THIS week the Met Office predicted plummeting temperatures and ‘unsettled’ weather conditions – with the threat of -1C in the North and even snow in Scotland.
So what should we be doing to prepare our gardens for the colder weather?
Answer? Plenty.
Even if your garden is further down South it’s worth taking steps now to protect your outside spaces and crucially, help wildlife survive.
POTS
By raising your pots you prevent the soil from freezing solid which can potentially crack your pot – and also helps with drainage. You don’t have to buy pricy ‘’pot feet’.
I’ve used tile samples left over from a renovation – but you can use bricks, bottle caps, wood, cut down corks – anything that will lift them off the ground.
Group your pots together – it acts as a mini microclimate for mutual protection – and you can even bubble wrap them for insulation.
PROTECT
Cover tender plants like bananas, tree ferns. Figs and less hardy agapanthus, with garden fleece to protect from frost damage.
MULCH
Not only is it root insulation, a layer of mulch prevents soil from freezing and thawing repeatedly – known as Frost Heaving – which can push plants out of the ground.
It can also protect young shoots.
Straw mulch is good around vegetables and fruits. But you can also use bark chippings, leaf mould or grass clippings.
If you add mulch when the soil is still warm – it will keep the temperature for longer.
WINDOWSILLS
If you’ve done some Autumn seed planting and have the space, its worth bringing the young shoots indoors. Windowsills are perfect or a greenhouse, if you’re lucky enough to have one.
DIY CLOCHES
Bell shaped cloches are the perfect protection – and look lovely.
And you can get cheap reusable ones online – or you can even use cut-in-half upside down plastic bottles – just make sure they’re firm in the ground and remove the cap for ventilation.
I’ve used a 2 litre Tesco cola bottle in the past – that costs 49p – which is much cheaper than a cloche – and you get to drink all the cola too!
BIRDS
BIRDS Luke Markham, from Peckish told Sun Gardening: “As the cold, wet weather is starting to set in, and daylight hours are shrinking, natural food sources for garden birds become increasingly scarce.
“Insects, seeds and berries are becoming harder to find, which makes this one of the toughest times of year for Britain’s garden birds.
“During colder months, birds rely on high-fat foods to maintain body heat and energy. Suet, peanuts and sunflower hearts are all great offerings.
“Always offer a clean, fresh water source for drinking and bathing, which will help keep birds hydrated and their feathers clean.
“You can even pop a tennis ball into the drinking water to stop it from freezing over.”
OFFER SHELTER
Build a bug hotel – doesn’t have to be a shop bought one – literally a bundle of twigs and leaves will provide respite for overwintering insects.
Install nest boxes – pot brand Elho has just launched some lovely recycled plastic birdhouses for just £14.99 – to give a bit of cosy protection.
Leave a quiet corner of your garden for a pile of leaves, twigs and sticks to offer shelter to hedgehogs, insects and small mammals.
HELP THE BEES
Award winning writer and Best-selling author of The Secret Lives of Garden Bees, Jean Vernon told Sun Gardening: “Most bumblebee queens will be hunkered down underground waiting for spring, go gently in the flower beds when you plant.
“One of the most powerful plants over autumn and winter that provides about 90 per cent of the nectar out of season, is the wild ivy. Let it flower, it provides vital nectar and even the berries are food for the birds in late winter.
“Plants with hollow stems will be nesting sites for solitary bees and solitary wasps, the hollow stems forming natural insect hotels where the larvae can mature into adults to emerge next spring and summer.
Also in Veronica’s Column this week…
Top tips, Garden news, Plant of the Week and a Bird box competition
For more Gardening content and news, follow me @Biros_and_bloom.
NEWS! The RHS has just had their Autumn Conference – where they declared ‘gardens need to be recognised as a nationally important habitat to conserve, protect and support life to maintain a healthy planet and people.’
Professor Alistair Griffiths, Director of Science and Collections at the RHS said: “We urgently need people of all ages to appreciate the UK’s gardens and garden plants not only for their beauty, but also how we can use them to help mend our fragile planet for future generations. With over 2,670 species of plants and animals being found in one typical UK garden there couldn’t be a more appropriate place to ‘Bring Nature Home’ than your own outside space, be it your balcony, doorstep, your community, school, work garden, or your own private garden.”
NEWS! The RHS has also revealed the showgardens for Chelsea Flower Show.
The 13 gardens include The Eden Project: Bring Me Sunshine Garden by Harry Holding and Alex Michaelis, where a pioneering solar powered structure will provide shelter to young people developing practical skills in horticulture and green industries.
The Children’s Society Garden by Patrick Clarke hopes to regenerate optimism in a younger generation while The Tate Britain Garden by Tom Stuart-Smith presents a vision of how art, nature and community interact.
The Boodles Garden by Catherine MacDonald is inspired by much-loved features found within the four Historic Royal Palaces, and Arit Anderson’s Parkinson’s UK – A Garden for Every Parkinson’s Journey will be a place of harmony for those living with and assisting those with Parkinson’s.
The Asthma + Lung UK Breathing Space Garden by Angus Thompson iwill provide a supporting ‘breathing space’ to recover and reconnect.
And Lady Garden Foundation ‘Silent No More’ Garden by Darren Hawkes is honouring those diagnosed with one of five gynaecological cancers.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England: On the Edge designed by Sarah Eberle, shines a light on the overlooked countryside at the edge of our towns and cities.
Addleshaw Goddard: Flourish in the City garden by Joe and Laura Carey will pay homage to London’s Oyster Trader, and The Killik & Co. ‘A Seed In Time’ Garden by Baz Grainger delivers a modern and resilient garden that incorporates heritage crafts.
Journey Beyond the Tracks: From Adelaide to Perth by Max Parker-Smith imagines an epic Australian train journey across the outback, and finally, Trussell’s Together Garden by Rob Hardy is inspired by people coming together to help those on low incomes.
TOP TIP! It’s pumpkin season! But did you know that before the big orange gourds made their way across the Atlantic and into our carving traditions, rural farming communities across Britain hollowed out mangelwurzels. Known locally as ‘mangels’ or ‘mangolds’, they were carved into eerie faces, lit from within, and displayed to ward off evil spirits during the harvest festivals of centuries past. I reported back in February how Manglewurzels were making a comeback into our outside spaces thanks to heirloom seed company She Grows Veg – and they’ve sent me some pictures to show what you could do – creepy!
WIN FeatherSnap is the innovative smart bird feeder with built-in webcam, allowing you to experience birdwatching like never before, right from your home. And we’ve got one to give away – worth £159.99, plus a year’s free subscription, worth £49.99. To enter visit www.thesun.co.uk/FEATHERSNAP or write to Sun Feathersnap Competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP. Include your name, age, email or phone. UK residents 18+ only. Entries close 11.59pm. November 8, 2025. T&Cs apply
JOB OF THE WEEK Start lifting your tubers – like Dahlias, gladiolus and begonias – to store over the winter months. Cover them in straw in pots and keep dry undercover. Keep planting onion, garlic and shallots.
PLANT OF THE WEEK Flowering now with lovely violet wands that contrast with its vibrant strap-green leaves, Liriope muscari is a fabulous perennial for shade and drought – especially under trees.
