December is the best month to ...

Gardener's Calendar

Don’t just see red when it comes to annual bedding salvia. There are many more interesting variations in colour as well as interesting bi-colours.
Herb seedlings are delicious as salad sprouts. The secret is to sow the seeds thickly and harvest by thinning out.
If you want delphiniums for your winter garden, sow seed in December. Keep the seed trays moist and in a cool, shady spot. Grow them on in bigger pots and keep them in a cool area of the garden.
If you are going away and there is no one to water them put the plants (in their pots) in the soil in a shady part of the garden. They will benefit from any rain and outdoor watering.
Be water wise by installing a timer on your tap if you don’t have an irrigation system. Then you can turn set the timer, turn on the tap and go off and forget about it. When the time is up, the tap switches off. The timer is available at most hardware stores.