Welcome to the New Year and the start of the next gardening season! January marks the start of the gardening year and you’ll find yourself mostly tidying and getting the garden ready for the year ahead.
Hopefully, many of you will be thinking up some New Year gardening resolutions, if you are, let the first be maintenance. Much like December, maintenance is the most important thing this month. Your garden is at its most dormant so there’s plenty of time to plan for spring.
1. Sowing and planting
Start to plan ahead by looking at seed catalogues and garden designs for inspiration. What better time to try something new?
If you are lucky enough to have workable ground you can still plant bare-root trees, fruit bushes and hedges this time of year.
Bare Root Roses establish easily if they are planted now, just remember to prune them back to prevent wind-rock from high winds and encourage new growth from the base.
2. Fruit and vegetables
Your vegetable plot may be looking a little bare this time of year. Why not, fill it with winter veg? It’s time to sow salad leaves, bulb onions, sprouting seeds and start growing those greenhouse tomatoes.
If you didn’t choose to harvest your parsnips and add them to your Christmas dinner, you can dig them up whenever you like this month. Artichokes, Brussel Sprouts, Winter Cabbage, Carrots and Leeks also need to be harvested this month.
Check on any stored fruit and veg to make sure they don’t show any signs of decay. Remove all bad fruit and vegetables, separate any leftover to reduce the spread of disease and increase airflow.
3. Maintenance
The weather may be deterring you from venturing outside to prune your garden, and you can hold off for a week or two but winter pruning really needs to be done before the first signs of spring. If the weather isn’t too bad, January is a great month to prune most deciduous trees and shrubs.
Fruit trees can be pruned at this time but be careful not to prune spring-flowering plants.
The weather may be deterring you from venturing outside to prune your garden, and you can hold off for a week or two but winter pruning really needs to be done before the first signs of spring. If the weather isn’t too bad, January is a great month to prune most deciduous trees and shrubs.
Fruit trees can be pruned at this time but be careful not to prune spring-flowering plants.
Know your soil!
Find out what plants will flourish best in your soil by testing the ph levels and finding out what type of soil you have in your garden. Have you ever wondered why your plants aren’t flourishing as well as you hoped? Testing your soil is the most accurate way to find out how to improve your soil type and in turn your plants!
It’s time to sharpen and clean the blades on secateurs and knives to ensure that they’re ready for action next spring. Keep up with fixing odd things around the garden and give your sheds and greenhouses a clear out of all dead or dying plants and generally clear that clutter. Remember, tidying removes hiding places for slugs and snails reducing their numbers next summer.
4. Protection
Keep protecting your plants from the wind, as we advised in December and keep those pots and containers wrapped up. Your garden furniture is also at risk, cover furniture with polythene sheeting to protect it from becoming damp and possibly rusty.
Birds are at risk this time of year, remember to replenish water for birds to drink throughout the winter. Watch out for bird nests when pruning. Many gardeners assume that birds aren’t hungry when they look plump; birds actually fluff up their feathers to minimize the loss of heat from their bodies and also when they are seriously hungry.
For the next few months, any bare patches of soil should be covered in leaf mould or mulch. Mulch requires very little work and is great for applying to the roots of established or flowering plants.
We hope this guide has provided lots of ideas of what to do and plant in the garden in January. Why not get started by looking at our fantastic range of fruit & veg plants and seeds.