January Gardening Tips

• Pots and borders
• Trees and shrubs
• Bulbs

• Greenhouse
• The Indoor garden
• Home grown food

• Lawns, hedges, paths & drives
• Bits and pieces
• Soils, mulching, weed control, etc

• Check Pansies and Primulas for greenfly. It may seem early but they often have aphids on the undersides of leaves now. Spray with Bug Clear Ultra to rid your plants of them.


• Cut the side branches off your old Christmas tree and use these to cover tender plants in the garden. This will keep the worst of the frost off and yet allow the plant to breathe at the same time.


• Remove any blotched leaves from Christmas and Lenten Roses (Hellebores) to prevent this disease spreading to the new leaves. Add to your collection from our exciting new colours!


• Sow Begonia, Lobelia, Salvia and Pelargonium in a heated greenhouse or propagator.


• If you didn’t sow in autumn, sweet peas can be sown now for the earliest blooms.


• There is still time to take root cuttings of Phlox, Verbascum and Oriental Poppies.


• Fork your borders over between established plants but keep off if the soil is wet. Fork in a good base fertiliser such as Vitax Q4. Mulch with ‘Revive’ or chipped bark to keep the weeds down.

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• Apply a general fertiliser to all borders. Growmore, Vitax Q4, Bonemeal or Blood Fish and Bone are good.


• Gather up and burn diseased leaves from under roses and fruit. This will help to limit the carry-over of disease from one season to the next. Applying a generous mulch helps to suppress the disease infection too. ‘Revive’ or chipped bark is perfect for this.


• Check tree ties and stakes. Adjust those that are too tight and tighten those that are not! Make sure the top tie is near to the top of the stake so that it prevents the tree rubbing. Make certain that the stake is still sound and that it isn’t the tree that is holding the stake up!


• Plant when the weather is mild and when the soil is not wet, sticky or frozen hard. Improve the planting area with well-rotted compost or manure. For bare root plants work some Cleeve Nursery Multipurpose Compost around the roots and add a handful of Blood Fish and Bone or Bonemeal. Stake and tie securely.


• Protect from deer and rabbits where damage is likely. The new product ‘Grazers’ should do this for you. Keep plants weed free and mulch well.

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• Buy pots of snowdrops that are now coming into flower. They establish much easier when transplanted in active growth. Winter Aconites too.


• Plant pots of Iris reticulata that will flower soon too.


• Established bulb shoots will be showing above ground now and are very tough so will not need protecting.


• Daffodils in pots outside will suffer if the pot is not protected from wind driven frosts so move them to more a more sheltered spot.

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• Regularly remove dead and dying leaves and flowers from plants in the greenhouse. If you leave them, you may have problems with grey mould developing. Regular ventilation on warm days will help to avoid this too.


• Spray with a systemic fungicide (Fungus Fighter) at the first sign of disease and do this early in the day so that the tops of plants are dry before nightfall. Regular micro feeding with freshly brewed compost tea [only available locally from Cleeve Nursery] will avoid most disease problems inside and outside the greenhouse.


• Keep a sharp watch for greenfly as they often appear inside this month. Spray with Provado Bug Clear as soon as any appear.


• Sow Ailsa Craig onion seed into cell packs for planting out after the last frost.


• Wash the glass down to allow maximum amount of light to enter. By using a sterilant such as Jeyes Greenhouse Cleaner you will also kill any over wintering pests such as red spider mite and their eggs.


• Move potted strawberries inside to begin forcing them for really early crops. They should have experienced enough cold outside to break dormancy by now.

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• Mist over the tops of houseplants regularly especially if they are in a room with central heating.


• Clean houseplant leaves with leaf shine. Dusty leaves will struggle in low light at this time of year and polished ones look so much better!


• Group plants together, the display will look better, but more importantly, they grow better together as a group.


• Feed indoor plants monthly; but make sure the root ball is wet first.


• Water carefully; it is better to let plants dry out between waterings and then give a thorough soak than a small amount regularly.


• Keep Citrus cool unless they are actively growing.
• If your living room is looking bare now that you have taken out the Christmas tree and taken down the decorations, why not liven up the room with a houseplant! We have a great range available with plants for every situation.


• Central heating can dry out houseplants, so stand the pots in groups on a tray of damp Hydroleca or pebbles. This will create a humid atmosphere around the plants but do avoid over watering and position them where they can make the most of the winter daylight.


• Keep deadheading Cyclamen, African Violets, Christmas Cacti and Azaleas to encourage more flowers to open. Don't forget to keep Cyclamen and Azaleas as cool as possible for prolonged flowering.


• When the days and nights are very cold, move plants away from cold windowsills into a warmer place!

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• Buy seed potatoes and set them up to shoot [‘chitting’]. Early varieties like ‘Rocket’ will benefit but later varieties will yield better too if encouraged into growth before planting out. If you have room for only one variety, grow ‘Charlotte’.


• Plant shallots. They prefer soil that hasn’t been used to grow onions, leeks or shallots for several years before and a well manured plot. Delay planting Onion sets until warmer.


• Cover a piece of cultivated veg patch to trap the weak winter sun’s warmth so that early sowings of carrots, parsnips, peas and other vegetables can be made. Use clear polythene and lay it flat on the soil but weight down the edges to stop it blowing away.


• Dig garden lime into areas where you are planning to grow cabbages, sprouts, etc. This will help combat club root disease. Aim for pH 7.5. Some resistant varieties are now available and worth trying.


• Plant fruit trees, bushes, canes and rhubarb.
• Prune apples and pear trees but not if they are fan, cordon or espalier trained as these should be done in summer. Prune also grapevines, currants (black, red and white), berries (rasp, black, tay, goose and logan).


• Cover established rhubarb crowns with manure and a rhubarb forcing pot (or old chimney).


• Dig a trench for runner beans and fill the bottom with well-rotted compost or Farmyard Manure.


• Spray ‘Growing Success Winter Tree Wash’ to clear fruit of over-wintering pests.


• Cover strawberries with cloches to begin to force an early crop.


• If you are itching to get growing this years’ veg, sow turnips, lettuce, stump rooted carrots, early cabbage, cauliflower and spinach in trays on the windowsill. These could be planted out in February.


• Pick off yellowing leaves from sprouts and other brassicas. They may harbour downey mildew and other diseases if left. Sprouts and purple sprouting may need staking.


• Keep a sharp watch out for pigeon damage during cold periods and net your crops as soon as you see damage starting.

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• Mowing the lawn in winter has now become a feature of winter gardening. As long as the lawn is not very wet and the grass is not frozen there is no reason why you should not continue to mow. Don’t have the blades set low. Try to fit in getting the mower serviced and don’t leave it to the last moment to take it to the service engineer otherwise you may have a disappointing wait.


• New hedges should be planted now, especially those we sell as bareroot plants like beech, yew, box and our British native mix.


• Cure dangerous slippery paths with Jeyes Path and Patio Cleaner. It improves the look of the hard surface as well as making it safer by removing moss, algae, lichens and stains.


• Brush worm casts off your lawn as they appear.

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• Clean and disinfect plant trays and pots to prevent carry over of disease from one year to the next. Bamboo canes can harbour pests inside their hollow centres (especially red spider mites) so treat these or burn them and buy new.


• Turn and mix your compost heap. Add more Garotta compost maker and make sure that it is moist throughout the whole pile. Shred Christmas wrapping paper and mix it into your compost heap.


• Cut the branches off your real Christmas tree and use them to protect tender plants from hard weather until spring. Alternatively, put the branches in your local garden green waste disposal scheme.


• Empty water butts and give them a thorough clean.


• Use Bubble Wrap to lag plant containers against frost and wind damage. Frost susceptible plants can be protected too - use a cover of lightweight horticultural Fleece. Its’ fine webbing allows the plant to breath but keeps frost off leaves and lets light in. We have both available. We also stock ready-made polythene or fleece tunnels.

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• Check your soil pH. Testing kits are widely available from garden centres and nurseries. For most plants adding garden lime to the soil will give better results if the soil is acid. For lime hating plants it may be necessary to add sulphur chips to make the soil more acid.


• Pull out those weeds that germinated in autumn. Speedwell [‘Bird’s Eye], Herb Robert and Cleavers or Goose-grass are the most common and will make rapid growth as days lengthen.


• Apply bark mulch to areas between plants that are free of weeds and now fully moistened by winter rain. This will trap the moisture in and keep the weeds down in summer.


• When digging clay soil, mix in Vitax Clay Breaker and well-rotted organic matter and they will improve the structure to make it easier to cultivate in future.


• Gather and remove hibernating snails from under prostrate plants and flat stones. Removing them now will reduce their impact on your plants later.
  

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• Remove any fallen leaves.


• Stop the whole surface freezing over by floating a ball on the surface ~ never smash the ice if there are fish in the water!


• Plant shrubs and trees that will provide food and shelter for wildlife in winter. Rowan, Cotoneaster, Berberis, Amelanchier, Crataegus, Buddleja, Crab apples, Pyracantha, ivy and hollies are good examples.

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