Gardening
January in Your Garden – Getting Ready for Spring
Get your garden ready for spring and beat the January blues!
We gardeners don’t mind January too much. The stretch in the evenings is starting to become apparent and, as the snowdrops start to appear, we feel that spring is not too far away. If you were someone who embraced gardening for the first time during the pandemic, you might be struggling to keep up your enthusiasm today as you look out at your soggy and wilted garden. We are here to tell you that even now, in the depths of winter, there are jobs you can do in your garden to set yourself up for spring, which is really only a few weeks away!
Tidy up
- Start to clear away collapsed and soggy perennials, fallen leaves and any debris from storms such as broken branches all of which are ideal for composting
- Deadhead winter pansies regularly to keep your winter containers flowering longer
- Prune roses while they are still dormant. You can also prune woody plants right now, like wisteria and buddleia, as well as your deciduous hedging. Make sure your secateurs are sharp and clean
- Check your tools – make sure they are clean, rust free and safe and replace any that need to be retired
- Weeding – get out and start pulling weeds. Not only will it keep you warm on these chilly days, but it will also give you a head start once the weather starts to warm up
- Scrub patios, paths and paving – mosses and algae can build up over the wet, dark months. Use a moss remover to make things easier
- Clean your greenhouse glass to make sure your seedlings will get maximum light – the same goes for grow houses and cold frames
Plan ahead
Don’t fancy braving the elements just yet? That’s ok – January is a wonderful time to start planning for the season ahead. Perhaps you would like to add some extra beds? Try growing your own food? Or would love to have a cut flower garden in place this summer? Whatever your garden dream is, January is the time to start planning and sourcing what you need.
- Plan your plot – are you going to move beds, create new beds or maybe add a water feature this year? We are stocking some beautiful natural stone water features. Now is the time to make decisions so you can prepare.
- What flowers would you like to grow? Have you got a particular colour scheme in mind? What seeds have you left from last summer? Take stock and order any seeds you need to grow your dream garden.
- Draw up a sowing calendar so you know what needs to be planted and when.
- Make sure you have all the heated propagators, seed trays, small pots and plant labels you need – clean them and check them for damage so they are ready for sowing and potting on.
- Lay out seed potatoes in a cool dark place to chit or sprout, in preparation for planting in February and March.
Plant now
- bare-roots plants, roses and hedging, provided the ground isn’t frozen.
- Dreaming of sweet summer berries? Now is a good time to plant raspberries, gooseberries, blackberries and blueberries. Just make sure the ground is not frozen.
- Plant Hellebores to add beauty to your garden instantly.
- Sow sweet peas in your seed trays if you have a bright warm windowsill.
- Like it spicy? Now’s the time to sow chilli seeds to make sure you have a crop to harvest mid to late summer.
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