How to bring some real winter sun into your life

A plant that comes into its own at this time of year is the Mahonia “Winter Sun”.

It is so named for its striking yellow flower spikes that rise above the long arching stems with their green, holly-like leaves through the cold months, bringing a ray of sunshine into the garden. Not only are the flowers sunny and bright, but they also smell amazing and similar in scent to Lily-of-the-Valley.

This mid-sized, hardy evergreen shrub will grow to 4m x 2.5m height and spread and will bring your garden to life all year round. Tall mahonias that become quite bare at the base are easily restored by cutting back the stems to about 6 inches from the base in late winter to early spring.

While most mahonias have spikes on the leaves, you can also buy Mahonia Soft Caress with spine-free leaves, which means it can be planted near to paths or doorways without the fear of being prickled as you might with traditional Mahonia varieties that have holly-like leaves.

If you brush past these, there will be no worries about any scratches, opening up many new planting positions and ideas where you may not have considered Mahonia in the past. Soft Caress is also compact and small.

When you purchase a fresh Christmas tree, ensure you check that the seller cuts straight across the base of the trunk to help with water absorption. This gets rid of any dried over resin that might block the tree from absorbing water.

Once you get it home if you’re not putting your tree up right away, ensure you put it in a bucket of water. Storing real trees in a bucket of water in an unheated is always advised.

Once you are ready to bring it inside, make another 1 inch cut off the bottom of the trunk and place it in a sturdy stand that holds at least one five litres of water. If your holder contains less, just check daily to make sure that it does not completely run dry, by topping up with water.

So, for all your garden products and plants look no further than the team at Donington Nurseries. Call today on 01332 853 004 to see what we can do for you.