Get the secateurs out of the garden shed for the Boxing Day Test

16:12:20 29th December 2009

People are being encouraged to recover their secateurs from the garden shed and start gathering seasonal blooms from the garden

The Daily Mail has composed a "Boxing Day Test", which entails taking a sample of flowers from the garden to see how well it rates in terms of winter performance.

The purpose of the exercise is somewhat like a "health check" on the effectiveness of planting.

Winter is traditionally a more challenging time for flowering, and the test reveals what gardeners should concentrate or improve on for next season.

"Almost every garden has something pretty from February to November. Spring bulbs are jolly from snowdrop to tulip time, summer is riotously colourful, and even when the leaves have fallen October dahlias will still be fresh," according to the Daily Mail.

"But winter is challenging. Flowers are scarce and weather threatens almost everything. Hence the Boxing Day Test."

A seven-acre winter garden, in a former deer park, has opened to the public at a country estate in Cheshire. The garden hosts about 700 different plant species and an additional 1,600 shrubs, all of which have features that make them attractive in winter.

Find out more information about garden sheds.