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Garden Notes for January 2024.

January is a good time to plan ahead. The short days and inclement weather mean that it is difficult to do a great deal but it need not stop you from going out and having a good look around and seeing how it will all develop in the coming season.

At the first opportunity when the lawn surface is reasonably dry, sweep it with a birch besom so as to scatter the worm cast and to remove dead grass.

Look carefully at trees, shrubs and roses planted during the autumn and if they have been loosened by wind or frost, re-firm them thoroughly.

Clear away the stems and roots of savoy and other green crops that have finished and push on with the winter cultivation whenever this is possible.

Sow onion seed under cover for early crops. Preparation of the seed bed for onions that will be planted out in March will always encourage good growth. Onions appreciate wood ash, so sprinkle the ash from your log fires (not coal fires) over the area where the onions are to grow, and lightly prick it into the soil to make sure it is well incorporated.

If you have a greenhouse, consider some early salad crops that can be raised with a little gentle heat to get them started. When seed potatoes are available keep them in a place where there is no danger of frost penetrating, and stand the tubers eye-ends uppermost in shallow boxes to begin the sprouting process. Old egg trays or boxes are a good way of providing the right support and separation required.

Towards the end of January prune fuchsias. Cut back all side growth hard, to about 2 mm from the stem.

Herbs, like sage and thyme, can be replanted in the last week of January. Large clumps can be pulled apart into smaller pieces, keep the roots attached. If the frost has killed any of the top growth of the sage, it can be pruned back and new growth will develop later.

Azaleas can be increased by the technique known as ‘layering’ in January. Choose branches of last year’s growth that can be easily bent down to soil level. Then make a slit halfway through the branch on the lower side where it touches the soil. Peg it firmly into the ground in a mixture of peat and sand.

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