Gardening in December is all about preparing for winter and planning for the coming year. While the plants are going to rest, there are still some tasks to do to keep the garden in good condition and prepare for the upcoming gardening season. From harvesting the last of the winter vegetables to tending to garden tools, December is an opportunity to leave the garden tidy and ready for the cold season.
What are the most important gardening tasks in December?
Sow microgreens on the windowsill or harvest the last winter vegetables. When the weather is mild, flower bulbs and ornamental shrubs can still be planted. Fruit trees can be propagated and chicory can be grown. It's also time to prune fruit and deciduous trees. It is important to maintain equipment and control supplies. Plants should be protected from pests and wildlife.
Summary
- Sowing: There is no more sowing outside in December, only microgreens on the windowsill
- Harvests: last winter vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, kale, lamb's lettuce, sugar loaf and chicory lettuce, leek
- Plants: in mild weather, last flower bulbs or ornamental shrubs until the beginning of December
- Propagate: first sprouts from fruit trees, chicory
- Cutting: Fruit trees and other deciduous trees
- Other gardening tasks: Tidying up, cleaning and maintaining garden tools, checking supplies, cutting Barbara branches, protecting plants from pests and wild animals
Sowing in December
- Sowing outdoors: no sowing in December
- Sowing in the greenhouse: no sowing in December
- Sowing in the windowsill: Microgreens, e.g. B. home-grown fresh cress, chervil or sprouts; Sow cress and chervil on a warm windowsill, directly behind the glass. Both herbs grow very quickly if you keep the seeds evenly moist. If you dug up a ball of chives in November, you can pot it up after the first frost and place it on a windowsill in the house. Choose a place that is not too warm; the chive pot should not be placed directly above a heater. Fresh, spicy green soon appears.
Harvests in December
The beds now only contain robust winter vegetables, which should be checked during regular inspections. The kale is now waiting for a good frost, as the hearty leafy vegetables only taste really good afterwards. Brussels sprouts can also tolerate a bit of cold. Only if there is a threat of very severe frost should you remove the perennials and their roots from the ground and then plant them again in the cold frame or under a polytunnel. Alternatively, a protective new place in the cold greenhouse or on a heat-emitting house wall is also conceivable. An additional cover with spruce or fir branches also protects against both frost and snow.
Before severe cold sets in, leeks and sugarloaf lettuce must also be brought to safety. These vegetables should either be harvested and stored in the storage cellar or shipped in a well-protected enclosure as described above. Cover lamb's lettuce and the frost-hardy red chicory lettuce with spruce or fir branches; these will keep out the worst frost and snow. Then harvesting in snowy weather is also possible. The same applies to wintergreen herbs such as parsley, winter purslane and spoonwort.
Plants that bloom in December
Delicate flowers in the middle of December are always one of the wonders of the winter time. These are particularly attractive when they glow in the white snow or morning hoarfrost. The white stars of the Christmas roses (Helleborus niger), also known as spring or snow roses, often appear at Christmas time. The frost-hardy snow heather (Erica carnea), in turn, forms winter-flowering carpets in white and pink. In mild December weather, sometimes even the yellow flower clusters of the witch hazel (witch hazel) break open.
Planting and propagating in December
- Ornamental trees and forgotten flower bulbs: Sometimes the weather is so mild at the beginning of December that you can even plant an ornamental shrub or a rose bush. You can also put forgotten spring flowering bulbs in the ground. They are definitely better off there than in a plastic bag.
- Promoting chicory: Now you can also start driving the chicory roots that were dug up in autumn. This works as follows: Fill a bucket with moist sand and insert the chicory roots vertically deep into it. You can cut off any wilted, remaining leaves, but the “heart” of the plant must remain standing. Otherwise it will no longer sprout. The planted bucket should be kept dark at temperatures between ten and a maximum of 18 degrees Celsius.
- Cutting scions: When pruning fruit trees, you can now cut and collect promising scions for propagation. These keep in the cellar, wrapped in moist sand, until spring - when they can finally be used for grafting.
Cutting in December
- Tree pruning: In cold but not too frosty weather, pruning of fruit and other deciduous trees begins.
- Cutting Barbara branches: Traditionally on December 4th, the feast day of the Catholic Saint Barbara, you can cut fruit tree branches and place them in a vase with fresh water. Cherry tree or forsythia branches are particularly suitable. In the warm room, the buds will soon begin to swell, so you can look forward to yellow and white spring blossoms just in time for Christmas. Change the vase water every two days, using lukewarm tap water.
Plant diseases and pests in December
Voles, hares, deer, mice and rats do not hibernate, which is why you should check regularly for possible infestations, even in December.
- Voles: In particular, check tree discs regularly for vole holes. You can drive away the animals with sour buttermilk that you pour into the corridors. You should also pull the mulch blankets apart a little so that the animals don't feel too warm and comfortable underneath.
- Hares and deer: Place wire pants around the trunks of young trees to prevent hungry rabbits and deer from eating the bark. Instead, you can offer the animals some hay and carrots in a corner of the garden.
- Mice: Make sure that no mice nest, especially in the storage cellar.
- Fruit tree pests: Check and replace glue rings around fruit tree trunks if necessary. These are intended to make it impossible for pests such as the small frost moth to overwinter.
More gardening work in December
- Tidying up and cleaning: So that your garden tools can still be used next season, they now need thorough cleaning and care. Thoroughly clean the spade, sow tooth, digging fork etc. of all dirt and adhering soil. Then rub all metal parts with oil to prevent them from rusting. Fertilizer residues and pesticides must be stored in a frost-free place over the winter. You should also sort out any leftover seed bags so that you don't lose track next spring.
- Check supplies: All vegetables and fruits stored in the storage cellar must be checked once a week. It is important to remove any wilted or rotting leaves to prevent further rot. Damaged vegetables or fruit should be processed as soon as possible. Plants and vegetables embedded in sand should also be checked for moisture: the substrate must not dry out, because then carrots and celery will also shrink. But water sparingly and carefully, as too much moisture leads to rot. When the weather is frost-free, you can open a window and let some fresh air into the pantry.
- Winter protection for cold frames and polytunnels: Insulate (planted) cold frames and polytunnels with mats or bubble wrap. A thick layer of leaves piled up around the cold frame or polytunnel also has a warming effect.
- Winter protection for planters: If you haven't already done so, you should now wrap hardy potted plants - such as herbs or fruit trees - in bubble wrap, place them on a thick wooden base and against a warm house wall push. Also make sure that the area is well protected from rain and wind; plants in hibernation are very sensitive to moisture.
- Food for birds: Also think about wintering birds. Nesting boxes should be cleaned and feeding places set up by December at the latest.
FAQ
What gardening work gets done in December?
Cleaning up and checking is the order of the day in December. Now is the right time to tidy up the garden shed, dispose of old seed bags, fertilizers and pesticides, thoroughly clean tools and garden equipment and check supplies regularly. The latter is important in order to sort out rotten vegetables and fruit in a timely manner. This will prevent other fruits from becoming infected. You can also plant chicory now and harvest the last of the winter vegetables.
What is sown in December?
In December the sowing time is finally over. Only fast-growing herbs such as cress and chervil as well as so-called microplants - i.e. home-grown sprouts - can be grown on the warm windowsill. The chive ball that was dug up in November can now be potted up and continued to be cultivated on the windowsill.
What to plant in December?
If the weather is mild and the ground is frost-free, ornamental trees can still be planted at the beginning of December and forgotten flower bulbs can be brought into the ground. Otherwise nothing will be planted at the end of the gardening year.
What will be cut back in December?
Tree pruning begins in December when the weather is cold but not too frosty. Now you can fruit trees and other deciduous trees - with some exceptions! – cut during winter dormancy. Perennials can also be cut back in frost-free weather. On December 4th, St. Barbara's Day, branches of cherry trees and forsythia are traditionally cut so that they bloom in the vase until Christmas.
Which plants can be propagated in December?
Plants cannot be propagated in December. You can only select promising scions when pruning fruit trees. Store these in damp sand in the cellar until spring.
