As an avid listener of Desert Island Discs, I enjoy making wish lists; which of us has not privately agonised over whether we’d choose Leonard Cohen over another piece of Mozart? For a gardener this list-making can become a particularly enjoyable, almost obsessive pastime come spring.
At the time of writing, I’m in the middle of cutting back the summer-flowering perennials in my Cotswold garden. It’s now largely acknowledged that this is best done, not in autumn, but as winter gives way to the new season. The old growth gives some protection to the plant and provides seeds and a habitat for birds and other wildlife. The timing is important. Too early and those most susceptible to frost might suffer in a really harsh
