What to do in January
This is the first of my 2021 monthly "10 things for your garden" series...10 things to plant, like, love and do...just some gentle nudges to keep your space looking great
Love Clematis. You can have a clematis flowering 12 months of the year. Clematis cirrhosa "Freckles" flowers from Nov to March, but is really looking great in dark January. Plant it in Spring or Autumn
Do plan your garden for the year. Order seeds? need to repair a path? When and how to do these -just plan. Top tip, be realistic with how many seeds you will need. You can always order more!
Plant those tulip bulbs you find behind the watering can in the shed or have just forgotten about. In pots. They may be a bit shorter and flower a bot later, but flower they will
4. Like your Wisteria by pruning it. Cut back last summers shoots to 2/3 buds
5. Do remove any heavy snow off trees, shrubs, greenhouses etc... so its weight doesn't break branches / greenhouse panels
6. Love your hellebore flowers by removing their leaves. Not only will you see the gorgeous flowers better, but prevent disease like downy mildew too.
7. Like your houseplants by remembering to water and mist them regularly
8. Plant a tree! Planting season for trees is November to March, Obviously its it very cold and the ground is frozen - don't. Any garden, no matter how small, is improved by a tree. its good for you, the birds and the planet. If your garden is small, a container is fine. In my own garden, in the courtyard, I have a magnolia and a eucalyptus in large pots and am planning to add a Sumac tree in 2021. Japanese maples look good too.
9. Like your back. Get out on a blue sky sunny day and weed - little and often is good and spare the aching back after long spring days when teh weeds have taken over
10. Love your wildlife. The berries should nearly be all gone and the ground may be frozen, so feed the birds and wildlife. Also, make sure your make sure they have fresh, unfrozen water. Since I added a still planted water bowl to my garden, the number of species that visit has shot up. My favourites? The nuthatches and yellow wagtails. We have even got a true murmuration of starlings for the first time in 12 years.