Garden Structure - How to Make Your Garden Earn it’s Keep at the Bleakest Times of Year

Bunny gives a quick tour of her garden when it is looking at its most forlorn.
She has been working away on other people’s gardens, so it has been neglected, paths not swept, weeds germinating in the recent heavy rain, no dead heading and titivating for the camera has taken place!
This video emphasises the importance of structure in a garden: hedges, trees, topiary, piers and evergreens and highlights ways to incorporate them.
Bunny also runs through her list of winter jobs (cutting hazel, dead heading, planting bulbs, removing stakes from her pleached trees, repairing blown stonework, mulching, sowing yellow rattle and much more) and highlights the importance of keeping the soil covered with plants especially in the vegetable garden to help prevent nutrients leaching and the soil structure breaking down. The annual Pictorial meadow mix is still flowering well though.
#wintergardening #garden

[@juliedubberley1192]

What a treat to see Bunny, so enthusiastic and knowledgeable as always. 🤗🤗

[@Mary-fv4bn]

You are so inspiring.

[@Jane-3229]

Oh Bunny your gardens look magnificent even in this season 💚

[@TheWholesomeGardener]

Brilliant! An extremely helpful video. Thank you so much Ms Guinness. 💚

[@TheEnthusiasticGardener]

Hi Bunny, so many good tips and tricks, thank you for sharing with us.

[@AJsGreenThumbLLC]

My goodness if this garden is 'neglected'...Your garden structure is top notch and your point really hits home. I am always conscious of developing the structure in my garden. Thanks for the tour...it was a yummy treat!

[@tinathene]

Just the encouragement I needed today 🌲to get my bulbs in nice and snug😅👌🏻🙏🏻🍁

[@penelopehammerton2907]

Thank Bunny for another informative video 🤗🍂🍁🍂🍁

[@SpanishEclectic]

I'm looking forward, for the first time in almost 3 years, to having enough time to address the winter needs of my garden. Due to the drought here, the weeds seem to be producing an epic amount of seeds. :( Working on sheet mulching open areas that I won't be able to plant with trees or shrubs anytime soon (lots of large cobble rocks and hard clay); cardboard, and leaves, trimmings, twigs, etc. from other parts of the property. Nasturtiums, California poppies, cilantro, and alyssum will grow there on their own. We expect rain all day Monday for only the second time since April, so it's time to clean my second large rain barrel and put out my buckets. I do love Bunny's topiaries and hedges, and hope to try those at some point. Despite the leaves and end of season 'mess', I'm quite pleased at how many plants survived our dry, dry Southern California summer. Glad I'm not the only one with a huge "To-Do" list. :)

[@ingridm3727]

Still love the vest Bunny!

[@Luigi_Bizz5850]

I agree Gardens are beautiful even when their not perfectly manicured Nature can lead itself without to be ashamed about the untidiness

[@georgiacinq-mars1899]

Beautiful! Why doesn’t she have her own BBC gardening show?

[@harrystevens5110]

I believe that a beautiful garden in winter is the biggest indicator off a true gardener - if their garden looks nice from now until spring then they have achieved the ultimate test in gardening. Rosemary Varey's book 'The Garden in Winter' is a great 'textbook' for this time of year

[@mandywood3327]

So inspiring.

[@Knappa22]

Ah yes I must remember to cut my hazel when the leaves have all come off. All I need now is a vast country house garden, time, and some hazel trees! :p Any very aged millionaires out there?!

[@scallywags12]

I keep my dahlias in the ground too over winter with a bit of manure and piles of leaves. I live on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. (Pacific Northwest)

[@alisonsneed3707]

One of your loveliest videos ever.

[@penny1295]

Youarevery inspired and help me to be also

[@aw9522]

Ok who else would like a home tour?🤚🤚🤚

[@eliev7844]

Lovely ‘neglected’ gardens! Please could you do a video of your greenhouses, especially the tomatoes. It’s amazing you hope to harvest them until December. I thought that the low light levels would hinder them. Or do you use overhead lights on them?

[@New-Hat-Gardening]

Just lovely ❤

[@jacquelinewhittaker4651]

Lovely to see and to hear. I was just thinking if it was time to put away my garden until March 1st. Obviously not!

[@helenachase5627]

Bunny, I have 12 acres of old farmstead in Saskatchewan Canada. Winter interest is something I've never considered, neither structure because although there is a tree sherlterbelt of fir, nobody ever planted shrubs. Just ugly Siberian pea hedge around the house. I'm trying some of your ideas but box and yew died being zone 3. Any suggestions for substitutions for hornbeam, yew, box, etc. I wonder about an evergreen hedge. Maybe some sort of cedar ? Nobody here has evergreen hedge. Just one note, the snow is so deep that my first cutting garden looks nice with the sweet pea pickets and birdhouse, etc. Just peak through the drifts. Other than that just bald prairiescape. Which I do love!

[@penny1295]

All is so beautiful what zone are u I’m also interested in shade areas! Thank you

[@johnsmith-ls4rc]

The last garden was (surprisingly) my favorite too - for this season. Apologies for random question - how could I propagate true, from two much loved cooking apple trees that have been in a family garden for over 50 years? Could I send 'cuttings' to a specialist propagating 'laboratory' (if such a thing exists) to ensure success? Or something else. I fear another owner may chop the trees down ! Thank you.

[@christinebrown9310]

Bunny, your videos are inspiring. I notice that you have a Rosa Mutabilis, I never know if it needs to be cut and when? When do you do yours?

[@bunnyguinness]

I just took lots from cuttings last year, generally they are very healthy roses, they can be trained to climb if you want, or as a hedge. It can produce long stems around 1.8m tall and if you want to keep more bushy you could reduce these back by half or so. I would do this as they appear at any time of year. Generally though in late winter/ early spring cut back lightly by around a third. This encourages new growth and more flowers the following year. If it’s old renovate it by cutting every one in five shoots right back to the base. It’s a gem!🐇

[@Salmagundiii]

Superb video as always. What is the mysterious animal in the background @8:03?

[@bunnyguinness]

It is Dolly, the Jack Russel, who comes to the office each day and ‘works’ but loves running around the garden! 🐇

[@bunnyguinness]

Ps thanks for the great comment ❤️

[@Salmagundiii]

@@bunnyguinness Ahh, I see now it's a bit of an illusion. Because we just see the top of her, she looked more like an albino dachshund!

[@ArthurDentZaphodBeeb]

Does Bunny do the garden all herself? She has to have help, right?

[@bunnyguinness]

Dave helps me one day a week and I do one day a week too unless I’m working away. I try and do it as efficiently as possible and on bank holiday weekends etc often manage to get another day in!🐇

[@christianelila3374]

There is so much gras..

[@kblain8028]

Great tour, thank you for sharing It’s a reminder to get back out there to the winter garden and keep busy The garden always thanks you for a bit of TLC, whatever the season!!! kbgardensnhomes 🤍🌿✨Kx