Peter's Tips for January

New Year, New Challenges!

Happy New Year to you all…

As I mentioned in November, it has been a challenging autumn for gardening – well it’s continued!! Very wet, windy, occasional frosts and snow….the ground is absolutely saturated!

The good news is the leaves are all down, but it’s too wet to collect up with a mower.

It’s been tough planting hedging and root balled trees recently – perhaps I’m in for planting bog plants!!

Wisterias, grape vines, apple and pear trees are now dormant and ready for pruning. It is so much easier to do once the leaves are off and you can see the shape and frame of the plant you need to tackle.

I will be spraying my fruit trees and vines with Vitax Winter Tree Wash, a natural product suitable for organic gardens.  Apply on a dry, wind-less day - you can only hope for one soon!

Some of the best jobs to do this month:

• Clear leaves and gutters, gullies and grates.
• Keep off soggy wet lawns and borders.
• Float a plastic ball or cork to stop ponds freezing over.
• Clear and collect leaves from paths, patios, decking and under hedges and compost.  You can also add Vitax Compost Maker to speed up the process.
• Once the leaves are cleared off the above spray with Vitax Patio & Path Cleaner to treat and remove algae and slime.

Caring for our birds:

With this continuous wet weather there is a need to clean out bird feeders, even if you have recently ticked this one off your list. Dismantle and wash in hot soapy. Rinse and allow to dry, and then disinfect with Vitax Greenhouse Disinfectant. 

This can be used on bird tables and bird baths. Pressure washing these also works. Wet, mouldy food in feeders and green water in bird baths is the quickest way to kill our feathered friends. They need all the help we can give them. 

Move feeders around the garden too and put composted or chipped bark where you have been feeding regularly to get rid of pathogens which build up in the ground.

Don’t forget the lawn!

Lawns will be suffering with moss – a sure sign of wetter conditions.  I treated a lawn recently with Vitax Moss Remover.  You could use Lawn Sand as some lawns are very yellow too.

Jobs still to do due to the weather!

• Finish planting spring flowering bulbs, garlic, autumn planting onion sets and shallots.
• Order seeds for next season.  A good excuse for armchair gardening when the weather is rough!
• Empty and remove saucers under pots outside.
• Group together plants in pots.  Move to a more sheltered corner to protect from winds and penetrating frosts.
• Have a good tidy up – shed, greenhouse and garage.  Clean tools by removing soil, dirt, rust with a wire brush.  Wipe down with an oily rag.  Treat wooden handles with wood preservative to stop wood worm.  Clean and sharpen cutting tools – secateurs, hedge shears, hoes etc.
• Book in power tools – mowers, hedge cutters, strimmer etc for a service.  You will feel very chuffed to see clean, sharpened tools!!
• Check all stored fruit, onions/shallots, potatoes for damage from mice/rats and remove any rotten items.
• Cover cabbages, brussel sprouts, kale etc with netting to protect from pigeons, they love brassicas.
• Use cloches or mini tunnels to protect salad crops from the wet and cold, fleece will also help.
• Bubble wrap your greenhouse or part of it to keep this warmer, check greenhouse heaters are working properly. 

I love looking at the structure of trees now the leaves are down. It’s great fun trying to work out which trees are which without looking at their leaves.  The bark is so different to feel/touch and look at too.  Many have mosses and lichen growing on them, holes made by woodpeckers, nuthatch and squirrels which become roosts for the bats, birds, insects, squirrels etc. 

Over the coming weeks if you have the room, plant an open-ground or root-balled tree.  It can be ornamental or fruiting.  The flowers will help bees and pollinators and the tree will create shade, absorb carbon dioxide and create oxygen.  Fruit will feed you or the wildlife – a win, win situation.  Use Vitax Q4 Rootmore in the planting hole to give it a great start.

Plants can also be dug up and moved or fill in gaps. Include scented plants such as roses, daphne, philadelphus, sweet peas, choisya, lavender, rosemary and herbs.

I hope many of you enjoyed a well-deserved break over the festive period, with some armchair gardening and planning for the season coming. Looking back at pictures taken earlier in the year always provide inspiration.

Now is a great time to get out and about with binoculars, thumb stick, good walking boots, warm coat and scarf – to blow away a few cobwebs.  Stop, look and listen on your amble and see what you can see…..gnarled old tree trunk nearby, mosses and lichen, birds feeding on berries, twittering of birds, smell of decaying leaves, the light shimmering on a rain drop held on an evergreen leaf, but whatever you do – enjoy!

My very best wishes for the new season.

Happy Gardening

Peter

About Peter Mills:

Peter has over 35 years experience in horticulture working in garden centres before becoming a radio gardening presenter with BBC Radio Southern Counties. Working as freelance consultant, Peter works with the RHS as an external advisor as well as trouble-shooting many gardening-related problems for a range of clients.