A New Year, and at long last the days are slowly beginning to uncurl, as daylight begins to push back the darkness. Snow drops mark the occasion as they shyly emerge from the frozen undergrowth to reveal their simple beauty. However, with Jack Frost knocking on doors and rattling on windows, there’s no doubt, we’re still in the throes of winter. Although, there may be offerings of the occasional sunny crisp day, this isn’t the time to be outside tilling beds and sowing seeds. A sudden drop of temperature and a bruising sky, will have Jack’s icy grip quickly tightening around your beds and borders, undoing all your hard work. So, don’t play into his hands. Instead, take this time as a period of planning and preparing for this year’s growing season. Write your lists, draw up plans and mark the latest seed catalogues with your ‘must-haves’ and reliable homegrown favourites.
But for those, like me, who simply can’t keep out of the garden, here are a few jobs you can be doing this month to keep bodies warm and green spaces up together.
CHRISTMAS TREE
If you still have it, your Christmas tree will have seen better days, but there is still so much it has to offer. By shredding it as chippings, these can be used as an ericaceous mulch for acid-loving plants, such as blueberries, rhododendrons and azaleas. If you have an allotment, chippings can help create paths between vegetable beds. The branches also make useful plant supports for peas and broad beans.
BEDS & BORDERS
Remove all weeds and fallen debris, and cut away last season’s dead perennial foliage. Ensure you do not cut into new growth as not only will you lose vital young shoots, but you could potentially kill the plant. Once tidied up and cleared away, mulch borders, ideally to the depth of six inches, with Dalefoot Composts ‘Lakeland Gold’. This will not only suppress weeds; it will help protect plants root balls and slowly release vital nutrients into the soil. Be careful not to cover over emerging perennials, shrubs or protruding bulb shoots as this will prevent the sunlight and warmth reaching them, and could encourage rot. By doing this now, not only are you smartening up your growing area, but the mulch will eventually breakdown into the soil, improving its structure.
PLANTS
Prolong winter annual flowers by deadheading regularly. Remove yellowing foliage and keep their pots, containers or hanging baskets, looking healthy with a generous supply of Dalefoot Composts ‘Wool Compost for Potting’.
Ornamental deciduous grasses can be cutdown to a few inches above the ground, allowing new growth to come through. Evergreen varieties shouldn’t be cut until late spring, but you can give them a tidy. Using gardening gloves, simply run your hands through the plants like a comb, scooping up the old debris in the process.
Hellebores will now be making their annual appearance in gardens. To ensure no one misses their drooping blooms, cut away foliage. Not only does this reveal the flower, but old foliage can suffer from unattractive black blotches known as hellebore leaf spot.
INDOOR SOWING
A heat supply in your greenhouse will give you the advantage of making early sowings, for plants such as sweet pea and aquilegia. If you’ve been growing sweat pea since last autumn, then pinch out the tips, this will encourage side-shoots, and result in a bushier plant.
Chillies need a long growing season, so it’s good to get them going over the next few weeks. Using Dalefoot Composts ‘Wool Compost for Seeds’, fill small pots, modules or trays, then tamp down and sow across the soil’s surface. Cover them over lightly, label and sit them in a tray of water. This allows the water to soak from the bottom up, which leaves the seeds undisturbed. Finally, place them somewhere warm to germinate, such as a war propagator matt, a heated greenhouse or a warm windowsill. Sweet peppers and aubergines can also be sown as they too require a long growing season.
Onion sets are a great option to easy onion growing, however, there are more varieties to choose from if you sow from seed. Remember, your sown seeds will require somewhere warm to germinate, such as a heated greenhouse. Once germinated, they will need added sunlight to grow on.
Microgreens, such as mustard and watercress, are a quick-growing crop. Simply sow into a seed tray or pot, fill with damp compost and place somewhere warm. Once they germinate, place your tray on a warm, sunny kitchen windowsill to grow on. There, they can be easily harvested to be used in various tasty meals.
POTATOES
Whether you have ordered them online or bought from your local garden nursery, start chitting your seed potatoes as soon as you have them. Simply stand tubers in empty egg boxes with their eyes facing upwards, then place in a sunny, warm position. Once shoots emerge, keep numbers to three or four, as this avoids energy being lost on weaker shoots. Six weeks on, and tubers should be ready for planting out.
MAINTENANCE
Continue to harvest brassicas, leeks, parsnips and carrots. Once vegetable beds are empty, remove weeds, and add a thick layer of either Dalefoot Composts ‘Wool Compost Double Strength’ or ‘Wool Compost for Vegetables and Salads’. By doing this now, it will give the compost ample time to work into the soil and release valuable nutrients, making beds ready-to-go in spring.
Any fruit or veg currently in storage should be checked regularly to make sure they haven’t spoilt. Turn them over, and remove any decaying or damaged produce. Ensure fruit isn’t touching one another, as the unrestricted air supply will keep them from rotting. If storage space is an issue, wrap your apples and pears in paper and place them together in a box, storing it somewhere cool and dry.
If you can, keep off the grass. The freezing weather combined with your weight can cause permanent damage to your prized lawn.
Frozen water can expand, forcing taps and pipes to burst. Therefore, protect external taps and pipes from frost. If you can, turn off the external water supply altogether.
With the prospect of snow, it’s important to brush fallen snow from greenhouses, cloches, fruit cages and cold frames. The extra weight can break the glass, plus the plants inside need all the warmth and light they can get. Remove snow from delicate evergreens and tree branches to prevent damage.
WILDLIFE
Keep bird-feeding stations topped up and prevent their water supply from freezing. If you have a fish pond and it does freeze, avoid smashing the ice as this can shock and kill the fish. Instead, try to melt the ice gently with warm water. Don’t worry about harming the fish as they tend to remain at the bottom of the pond during the winter.
Gardening is a rewarding, therapeutic and creative pastime. But you don’t always have to be in your green space to get those gardening ideas flowing. So, make a cup of tea, retreat to a cosy nook and let your mind wonder.
Ade
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BIOG
I’m Ade Sellars the ‘Good Life Gardener’, and I’m am award-winning garden writer, gardener, presenter, and content producer, with a passion for growing my own food in my kitchen garden. As well as running my own gardening business, I design kitchen gardens, write for magazines, produce tailored video content for gardening brands, flower shows and outdoor events and I regularly deliver talks and demonstrations around the country.
Website: www.adesellars.com
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YouTube: @TheGoodLifeGardener
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ade-sellars-the-good-life-gardener-7429ba42/