Gardening

Edition Thirty Four - January 2009

January, and the start of a new year; a time to shake off the gloom of the dreary, dark months of early winter..  January is a good month for wandering around  garden centres, evaluating what's new, or cheap in the sales, without the hassle of crowds. Staff seem to have more time to stop and answer queries or just chat after the mad rush of Christmas, and of course in the heated greenhouses with their glorious scent of indoor flowering plants it’s not difficult to imagine being in a tropical jungle.

January can be a mild month, which allows us to have a few hours pottering in the garden, getting some much valued fresh air and exercise, wrapped up well with plenty of layers of course. Gone are the days it seems, of closing our gardens up for the winter months, as recent milder winters in the UK allow all year round gardening. 

With the recession making itself felt, it might be well worth considering growing your own fruit and vegetables. Last year we turned the lower half of our garden into a kitchen garden and even in the first year lived well off our produce, with plenty still stacked in the freezers. This year should produce even more rewards. It's not difficult growing salad stuff, vegetables for summer and winter and fruit.

This year we hope to also make our own jams and chutneys from surplus produce - Why not give it a go?

Tips and jobs for the month..

(Depending on the weather of course!)

Bad weather tips and jobs

• If we have snow, try to clear it off the trees and shrubs as soon as you can, to stop it bending or breaking the branches. Use a long-handled broom to knock it off.
• Don't walk on frosty lawns as the black footprints left behind will take ages to disappear  
• In prolonged frosty weather keep a small area of your pond ice-free. This allows the escape of gases resulting from the decomposition of vegetation on the bottom of the pond which, if trapped, may asphyxiate the fish.
• After a sharp frost check that winter bedding such as wallflowers have not been lifted. If this happens await the thaw and firm the plants back. 
• Turn off the water supply to your outside tap and make sure there is no residue water in the pipes.
• Cover any tender plants with paper or horticultural fleece if frost is expected.
• Salt or grit paths and driveways if they get icy.

Indoor jobs

• Wash and disinfect any seed trays or pots that are going to be used during the coming season.
• You can make early sowings of fine seeded bedding plants like petunia, lobelia and fibrous rooted begonias in a heated propagator, but they cannot be put in the garden until June in the UK. Do you really want to nurture them for five months? Leave seed sowing until April if you can.. 
• Sow greenhouse tomatoes, peppers and aborigines in heat
• If you potted up bulbs such as hyacinths and narcissi for indoor display, bring them indoors when the buds are just showing. Place them first in a cool room with as light a position as possible to ensure the foliage grows slowly and evenly with getting `leggy`
• Take some time right now to plan this year's vegetable plot so that you know what to order.  
• Choose this year's flower seeds from your catalogues and place your orders now to be sure of your first choice of varieties.

Outdoor mild weather jobs

• If the grass continues to grow, mow it with the mower blades set high. Grass should be cut no lower than 2.5cm and the cuttings should be removed.
• On a mild day, empty the greenhouse, sweep it out well, wash it down, scrub down timbers and benches, and generally disinfect with Jeyes Fluid.
• Get the vegetable patch or allotment off to an early start, by warming the soil; Place a row of cloches or a stretch of clear polythene in a sunny area, in preparation for new sowings in a few weeks time.
• January is a great month for pruning most deciduous trees and shrubs. Do not prune spring flowering plants, like forsythia as you would be removing their spring flowers. These shrubs can be pruned when they have finished flowering.
• Plant roses or shrubs if the ground is not frozen.
• If your mower needs  sharpening, servicing or any new parts, this is the time to do it.

There is absolutely no excuse for piling on those extra pounds with all this gardening waiting to be done! And you'll feel really invigorated after a couple of hours outside on a winter day..