Hello gardeners,

As you cuddle up on the sofa and begin to imagine the year ahead, spare a thought for your garden. This is my favourite time of year for planning, scheming, and dreaming up visions of what could be. Winter offers the gift of possibility: a blank canvas where ideas can quietly take root long before the soil warms.

A Season for Imagination

Perhaps you’re imagining arches clothed in cucurbits or squash, sweet peas scrambling skywards, or a rose garden threaded with new wisteria, its racemes dripping in spring. Maybe it’s a small copse of trees underplanted with bulbs, or a bold, dynamic border in shades of yellow, where glaucous foliage sets off buttercream blooms. Or perhaps you’re longing for a shady nook, complete with a reading seat nestled into wildflower turf.

All of these spaces can be created with a little labour, a lot of love, and some carefully chosen plants.

Creating a Sense of Eden

Over the coming year, we’ll be exploring how to bring this sense of magic into the garden: how to shape spaces that make you feel you’ve created a small slice of Eden within your own square patch of earth. Gardens don’t need to be grand to be joyful; they just need intention, patience, and care.

This Month’s Garden Task: Wish-Making

For this month, take time to consider what you truly wish for. What planting would fill you to the brim with happiness? Once you’ve identified that desire, think about how you might begin—whether by sowing seed, propagating plants, or planning new purchases.

Sweet peas and broad beans can be sown now, onions and garlic should be safely in the ground, and plans can be made for the months ahead.

In My Own Garden

I’m currently mapping out my soft fruit garden, as my vegetable patch is still in its infancy. I’ll be preparing well-weeded, slightly raised beds for cane fruits, ensuring these shallow-rooted plants are well watered, mulched, and cared for long-term.

So, what is your garden’s wish for the year ahead?