Deck the Halls, DIY-style

10th December to 8th January at Oaklands. Our first winter stay in the UK for a long time, and our first Christmas in our new home. Old as they are, the boys were still hoping and wishing for snow; old as I am, the thrill of Christmas lights and winter wood fires had not diminished. Dreams of crisp white disappeared under a torrent of muddy water - apart from one or two days when the mercury dipped to -1 or -2, providing a tantalising picture of frosted seed heads and rimed leaves, Christmas Eve dawned mild and damp, and the entire holiday was punctuated with reports of yet more flooding across the county.

Undaunted, we set about preparing for the festivities. Our younger son and I decided that the very best tree we could possibly have was the beautiful silver fir growing happily on our front lawn. Already earmarked for removal when The Great Works of Landscaping begin in the spring, making it the centrepiece of our decorations seemed both eco-sensitive and deeply pleasing.

Three hours later, as Sam had worked through the initial first felling, and then the top third decapitation for house use, we dragged the intensely scented, stickily resinous conifer into the reception room, and set about adorning it in a not too over the top manner. After the tree was set up, came the wild clematis, holly, ivy, and evergreen boughs, with seed heads and bright red cornus stems in vases for contrast. Our city-raised boys were initially mystified by my talk of decorating the house from our own garden and wood, and we still managed to deploy a vast array of baubles and beloved decorations, but essentially we bedecked our halls from our own land. Mistletoe is the only Christmas greenery in which we are not self-sufficient, a lack I hope to rectify by smearing pilfered mistletoe berries on the Bramley apple tree whenever I get the chance. When the candles were all lit and reflecting in the tall windows, and with the big open fire blazing, we felt as if we had been there for years.

Feeding the fire and the new wood burner was an interesting lesson in log requirements. The boys were refilling the baskets daily, and the teetering heap of old wood left for us in the store by the previous occupant was reduced by over half. We have started burning some of the laurel on the woodburner (door firmly closed to enclose those lovely cyanide fumes) and the open fire has space for some of the huge logs left for us, but the new hydraulic log splitter was a welcome addition on the toys and kit list. Much as I am all for the romance (and sweat-inducing exercise) of log splitting with an axe, it has transformed our wood processing, making light work of a recently felled ash tree. Some of the old fruit trees are also neat piles of burning-in-waiting. Now just a couple of years to wait for it all to season.

The garden was sadly neglected during this period. I am so out of step with splitting and dividing perennials I want to keep that I may as well wait until February, and shrubs like the viburnum plicatus and sambucus nigra are probably better off being relocated in early spring anyway. Chaos now, order later!

I did manage to sow some of the fabulous meadow seed mixes Father Christmas had thoughtfully put in my stocking, along with some trial patches of yellow rattle in the meadow. Beyond that, it was more a case of looking at pretty much every shrub and tree coming into bud and hoping that there isn’t one of those late winter/early spring icy spells to kill off all that new growth. Which is not to say that sighting the first flowers of 2020 wasn’t a joy.

We had confirmation over Christmas that the landscapers will begin work on phase 1 in mid-February, and I fly back to the UK next week. I know I have to be patient. This year is going to be one of transition in the garden, and while I am planning for the planting that needs to go in sooner rather than later, we will still be in flux in terms of the big beds around the house. The ‘bones’ of the paths and redevelopment of the area for the potager and greenhouse will however be done, and that will be a massive step forward.