On we go with the big winter cutback, part 3. You should be more than half way through the systematic cutback of your garden, your back is aching, your compost bins are filling up, the cold and wet days haven’t stopped you and the end is in sight.
All was going well until Cruella (my wife) demanded that I stop messing around gardening and create a new soft play area for her girls. I explained how essential the winter cutback was but she refused to be moved insisting it was a human right as covered under the UN Charter and the ECHR. I explained that her chickens were not human and therefore not covered under this legislation. She has now hired human rights lawyers and is seeking a judicial review. Anyway enough of this nonsense on with the gardening.
24th January 2026. Things I have been doing lately:
- Pruning fig trees
- Dealing with broad leafed weeds in grass
- Cleaning up and composting leaves
- Cutting back hedges
- Refurbishing the chicken soft play area
Pruning fig trees. Most fig trees in Spain are left to grow into huge towering hulks that lower over gardens in threatening sprawls. All too often their fruit is too high to pick and when it falls it makes a sticky mess all around the trunk mixed in with bird poo that creates a dead zone under the tree.
It needn’t be this way you can carefully train your fig to be a fruitful adornment to your garden. The starting point is radical pruning. Now this can be scary as you have to prune back to a few strategic branches spaced around the trunk of the tree. Once you have pruned your tree back to these strategic branches, then all you have to do is cut back to these branches at the end of each growing season. The photo below shows one of my trees ready for its annual cutback.
From this photo you can see that the tree has been pollarded back to selected branches and the long “whippy” growth is the only part that will be pruned. Before you begin pruning ensure that all the leaves are off the tree as this will mean that the caustic sap has drained back to the roots and you are in no danger of being burnt.
All you need to do then is snip all the new growth off using your long handled lopers. Just take them back to the knuckle at the end of the branch and the new growth will grow from this point. The photo below shows the tree ready for the new growth.
In addition to my standard fig I also have an espalied fig that I have trained along a wall over a number of years. The process is the same; just take off the side shoots and leave the main branch. The photos below show the espalied fig before and after.
Dealing with broad leaf weeds in grass. Now I know not many of you have lawns in Spain, and that is perfectly understandable. However, for those of you that have, now is the time to treat for broad leaved weeds.
Broad leaf weeds such as Dandelion etc are growing ferociously at this time of the year. They, spread their leaves out, kill the grass underneath and then set seed to give you another generation. You can if you wish, go round and remove all of these weeds by hand, but it is a time consuming and difficult process. Instead use a selective weed killer. This can be sprayed on to the offending weeds without harming the grass. The photos below show the problem and the solution.
Cleaning up and composting leaves. An integral part of the big cut back process is that you will create lot of fallen leaves, which taken together with the normal winter leaf fall will have left you with various piles blown all over your garden. The temptation is to just leave them and let them blow around. But the danger with this approach is that the leaves will gradually breakdown into a fine tilth on your gravelled areas and on paths creating a lovely medium for weeds. In addition they provide a perfect environment for slugs and snails to foray forth and eat your new plants. The photo below shows a perfect slug and weed environment.
You have to clean them up, but don’t do it grudgingly, and don’t just throw them away. Instead compost your leaves to make a lovely top dressing mulch for next autumn. The first thing to do is to sweep or blow your leaves into heaps. Then load them into plastic sacks, making sure to crunch them down as you go. Once you have filled your sacks, puncture them with a garden fork in a few places to encourage air circulation. Once you are ready store them in a shady corner of your garden and just forget about them for 6 months. After this time they will make a nice mulch for top dressing. The photos below show my world famous sack pricking technique and my leaves shady corner.
Cutting back hedges. I take joy in hedges as they provide a floriferous back drop to the garden and a wonderful home for lots of wildlife. As I wander around I see thousands of houses with 2 metre high walls all around their garden. A good well planted mixed hedge will give you all the security and privacy of a wall but with the added bonus of an ever changing backdrop throughout the seasons.
But as hedges are living things you have to cut them back once a year. Over the years I have developed a technique of planting hedging plants quite close together and making them fight for air, light and space. This technique encourages prolific flowering and is a joy to behold. The photos below shows some of my hedges and the battle of the big cutback. Click on each photo for a larger view.
At the end of the cutback process don’t just throw everything away, instead shred what you can and then either compost the material, or where appropriate spread it as a mulch under your trees. See the photos below.
Refurbishing the chicken soft play area. I am ashamed to admit that I have a chicken soft play area in my garden. Basically it’s an area that once was lawn. It is located right in front of our Naya (Verandha) where Cruella and I sit and take our morning tea. I took out the grass and replaced it with cheap compost, this then allows Cruella’s girls to disport themselves first thing in the morning whilst Cruella feeds them sliced grapes and gives them their instructions for the day.
All of this activity takes place in Chickenese so I have no understanding of what’s going on. Over the years I have picked up key words in Chickenese, but not much, mainly I only understand when she points at me; so I now know the chickenese word for “pig”.
Anyway, I had to stop the big winter cutback to refurbish the soft play area with new compost. She also wants me to install a swing and a slide, but I have refused . Hence my being referred to various international bodies for chicken human rights abuses. I know she is talking nonsense, but I am beginning to worry as I have received several threatening legal letters. She tells me a date is set for hearings so I am thinking of Lawyering up.
The photos below show the start of the refurbishment of the soft play area. Then just when I get the surface all nice and neat they dig it up again.
Spanish Garden 