Get Gardening this January!
January is the perfect time to start planning ahead for your spring garden. It may be cold, dark and frosty and there are some jobs that need to be delayed but there are still lots of things you can do now if you have the time. Getting a head start can make life a lot easier come spring. The good news is that tidying up the garden is great exercise to keep you fit and Healthy.
Looking for some change?
If you are tired of your garden layout now is a very good time to plan a New garden, decide what you’d like to move and, where and what you are going to plant this year.
There are a good variety of bedding plants that will thrive at this time of year, and you will find a good variety of cyclamens, pansies and primulas available to plant. Look out and see if you can find any cowslips for sale, they are a native wildflower in the primula family with a lovely yellow flower. All of these plants will do very well in beds, pots and hanging baskets. There are some perennials that look great this time of year too such as hellebores and heathers.
Helping the birds on Frosty Mornings!
When the lawn is coated in frost stay off it. If you walk on it, later you will have yellow footprints over the grass.
When the ground is frozen it can be difficult for native birds to access food so now is the time when they need a helping hand, provide Fresh food and water regularly during the cold winter months.
Get a head start with your Fruit and Veg!
Now is a very good time to prune young freestanding Apple and Pear trees, to encourage branching and bushiness from the main stem. The pruning of many deciduous trees, Shrubs, and Hedges can be carried out from now throughout the dormant season. It is so much easier to see what you are doing when the branches are bare.
If you want to get your strawberries going early this year, why not cover them with a cloche, and they should come in about a month earlier than usual. If you have a rhubarb forcer, cover the plants up now, and remove it at the end of March.
