Twelve days of Christmas for Gardeners

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love sent to me

12 plant labels
11 tomato plants
10 balls of string
9 bags of compost
8 marker pens
7 raspberry canes.
6 yards of debris netting
5 seed trays
4 plant troughs
3 water butts
2 apple trees
and my own garden shed

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love sent to me

Twelve trugs of veggies
Eleven toms a-tumbling
Ten fruit trees fruiting
Nine mowers mowing
Eight piles of wood chipping
Seven paths a-winding
Six manure heaps steaming
Five compost bins
Four copper trowels
Three marker pens
Two pairs of gloves
and a Polytunnel known as PT.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Eleven festive garlands
Ten golden baubles
Nine paper lanterns
Eight treetop fairies
Seven Christmas crackers
Six blow up Santas
Five prancing Rudolphs
Four twigs of holly,
Three front door wreaths
Two Xmas stockings and
Some mistletoe in a pear tree.

..........and they all come down on the 6th January.

Cheers for that,I wa going to take them down today but I'll wait until 6th January. Is it not suppoed to be bad luck taking them down too early or late? Having said that, all my family took their's down the day after Boxing Day 27th December!

Its no good asking me about these superstitions. I only have 2 Christmas decorations and there were 8 cards this year - they're already for recycling!

I start clearing the decs at new year, doing a bit each day but leaving some until the 5th or 6th (there is some dispute as to when 12th night is). That way it's no so much of a visual shock when all th pretties get taken down and you're left with a bare house. I'm really quite sad when the twinkling lights get put away for another year, I do like pretty lights. Left to my own devices and enough sockets I would festoon the whole house inside and out with flashing Christmas lights. As it is P is a restraining influence, we have an outdoor string and some indoor ones round the windows with some lit up snowflake shapes. The Christmas tree didn't go up this year, so no lights there to keep me happy.