Gardeners World Tips for January.
THE VILLAGE GARDENER
Gardeners World tips for January.
- Establish new colonies of snowdrops by purchasing the plants in flower.
- Remove diseased leaves from helebores.
- Press mistletoe berries into apple tree bark to, hopefully, have your own supply in future.
- Check the alpines don’t become smothered by leaves.
- Continue to prune climbing roses while dormant.
Environment team to do list.
- Check on begonia corms and dahlia tubers, remove any that show signs of rot.
- Make a list of jobs in your new diary.
- Order some peculiar seeds for a change.
- Dead head the pansies to keep them flowering.
- Feed the birds and make sure to keep breaking the ice on the water.
Here we go again, full of enthusiasm for the forthcoming year. A good start would be to get the mower serviced and sharpen all the pruning tools. Cleaning all those pots, which you have been promising yourself you will do, will help in controlling any disease. Open the greenhouse once a day to allow fresh air to circulate.
It can be the coldest time of the year right now but with days getting longer you will notice some things in the garden will start to move. The first thing to address are the worm casts on the lawn. Left alone these manage to catch any weed seed in the vicinity then proceed to germinate it. Just brush over the lawn to flatten them. Branches taken off the now defunct real Christmas tree can be placed around plants to help warm up the soil. Apparently, this method is used quite a bit on the continent. Be careful not to tread on any bulbs you may have planted in the lawn. If allowed, windowsills are great for bringing on early plants but don’t panic as those grown later cause less work and they do have a habit of catching up. Sowing lobelia seeds is a tedious job but the end result is spectacular if you can plant them thin enough. If ever you are not sure how well you should be doing just sneak a peek at Mr Crumps garden in Rectory close, if you can’t see over the fence go to Ieuans a couple of doors down as these two never get it wrong. I Have to mention Mr Frank Millar of Grange Close. Those of you that have met him will know what an incredible man he is. When the body stopped him gardening at ground level, veg trugs were the answer. Last year Frank grew some lovely stuff, mostly veg. Mr Millars past is an incredible story, which I hope he puts into print if he’s not too busy.
Christmas usually means that some of your gifts will be plants, Amaryllis are quite popular but along with pots of daffs are sometimes neglected. Just follow the advice on the label, it’s well worth it.
Just a note to say that British Soil will be closed until Jan 8th.
Take care and happy gardening.