienced, and now we have a three-day weekend to look forward to.

So what better way to spend it than back outside catching up on jobs that will make the place look tidier, keep your plants healthier and lay the foundations for the garden’s winter dormancy.

And although summer is on its way out, it won’t go without a fight so remember to keep deadheading, feeding and watering your annuals, patio containers and baskets to encourage the plants to keep performing for as long as possible.

My main tasks this weekend will be having a thorough tour of our borders, deadheading, cutting back and weeding to keep everything looking spruce.

Most of the green rubbish will go straight onto the compost, the exception being any ripe weed seedheads and any plant material that looks diseased. I know it’s tempting to think ‘what t eck’ and bung it all on y ur compost heap, but perennial seeds will happily sit out winter in there and then spring back to life once the compost is spread on borders.

The same applies to fungal sp res, so diseased material should be burned or binned. Don’t forget to keep harvesting ripened veggies and fruits, and prepare to freeze, pickle, or give away if you have a glut.

Your neighbors will be more than grateful and you may even get some other goodies back in return.