The greenhouse effect

THERE is often a lull in gardening during December. The days are short and spare time seems to be taken up with Christmas shopping and organising the approaching festivities. So it is a treat to get outside for a short while and potter about the beds, snipping and tidying, or giving the lawn, still growing, yet another final trim.

Eighteen months or so ago we bought a secondhand greenhouse from a work colleague. It came with his new house but wasn’t needed and we became owners of our first greenhouse.

To be honest, after putting it up, taking it down and putting it up again, I’m not sure if I would recommend getting a used greenhouse.

Initially it seemed simple: I made a base, we erected the frame and put in the glass (with only one injury to my dad’s poor head as he misjudged the height of the roof when walking under it). Then we came to fit in the door and realised there was no room for it to slide under the frame. The whole thing needed to be elevated on a course of bricks.

So down it came and we started again wondering if it would have been easier to get a new one that came with its own fitter.

Oh how we can laugh now it is up, a little wonky, a little leaky, but our own quirky greenhouse.

There is a path running down the centre with a bed on one side for tomatoes next year and staging made to measure by dad. He assembled it using the staging that came with the greenhouse, with added extras from his workshop.

The original staging was a mystery to all. Every visitor to our house was taken to the greenhouse to see if they could work out how to put it up, but to no avail.

This is a roundabout way to say that although the weather is chilly, greenhouses still need ventilation during the day. Moist, still air can cause fungal problems and even a little winter sun will warm up the greenhouse very quickly, creating the perfect environment for it to multiply and pass among the plants.

So open vents or windows a little or keep the door ajar whenever possible, to allow air to circulate and close them in the mid-afternoon before temperatures begin their descent into evening.

• Weekend catch-up

THERE are still plenty of things to be getting on with in a December garden, should time allow.

Ponds need to be cleared of leaves and other debris that fall into the water during the winter. It is a cold job so is best done little and often: it’s surprising how much can be skimmed from the pond’s surface in a few minutes. Pond plants can be trimmed back at the same time so that the dying stems don’t fall into the pond and rot.

Terracotta pots left outside for the winter should be taken into a frost-free garage or shed to keep them from cracking or flaking. This is caused when a wet container freezes and the water expands as it turns to ice. The surface of the container then flakes and may eventually disintegrate.

If there is nowhere indoors to store a container or if it is filled with plants it can be wrapped in a few layers of bubble wrap and placed in the warmest most sheltered part of the garden, preferably against a south facing wall.

• Gardening talk with Lizzie

ASKHAM Bryan College (ABC) Gardening Club holds its Christmas social on Tuesday night at Askham Bryan College, YO23 3FR. The speaker is York-based garden designer Lizzie Tulip, whose commissions range from small urban backyards to large rural gardens in the private and public sector.

Lizzie also lectures and writes about gardens design, as well as being a regular contributor to local radio.

The evening will include mince pies, wine and a raffle and begins at 7.30pm in the conference hall at the college. There is plenty of nearby free parking and visitors are welcome to come along. Tickets are free for ABC Gardening Club members, £5 on the door for visitors. For further information please contact David Whiteman, publicity officer, 01904 707208.

Gardening TV and radio

Tomorrow

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

8am, BBC2, Life In A Cottage Garden with Carol Klein. A look at lilies, geraniums and colourful borders.

9am, BBC Radio York, Julia Lewis.

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

2pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Chairman Eric Robson and his team of gardening experts are in Lincolnshire where they advise gardeners from Skegness. With Chris Beardshaw, Pippa Greenwood and Bunny Guinness. (Repeated from Friday).

Monday to Friday

7pm, BBC2, Great British Garden Revival.

Monty Don is on mission to save our wild flowers, as 98 per cent of our wild flower meadows have disappeared over the past 100 years. In this ten-part series he looks at ways to encourage these plants back into our lives, as well as encouraging us to simply plant anything from almost extinct fruit varieties to ornamental bedding displays. Presenters Joe Swift, Alys Fowler, Rachel de Thame, James Wong, Tom Hart Dyke, Toby Buckland, Christine Walkden, Chris Beardshaw and Carol Klein appear in the series.

Friday

3pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Bunny Guinness, Anne Swithinbank, Christine Walkden and chairman Eric Robson are at the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place in West Sussex.