My poor garden is under a deep blanket of snow, fast asleep until April at least. I am in a rural area, so deer digging up my expensive tulip bulbs is something of an issue in winter, as well as wild hares ringbarking my young plum and cherry tree. I have wire netting set up around the beds, so we'll see.

My raspberry canes and red and blackcurrant bushes are cut back, ready for the new season. Lilac bushes trimmed back and hedges left for the birds to shelter. Bird feeders dominate in winter and there's lots of flying to and fro even in the bitter cold.

In the meantime, I'm reading the seed catalogues and planning the raised beds for vegetables, herbs and masses of flowers to last from spring until autumn. A lot of what are considered perennials in many other places are only annuals up here so far north. My garden is set up to attract birds, butterflies, bees and other pollinators.