With the cooler weather and shorter days, plants either stop growing altogether or really slow down, which is a relief while I’m at work as summer is constant chaos! As it is now winter here in Sydney, I thought I’d briefly talk about the sorts of garden jobs we do at work that we don’t have time for over summer.

One thing I have found at my current workplace is that the irrigation in so many garden beds around the place is sticking up out of the soil any which way and is often not actually touching the soil itself. As it should be buried under the soil surface (doesn’t have to be deep), I do wonder how it was signed off as good work. Here, on this site at least, making sure the irrigation works and is pegged down onto the soil is a winter job, so we know that plants are getting watered properly when appropriate.

With all the grasses we have, like below, we cut them all back and make them all a lot tidier. This allows the new growth to come through easier in the spring and they do look like a scruffy mess before getting cut back!

As much as I find pollarding the ugliest and most unnecessary practice with crepe myrtle trees, it is what is wanted or expected.

Mulching is also another job to be done in winter. While a very tedious job, mulching can be very helpful for the weed control and for keeping moisture in garden beds provided there is moisture in the soil already. There is all sorts of pruning and weeding and tidying up to be done too.

While there is always stuff to be done over winter, it is also more relaxed-because there is less to do, we can work at a steady pace rather than rushing around like headless chickens! Added to this is the fact that temperatures are far nicer for me in winter, so I do prefer this time of year, especially with sunrises like these.