For many people, the new year is a time to think about spring and the warmer weather ahead. If you look at your garden and think it's in need of a post-winter overhaul, why not use gardening as a form of relaxation? You don't have to be Alan Titchmarsh to make a difference!
© coldwaterman / Adobe Stock
Armed with the knowledge of the best seasonal plants and how to prepare for planting fruit and vegetables, this is a great time of year to begin gardening. Don't worry if you're new to it, as there are plenty of tips around to help even complete beginners to get green-fingered.
Although January can be one of the coldest times of the year, it's never too early to start gardening, especially on dry, crisp, sunny days.
First thing's first
Unless you made a point of cutting back your garden in the autumn, it may be looking rather dishevelled if flowers haven't been dead-headed, bushes haven't been pruned and weeds have been left to fester in the flower beds. When cutting back, try to leave some garden areas a little longer to provide shelter for wildlife, such as winter birds.
If you've had any severe weather, especially torrential rain and gale-force winds, check that any stakes, supports and ties are still in place. Clean up your greenhouse and pots ready for spring and dig over any vacant plots ready for planting.
Plan your vegetable crops for the coming season - and don't forget to keep on putting out food and water for the birds, who will be hungrier over the lean winter months.
Cultivating flowers
There are plenty of jobs you can do to ensure some beautiful blooms in the spring and summer. Prune wisteria plants now and cut back side-shoots to two or three buds.
This is a good time to prune rose bushes, cutting them back to just above the bud. As well as dead-heading, remove any dead branches as well. Plant any bare root roses in January - for a blaze of summer colour, plant them in a sunny position.
Bare roots are dormant plants that can be purchased without soil around their roots - such as the type you can buy in garden centres in clear cellophane wrappers or bags.
This is also a good time to plant clematis - a winter-flowering evergreen. The "Winter Beauty" strain, as its name suggests, is ideal for this time of year. Add bare root Alstroemeria (the Peruvian lily) for a more unusual bloom. Remove any dead or faded flowers from the winter pansies so they won't go to seed.
If you're ordering bare root perennials online, they will arrive as a mass of roots in a dormant state, so plant them up as soon as the ground is soft enough. Cut back perennial plants such as Sedum and remove old Hellebore leaves - this will ensure they are more stunning when the flowers emerge in spring.
If you have ornamental grasses, cut them back so they're only a few centimetres above the ground, as they will grow back thicker and better. Cut back the oldest stems of willows and any that are thin, damaged or overcrowded.
Fruit and vegetables
In your fruit garden, start pruning apple and pear trees, as it's best to do this while they're dormant. Plant raspberry canes on a site with free-draining soil where there's plenty of sunshine.
Prune gooseberries, blackcurrant bushes and redcurrants - but don't prune cherries, apricots or plums until later in the year. If you prune them in winter, they can be susceptible to silver leaf infections.
If you have rhubarb plants, place an upturned bin or bucket over the crown to force the pink stems to grow. These should be ready in about eight weeks. Purchase any fruit bushes now and plant them in a sheltered position in a prepared bed. You will find your fresh fruit is much tastier than any you can buy in the supermarket.
In your vegetable garden, January is the time to harvest leeks and parsnips. This is also a good time to start chitting potatoes in a frost-free, sunny corner of the garden. Chitting means getting the potatoes to sprout: put them in a spot where the temperature will be about 10°C - start off growing them in containers.
A good early variety is the Charlotte potato. You can buy patio potato planters which are ideal for growing early spuds in small spaces. You can also place potato grow bags in the greenhouse, but if the weather changes and a frost sets in, you will need to protect them with horticultural fleece if your greenhouse isn't heated.
Gardening tools
You'll need a selection of basic tools to complete your January gardening tasks. The essentials include gloves to stop your hands from getting sore with thorns and splinters, pruning shears, long-handled pruners called loppers, a garden fork for turning over the soil and a hand trowel for your bedding plants.
A square shovel is a garden workhorse and can be used for a multitude of jobs, including digging holes for plants, lifting sods, edging-off and moving soil or dirt around. A sturdy rake is needed to whisk away debris, while a hoe will help you tend to your vegetable and perennial garden areas.
It's handy to have a garden hose, which is an appropriate length to reach all sections of your garden, including the furthest corners, although a watering can will suffice. If you're planning on moving any heavier plants, soil or rocks, a wheelbarrow will be useful.
Look after your tools, and your tools will look after you!
Make sure your gardening tools and equipment are safely stored in a dry environment, and as my grandad always used to say, never put them away dirty. Metal tools can go rusty quickly if you store them uncleaned and in a damp place.
Solent Plastics offers a large range of plastic storage solutions for garden tools and other outdoor items. Our Titan 300-litre outside storage locker box is perfect for even the largest items.
We also stock many choices and sizes of other outdoor storage solutions suitable for the garage, in the shed or in the greenhouse.
Give us a call on 01794 514478 for further details.