Your Garden In January
By Colin Dale, Notcutts Garden Centres
A visit to your local garden centre will show you how to add interest to your garden at this time of the year, with a range of shrubs for winter interest, from the coloured bark and stems of Dog Woods (Cornus) and Willows (Salix) to flowering shrubs such as the shrubby Winter Honeysuckle, Witch Hazels and Viburnums, many of which are scented. If you intend to grow vegetables, there will be a wide range of seeds available in the shop. This is a good time to stock up on composts, feeds and pots before the gardening season gets underway!
If you did not plant spring flowering bulbs last autumn, look out for a range of potted ones that can be planted directly into gaps in your borders or grown in their containers for early colour on the patio. Early Crocus pushing through the soil and opening their richly coloured, satiny flowers are a sure sign that spring is on the way!
Grasses add movement and texture to the garden and are especially valuable for their flowers and leaf colour in late summer and autumn. Those that lose their leaves in winter can be pruned to the ground now, before the new growth begins and given a mulch of rotted compost or other organic matter. Evergreen varieties should be groomed to remove dead leaves. If you do not have room in your borders, most grasses make excellent plants for containers.
If the ground is frozen, check planted containers and also any evergreens in the ground that are not yet established, for water. It may be useful to shelter evergreens from cold winds with a wind break of fleece or netting. During severe weather, planted containers should be moved to a sheltered spot.
On milder days, the winter clear up can commence! Cut herbaceous perennials down to the ground, removing last year’s dead growths and empty rotted compost heaps, using this as mulch on borders between plants, to improve the soil and cut down on weed growth. Take care not to damage early spring bulbs that will be pushing through the ground now.
If you are using your green house to over winter tender plants and cuttings, open the vents on warmer days to ensure maximum air flow. Water plants sparingly until they begin to grow away next month. If the green house is to be used for vegetable production, give it a good clean with mild disinfectant to remove any over wintering pests and disease spores. Check that your heater is working properly if you intend to make an early start with tomatoes and other sensitive crops.
Why not take the opportunity at this quieter time of year to clear out your garden shed?
Pots, trays and other containers that have been stored can be washed with a mild disinfectant before they are needed for the spring. Check stocks of fertilisers and other sundries so that they can be added to your garden centre shopping list.
Top Ten Tips for January
1. Deciduous grasses such as Miscanthus, Pennisetum and Calamagrostis can be pruned to the ground now, before the new growth begins. Give a light feed of pelleted chicken manure and a mulch of compost or bark around the crowns to keep the soil in good heart.
2. Continue to clear old growth from perennial plants, which have died back to the ground and mulch around the crowns. Overgrown plants can be divided next month and replanted in smaller pieces to rejuvenate them.
3. Empty any rotted compost from bins and spread this around your borders to help cut back on weeds later. Take care not to damage any spring bulbs starting to push up through the soil.
4. Plan your vegetable and cutting gardens and visit your local garden centre to purchase from the wide range of seed available. Buy your shallots and onion sets as well and store them in a cool, frost free place until you plant them in March.
5. If you are using your green house to overwinter tender plants, open the vents on fine days to keep the air flow as high as possible. Water very sparingly until the plants start to grow away in the spring.
6. If you didn’t get around to planting spring bulbs such as Crocus, Tulips and Daffodils last autumn, visit your local garden centre who will have stocks of these and other early flowering rock plants available.
7. If the weather is mild and the ground is not frozen, bare root trees, shrubs and roses can be planted until March. Prepare the ground well and add plenty of organic matter. Remember to stake trees well until they are established and water during dry spells.
8. Wash pots, cloches and trays in a mild disinfectant before they are needed for the spring. This is also a good time to get your mower and any other machinery serviced before the spring rush begins.
9. Keep an eye on watering for containers and evergreen plants that are not yet fully established in the ground. Frozen, windy weather will quickly dry these out.
10. A visit to your local garden centre will show you some of the wide range of winter flowering shrubs available. These valuable plants give colour and often scent through the shortest days of the year. Make sure that you plant at least one in your own garden to enjoy on milder days.