With the start of a new year and spring now in sight, many gardeners are getting excited about their green spaces once more. The winter months may not offer the best conditions for gardening, but they do provide ample time and opportunity to hit the ground running with early planting and maintenance.
With several plant varieties dormant during the winter months, many gardens are also blank canvases, making now the ideal time to let your imagination run wild and dream up an outdoor space you can enjoy season after season.
As a leading supplier of British made garden products, we offer the handcrafted goodies gardeners need to add those finishing touches. Before you do, you’ll want to tick off these January gardening jobs.
Keep that compost heap topped up by clearing away any spent foliage, including soggy stems, collapsed perennials and deadheaded bedding plants. By composting and recycling organic waste, you can benefit from a nutrient-rich soil later down the line as well as help the environment. Composting significantly reduces landfill waste.
The compost you make now will come in handy all year round, providing the organic matter that improves soil in autumn and spring, and ensuring the moisture retaining mulch that’ll prove invaluable during the summer months.
There are many plants that can be sown in January. Chillies, aubergines, basil, geraniums, sweet peas and dahlias are just some of the varieties that can be sown indoors at this time of year and enjoyed later in spring or summer. For the best results, use a good quality, peat-free compost.
If the frosts have passed, roses, shrubs, hedges, ornamental trees, snowdrops and hellebores can be planted now to establish before their growing period in early spring.
Now is the time to take cuttings from existing plants that you want to see more of during the year ahead. By taking cuttings, you don’t have to spend money on seeds or seedlings. Cuttings can also be cultivated quickly, reliably and sustainably. During January, cuttings can be taken from hardwoods and selected perennials.
Garden wildlife needs your support more than ever at this time of year so be sure to keep your bird feeders full. Bird boxes should also be checked to ensure they are securely fitted. You should replace old, damaged or worn boxes with new ones too.