For the gardener, January can often be a bleak time of year with short days and sub-zero temperatures. It is a time when New Year’s resolutions have been made and it is a good time for the gardener to plan and prepare for the year ahead.
Planning
Think about what you would like to grow and any changes you would like to make to your garden in the year ahead.
Try and decide what sized crops you want and try and plan so that you get flowers throughout the year. Be careful of intensive cultivation of one crop as this will take its toll on the soil.
January is a good time to order seeds to avoid delays when seed suppliers get swamped with orders in the springtime.. Compile a list of seeds that will be required during the following 2-3 months and shop around to get the best prices.
Soil
It is not good practice to dig soil immediately after a thaw nor during snow as it is too wet on the surface to break up properly.
However, January is an ideal time for wheeling out manure and placing it about in handy heaps ready for spreading and digging as soon as conditions improve.
If the ground is in reasonable condition, go over beds where bulbs appear, using a small fork to aerate the soil to about 30mm deep
Vegetables
Outside
This is a good time to plan your vegetable patch and you should adopt a rotation system by dividing it into four areas (they don’t have to be equal). One of the areas should be devoted to strong feeders, one to medium and one to weak as listed below. The fourth area should be devoted to plants that will remain in the same position such as strawberries and rhubarb.
Strong feeders – artichokes, cauliflowers, cucumbers, potatoes, cabbages, leeks, pumpkins, sprouts, celery and tomatoes.
Medium feeders – chicory, garlic, khol rabi, swede, carrots, radishes, beetroot, salad greens, spinach, courgettes and onions.
Weak feeders – most peas, beans and pulses.
At this time of year, sprouts, broccoli, leeks, Jerusalem artichokes and kale can still be producing so you may be able to pick some.
The curds of cauliflowers will require protection as they start to form.
If you are intending grafting later in the spring, now is a good time to collect suitable shoots – select strong, well ripened shoots formed in the previous summer. Label them and then heel them in a trench about 100mm deep in a cool, shady place so that they are kept dormant until grafting time.
Lift and blanch chicory.
Force seakale and rhubarb later in the month. Roots need to be covered with either a special earthenware forcing pot like a chimney or with barrels, boxes or buckets. Place over the plant and heap up dead leaves which will the rhubarb crowns at a nice even temperature and encourage steady and early growth. Do only on really strong plants, three to four years old. The same process can also be carried out for seakale.
If you have an asparagus bed, now is a good time to mulch it - farmyard manure is ideal at about 50mm thick.
In the Greenhouse
Leeks and early tomatoes can be sown in the greenhouse and January can be a good time of the year to start cultivating spring vegetables and salad greens.
Make sure that any vegetables grown in a greenhouse are ventilated on sunny days.
Fruit and Berries
Pruning
Pruning berry canes will vary depending on the variety and pruning should not be carried out in temperatures of less than minus 5 deg C.
Redcurrants and Gooseberries can be vigorously pruned in January. Remove weak spurs and cut back others a little. Redcurrants thrive best on 2-3 year old wood so don’t be afraid to cut back the older wood. 8-12 shoots per bush is about right.
Blackcurrants thrive best on one year old spurs so in January cut back right to the young spurs in the lower third of the plant.
Raspberries should have already been trimmed but remove any weak, unpromising looking growth – you should have about 9-12 canes per metre.
Blackberries should be left unpruned at this time of year.
Grapevines should only have one spur to the left and right of the main rod.
Fruit tree pruning should really be done in Nov or Dec but it can be completed in January as the trees are usually dormant at this time of year. Also, it is a good time to remove old apple and pear trees or old stumps that are no longer required.
Trees can be sprayed with tar oil as this will kill any insect eggs and it cleans the trees of green, scummy growth. Follow instructions on container
Protect from birds - they will attack buds particularly pears, plums and gooseberries – use netting.
In the Greenhouse
If vines or fruit trees are grown in a greenhouse make sure they are ventilated on sunny days.
Flowers and Shrubs
The first flowers of the year can make an appearance in January such as snowdrops and sometimes daffodils.
Winter Jasmine, which thrives in rich loamy soils and prefers a sunny sheltered location, can also be in flower. Make sure they are properly secured to a wall or fence.
Witch hazel (hamamelis) which can grow to 4m high can flower right through from October.
Roses need some assistance at this time of year to get through the winter – protect them by banking up a good layer of soil and well rotted manure around the base of the plant.
Pruning
Many shrubs and plants can be cut back at this time of year.
Shrubs
On frost free days, remove old wood from ornamental shrubs. Too many old branches draw the plants resources and can lead to poor flowering. Be careful not to cut flowering wood and avoid cutting back shrubs that flower in the spring.
Hedges
When pruning wild hedges, be careful of disturbing wildlife like hibernating hedgehogs.
Trees
As the tree branches will be easier to see, you will be able to decide which ones need a trim.
In the Greenhouse
The greenhouse should be full of plants during January including winter flowering varieties such as primulas, cinerarias, calceolarias, cyclamen and begonias.
Make sure they are ventilated on frost free days using the top ventilators which should be closed at night. Decaying leaves are a sign of a stuffy atmosphere. The ideal temperature is 13-16 deg C by day and 7-10 deg C by night.
Many plants can be raised more readily from root cutting taken during January than in any other way. These include oriental poppies, anchusas and perennial verbascums.
The roots are cut into pieces 25-50mm in length and then pushed vertically, right end up, into sandy compost in well drained pots or boxes. The tops should be just level with the soil.
Other varieties such as gaillardias are simply strewn thinly over the surface of the soil and covered with a thin layer of compost.
They will need to be placed in a frame or greenhouse and watered moderately and, in late spring, they should have hardened off and the small plants can be established outdoors.
Take new chrysanthemum and carnation cuttings – get from side shoots a little way up the flowering stems - about 75mm in length are ideal. Insert firmly about 25mm into silver sand or mixed loam and silver sand.
Keep a watch on existing carnation and chrysanthemum cuttings as they may need to be put into single pots before the roots get tangled up.
Bring shrubs in pots into the greenhouse - place in a light airy place. Some plants such as bush roses should be sprayed with slightly warm water every morning. Also bring in Indian azeleas, lilacs and viburnums.
Prune climbers in the greenhouse such as passion flowers.
If you own a well heated greenhouse, you may start tuberous rooted begonias and gloxinias. Prepare deep seed trays with good drainage and a layer of moss peat. Set side by side and cover. Peat should be well wetted a few days before use. Keep moist.
Many bedding plants are annuals or biennials that need constantly replanting and frames make it possible to raise seedlings at this time of the year. When the first pair of leaves have formed, the plants can be pricked out, transplanting them a little further apart.
Don’t sow too early as the plants will mature too early.
Building
Either drain standpipes, taps and irrigation lines to avoid damage from water freezing in them or put lagging around them to enable use throughout the winter.
In dry spells, you can treat timber structures, including garden furniture with wood preservative and stain. It is also a good time to check and repair pergolas and arches.
January is a good time to consider installing garden lighting, water pipes and drainage and also lights and power sockets to sheds and outhouses.
Other Jobs
It’s a good idea to recycle your Christmas tree by shredding it for mulch if you have access to a shredder.
Don’t forget to put out food and water for hungry birds.
Move houseplants to a more sunny windowsill and water sparingly.
Regularly clear leaves from pond nets or rake out fallen leaves from un-netted ponds.