February – signs of life

After the glacial pace of January, February has positively whizzed by here at Gasper Cottage. It's been mainly spent cutting back the few remaining perennials from last year, and getting that all-important mulch down on the beds and borders. As ever, it was the same few old faithfuls still standing – things like sedum, calamagrostis, origanum, and nepeta which had all steadfastly clung onto their old stems and seedheads through wind, rain, and snow. It can feel a shame to chop these down after they've endured winter so admirably, but thoughts of the gardening year ahead prevail and so out the secateurs came.

Standing firm. The garden would be a much less interesting place during the winter months were it not for these few stalwart perennials. Their dried stems, leaves, and seedheads provide a home for overwintering insects too.

Cut back and mulched, with an early morning dusting of frost. This is the barest and neatest the garden will look all year.

Given the mulching takes over a month to complete, it is necessary to prioritise certain areas over others. Those with lots of spring bulbs or early shooting plants are first in line, and are ideally covered before they show any signs of life (left too late, the care needed to avoid damaging fresh, tender growth makes the task far more laborious). After five years in the role, Head Gardener Jack has the sequence down to a fine art; knowing where to mulch first, where to leave until last, and the best order for everywhere between.

The mulch went down on this small section of the New Ambition garden just in the nick of time; a matter of days before the tulips poked through. The rest of the area is lower priority and will be tackled further down the line.

This year we're using mushroom compost, a nutrient-rich waste product of the mushroom growing industry.

Once the beds and borders have been tucked in under their blanket of mulch, the sight of green shoots nosing their way out of the earth becomes cause for celebration, rather than an accusatory ticking clock. With the most pressing areas covered, we allowed ourself a moments pause earlier this week to enjoy those few plants determined to shine before others have even begun to stir. In some ways these small bursts of life can be more moving than a garden in its full summer pomp. Nothing stops you in your tracks quite like the brilliant white of the first snowdrop, or astonishes more than the spidery, season-defying blooms of witch hazel. When designing the planting, Bella has been careful to scatter a variety of early-interest options throughout the garden, always in a spot where they can be best admired; whether near a path or doorway, along the driveway, or catching the low, winter light.

Snowdrops nestled at the feet of birch trees is one of the first things seen as you turn onto the driveway.

'What are you all waiting for?!' Daylilies aren't ones to hang around at this time of year.

If ever there was a demure plant, it's the hellebore. As if not wanting to overstep the mark, its large, showy flowers face shyly downwards and are in subtle, muted colours.

The fragility of witch hazel flowers always seems at odds with the harshness of the winter weather. This one is Hamamellis x intermedia 'Pallida', it's pale, lemony flowers more understated than those of bright yellow varieties.

Cornus mas (cornelian cherry) lit up like a Christmas tree in the Forest Garden. The flowers are noticeably popular with early-flying pollinators.

Elegant catkins clothe the naked branches of this Kentish cobnut.

As the garden wakes up from its long slumber we feel ourselves gear up for that reassuringly inevitable rush of energy to come. This year we have the added excitement of a whole new section of garden, now landscaped and ready for planting. We'll bring you more on this next month. Until then, wishing you blue skies and sunshine!