I have about 15 pots that I fill with bulbs and summer bedding every year. It’s amazing the colour and impact €30 worth of petunia plugs and geraniums can produce. I generally plant the daffodil and tulip bulbs in autumn when the bedding plants are past their best. At that stage, the compost in the pots is just a bed of roots so I clear it away and plant the old and new bulbs in a fresh mix of soil and compost. I do the same thing again in early June when I plant out the summer bedding.

Pearls of the garden

If you are lucky enough to have a few clumps of snowdrops or know where to get them, this is the perfect time to add to their number. You can buy “dry” snowdrop bulbs in the autumn, but for my part I’ve always divided and transplanted them in the “green”. Planting in the green means you are planting them when the blossoms have gone over but the leaves are still green. You have a window of about six weeks to do this job. I’m no expert at dividing snowdrops but I’ve found doing it this way is reliable and always produces good results. Plus, you are doing the snowdrops a lot of good by giving them more space.

Dividing snowdrops

1 Select a strong clump that has produced a fine crop of snowdrops and with a good depth of your spade, lift it out of the ground.

You will be amazed at the number of bulbs that are crowded into even a single clump. If you noticed a clump that flowered poorly or in the blind, meaning it produced no flowers at all, it’s a good idea to divide this clump as the poor show could be because the bulbs are overcrowded.

2 Now if time isn’t on your side, you can pull apart the clump to leave you with three or four smaller clumps and re-plant them. However, I prefer to tease each bulb from the clump and lay them out to create similar-sized clumps with all sizes of bulbs. Think of it as meditation time, time for yourself.

I guarantee you will find it therapeutic.

Now is the time to divide snowdrops. How to turn one clump into 12.

3 You could get anything up to 100 or more individual bulbs from a good-sized clump. If you plant about 20 of these together to create a new clump that’s five extra clumps created in one fell swoop.

I generally re-plant three lots of seven to 10 bulbs in each planting spot and most of them will appear again in spring.

Plant along a pathway or under a hedge or trees. They will grow anywhere.

4 Snowdrops don’t need to be planted deeply. If you have good soil, just break is up with the spade and that should do the job. As snowdrops are a woodland plant, adding some leaf mould is no harm. Water in. Do the same every year and before you now it you will have created a carpet of white that will last for generations. A real gift to the future.

Snowdrop month

Don’t forget this is “Snowdrop Month” in Co Carlow and for information on locations, events and talks, contact 059-9130411 or see the website www.carlow gardentrail.com

Time to...

It’s February and even if your favourite plants are showing no signs of life, you can be sure the weeds are getting a head start on them. We’ve a big gardening space and there was a time when I would religiously pull every nettle, briar, thistle and dandelion out by the roots. I’m no longer fanatical about doing this as I keep a certain amount of them for the bees.

But don’t be deceived. If you give weeds an inch, they will take a mile. Along with creeping buttercup, ground elder and scutch grass they would take over in jig time. So get weeding now and you won’t have half as much to do when full growth returns.

From the nursery

Caragh Nursery

When it comes to small gardens you would think they are easy to plant and have looking good but the reality is that space is easier to fill in a large garden. In town and small gardens, the balance has to be right and the planting has to pay for itself with almost year-round interest.

Take trees as an example. I recently had a visit from one of my customers whose parents wanted to buy a tree for her garden. What should she suggest wondered my customer?

I knew the development she lived in and the houses are large and relatively spacious but, unfortunately, the gardens are tight and often overlooked.

The obvious choice against the off-white exterior walls was a lovely pink cherry tree. But nice and all as it is, it would only create interest for three to four weeks this spring and be very dull for the rest of the year. The tree would need to be a little more inventive than that, something evergreen, with structure and a little more personality.

High impact tree for a small garden.

I came up with a number of choices for the focal point of this garden that would draw the eye, especially from the large expanse of glass at the rear of the house, providing structure and not so run-of-the-mill.

My first choice was a topiary Ilex crenata with a quirky shape and balls of cleverly crafted foliage, not a large tree but a wonderful example of topiary for gardens. These trees need little maintenance as they grow slowly and a trim every two years is more than sufficient to keep the shape nicely. It’s ideal for the busy young family.

My next option is an Osmanthus aquafolium parachute form tree. A parachute form tree is a multi-stemmed tree, with a mound of foliage crown that looks just like the canopy of a parachute.

Useful small garden tree.

The Osmanthus is an evergreen tree with small, white, fragrant flowers in late spring and again keeps its shape well. They are popular in this shape and come in a number of sizes and maturity, with prices starting at €360.

My last choice is one with slightly more colour, the Cupressus Castlewellan Gold Bonsai Form, with a single stem and balls of golden yellow foliage making their way all the way up the stem,.

It is slightly faster growing, needing slightly more trimming and is the best-value option for a focal tree for a small garden.

For more, contact Ian or Jo at 045-879170 or email info@caragh nurseries.ie.