GARDEN JOBS FOR JANUARY.

It may be cold and the days short but there are plenty of jobs to get stuck into to prepare your garden for the year ahead.

Here’s our top 20 tasks to help you steal a march on the season.

 

In your beds, borders and pots;

  • Remove hellebore leaves at their base to help prevent fungal infections and show off the flowers.
  • Deadhead pansies and violas to prolong flowering.
  • Check your alpines to make sure they are not smothered by wet, soggy leaves.
  • Plan any new borders and pots, making a list of the plants you need to purchase.
  • Cut back and compost any plants that have gone soggy and collapsed.
  • Watch out for cold weather and be ready with some horticultural fleece or net curtain to cover and protect tender plants.
  • Work through your beds and borders removing all perennial weeds.
  • Buy pots of spring bulbs in flower and plant into spaces in your beds, borders and pots.
  • Start sowing seeds of half-hardy annuals like cornflowers.

In your veg patch;

  • Protect vegetables, particularly the leafy ones like kale and cabbages from hungry pigeons.
  • Start to force rhubarb.
  • Prune apple and pear trees.
  • Sow winter salads in your greenhouse or on a windowsill
  • Prune gooseberries, redcurrants and blackberries

Maintenance

  • Check your stored summer bulbs for rot. Throw away any that are affected.
  • Sort your seeds, throw away any that are out of date and stock up on any you are missing.
  • Wash pots and seed trays so they are clean and free from pest and disease.
  • Clean and sharpen all your garden tools.
  • Clear greenhouse and shed guttering and check water butt connections to guarantee a good supply of stored water throughout the summer.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!