January Tasks

For most of us, January is not a favourite time in the garden, as it is often very cold and the ground is hardened with frost.  For the most hardy of us there are a number of tasks that can be done in the garden in January and it will free up time later in the year.

If the temperature is above zero, now is an excellent time to dig over the vegetable patch unless, of course, you still have winter vegetables in the ground.  Those who have planned well will still be harvesting cabbages, cauliflowers, Brussel sprouts, leeks, celeriac, parsnips, swedes and winter radishes.

January is also the time to warm up your seedbeds by covering them with sheets of polythene, old bits of carpet or cardboard.  You should now be feeding your soil with compost or well rotted manure, you can either dig it in or simply spread it over the surface so that it can become incorporated naturally.

You should now be buying your seed potatoes.  Put them in trays in single layers and keep them somewhere cool and light.  Within a few days the eyes will begin to sprout and form new shoots, these are called 'chits'.

Unless it is very cold and frosty, January is a good time for pruning dormant fruit trees, such as apples and pears.  Gooseberry and current bushes can also still be pruned.  You should also inspect stakes, wires and ties on trees and bushes, incase any are worn or damaged.

Now is also the time to force your rhubarb.  Cover the crown to keep it in darkness, this will produce earlier shoots.  You can get special forcing jars, but you can also use an upturned pot.  The shoots should have reached the top in about four weeks, you can then remove the jar and should see tender, pink stems.

Although January can be very cold, you should still inspect your vegetables for slugs, as they seem to survive fairly cold temparatures.  Check your cherries, plums, currents and gooseberries for aphids, as the new leaves can appear by the end of January, if the winter is mild.  You can spray fruit trees and bushes with a winter wash to help control aphids, mites and scale insects.  Grease bands on the trunks of fruit trees can be very effective.

If it is too cold to get out in the garden you can spend your time washing your pots and trays, ready for sowing and planting once the frost has gone.  You can also spend your time sitting by a warm fire and designing your sowing and planting plan for the year.