Gardening tips for January

Gardening tips for January

Top RHS Tips for January

1. Recycle your Christmas tree by shredding it for mulch
2. Ventilate the greenhouse on sunny days
3. Dig over any vacant plots that have not been dug already
4. Repair and re-shape lawn edges
5. Inspect stored tubers of Dahlia, Begonia and Canna for rots or drying out
6. Prune apple and pear trees
7. Start forcing rhubarb
8. Plan your vegetable crop rotations for the coming season
9. Keep putting out food and water for hungry birds
10. Prepare a polythene shelter for outdoor peaches and nectarines, to protect them from peach leaf curl

Week 1

- Start thinking about buying and beginning to chit extra early potato tubers
- Get those secateurs and shear blades sharpened ready for use
- Established rhubarb plants can be forced by covering with a bucket
- Scrub outside benches down and in a dry spell re-coat with preservative

Week 2

- If it’s frosty then keep off grassy areas to avoid damage
- Start thinking about what you want to sow in the garden this year and gather together some seed catalogues
- Sow pelargoniums in a heated propagator
- Keep watering cans inside the greenhouse standing full of water, so you do not give plants an icy-cold shock
- Remove any wind damaged branches from the garden
- Thin out old clumps of kerria

Week 3

- Give the shed and greenhouse a good clean out
- Sweet Pea seeds can be sown in deep pots (or sweet pea tubes) and left to germinate in a warm place
- Tidy up climbing plants and remove any dead wood.
- Cut out dead, diseased and crossed branches from apple trees
- If you have tree ferns then protect the crown with a fleece or similar
- Annuals sown in the Autumn will need protecting from frost.
- The vegetable garden should be tidied up and any vegetable refuse collected and put on the compost heap.

Week 4

- Order Jerusalem artichoke tubers to plant in February or March
- If there’s large amounts of snow then brush it off larger shrubs and conifers to avoid branches breaking under the weight
- Sow begonia semperflorens in a heated propagator
- Firm down herbaceous plants that have been lifted by the frost, so keep your eye open or better still spend an afternoon firming them in with a little fine soil collected from mole hills
- Pot up lily bulbs in containers and place in conservatory or greenhouse to give an early summer show of colour
- Start a few Achimenes and gloxinias in the greenhouse for early flowering.
- Chrysanthemums, tree Carnations, Fuchsias, Heliotropes and Verbena cuttings can be started under gentle heat. Dahlias should be placed in gentle heat so that they produce plenty of cuttings.
- Broad Beans and Peas should be sown in succession in warm sheltered positions from the end of the month. Start Lettuces every two weeks. Try some onions in trays.
Asparagus, Broad Beans, Carrots, Herbs, Onions and Radishes can be forced using hot-beds. Those wishing to force Cauliflowers, Chicory, Lettuces, Rhubarb and Seakale should start now.