\n\t \n<\/p>\n
\n\tHappy new year everyone. <\/strong><\/em><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tI hope you're enjoying all the gardening goodies you were given at Christmas as, once people know that you're interested in horticulture, it's guaranteed that future presents will include items connected to the garden.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tIt might be difficult to get motivated when you're still fighting your way through sweets and the extras you bought or baked just in case a bus stopped outside your house over the New Year. As we know time waits for no one and there is plenty to be getting on with. The R H S has a top ten of things to do in January:-<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t1. Recycle your old xmas tree by shredding it to use as mulch<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t2. Clean pots and greenhouse ready for spring.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t3. Dig over any vacant plots.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t4. Disperse worm casts on lawn.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t5. Inspect stored dahlia and begonia tubers for drying out and rot.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t6. prune apple and pear trees.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t7. Start forcing rhubarb, covering with a large upturned pot.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t8. Plan your vegetable crop rotation for the coming season.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t9. Keep putting out food and water for the birds.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t10. If you have a peach or nectarine plant now is is the time to cover it with polythene to protect against peach leaf curl.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tBroad beans can be sown now in pots and put in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tSow lettuce, brassicas, spinach and salad onions indoors for extra early crops. Onion seed can be planted if you have a heated propagator.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tTrees and shrubs can still be moved now as long as the ground is not frozen. Bare root plants can still be put in now. With the weather so changeable please make sure that any stakes and ties are as they should be. Wind rock can ruin shrubs and trees. If we have snow we must not let it build up on shrubs if we can help it as branches can break which will invariably spoil the shape of the plant. Wisteria can be trimmed now, cut back to 2 or 3 buds but avoid cutting any flower buds. January is the last chance to sow seeds of native trees and shrubs that need frost to germinate.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tSummer bulbs and seed potatoes will be available to purchase from the middle of the month, just be careful and keep them safe from frosts. Cut some of the old leaves off hellebores to expose the flowers.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tHaving watched Blue Planet 2 and seen the devastation caused by plastic on marine life, I will be making it my duty to always have a bag on me when I visit a garden centre as we do when supermarket shopping. It’s just a pity that all pots and trays are plastic. It comes down to economics and unless governments pass legislation this will continue, but anything we can do will help.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tHave a happy New Year. Happy gardening.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Happy new year everyone. I hope you're enjoying all the gardening goodies you were given at Christmas as, once people know that you're interested in horticulture, it's guaranteed that future presents will include items connected to the garden. It might be difficult to get motivated when you're still fighting your way through sweets and the extras you bought or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-13V","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16489,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=16489","url_meta":{"origin":4087,"position":0},"title":"A Programme for the Coming Year","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th December 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER A Programme for the Coming Year January. Just browse the seed catalogues and, if you do venture into the garden, consider whether you\u2019re going to make things worse by compacting the soil and trampling the bulbs that are doing their best to come up straight. February. Weather\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Items for January 2026"","block_context":{"text":"New Items for January 2026","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=429"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14916,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14916","url_meta":{"origin":4087,"position":1},"title":"The Festive Season Is Upon Us","author":"Alan Williams","date":"10th December 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER The Festive Season Is Upon Us With the festive season upon us, the garden gets a bit neglected. That is probably one of the reasons artistic gardeners say we should leave the dead stalks of perennials standing, as it gives structure to the plot. It\u2019s bad enough\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4543,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4543","url_meta":{"origin":4087,"position":2},"title":"RHS ‘must do’ List for May","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th April 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 RHS garden 'must do' list for May 1. Open greenhouse vents and doors. 2. Earth up potatoes and plant any remaining. 3. Plant out Summer bedding at the end of the month. As long as Derek the weather man gives his ok. 4. Water early in the morning and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13036,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13036","url_meta":{"origin":4087,"position":3},"title":"Gardening Thoughts From The Silver Foxes","author":"Alan Williams","date":"14th March 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER Gardening Thoughts From The Silver Foxes The gardening thoughts this month come from the Silver Foxes, who meet their probation officers at the Library Hub on Fridays. Reduce the buds on roses for bigger blooms if you\u2019re going to enter the village show. Cut back dogwoods and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12169,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12169","url_meta":{"origin":4087,"position":4},"title":"Ryland & Dave – Bionic Men","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st September 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER Tips from Venwood\u2019s bionic men Ryland & Dave Ryland Get to work on lawns by scarifying and seeding. Hold back on buying Spring flowering bulbs as they will be cheaper by the end of the month. Water butts are a must, stop putting it off. Collect seeds\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/waterCan-2-257x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7404,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=7404","url_meta":{"origin":4087,"position":5},"title":"RHS Tips and Advice for April","author":"Alan Williams","date":"2nd April 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 RHS tips this month Protect fruit blossom from late frosts. Tie in climbing and rambling roses. Start to feed citrus plants. Sow new lawns or repair patches. Hardy annuals can be sown outdoors. Environment team tips for April Don't forget to put on sunblock, even in April. Try to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4087"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4087"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4089,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4087\/revisions\/4089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}