We know its cold and dark outside but for the optimistic gardener, Spring is only around the corner and soon your garden will be bursting full of life.
You can use this quieter time of Winter to start getting organised ready for a fresh- new gardening season.
1. Order your bulbs and seeds. One gardening task you can carry out without being forced outside into the cold and rain is ordering your bulbs and seeds. Do some online research into some new plants that will work well in your garden and order anything that captures your interest.
If your gardening tools and equipment are a little worse for wear you could treat yourself to a new trowel or rake.
2. Prepare your borders and flower beds. Clear your borders back to the bare soil. Lift any weeds and put them in your garden waste bin, they can not be composted as the seeds will germinate into more pesky weeds (the eternal gardener’s nemesis).
You can cut back herbaceous perennials, but you could leave them until Spring if you want to encourage active wildlife in your garden.
Nurture the soil with some compost or manure if your soil is workable.
3. Clean out your greenhouse ready to propagate seeds and cuttings in the Spring. Remove moss and grime from the outside of the greenhouse with a disinfectant. Make sure you disinfect the internal glass too to remove pest and diseases before introducing your plants.
Sweep the floor and clean and organise your posts and trays. Check for any structural damage and make and necessary repairs.
4. Through January and February, you can plant seeds which need longer to grow. You will need to propagated them in a warm environment so perhaps start them off on a window sill or in your newly cleaned greenhouse.
5. Time to go on a bug hunt and remove any dormant pests. It will save having to battle them on your plants in the Spring and Summer. Have a look for aphid colonies that could be sheltering in the perennial plants.
6. Make use of the seasons elements by collecting rainfall. Tap water can be slightly alkaline and plants like Rhododendrons and Camellias can benefit from rainfall instead.
7. Carry out some maintenance on fences and gates. The weather may have caused damage so act quickly in your response and carry out repairs before any damage gets worse.
On dry winter days remove moss and mildew from fence panels with a stiff brush. This will help to maintain them and prepare them for new stain or paint when the weather is warmer.
8. Escape to the shed to carry out some maintenance on your gardening tools. Clean, sharpen and oil them to prepare them for use in the Spring. Using dirty tools can spread bacteria through plants and allowing their condition to deteriorate will affect the longevity of the tools themselves.
Some simple detergent in hot water with a scouring pad will give a good clean and sharpened oiled tools will perform better. Don’t forget to clean trowels, rakes and spades.
9. Start composting. Why not set up a compost area in your garden? If you don’t want to use a compost bin you could build your own using spare wood.
Compost is composed of organic waste and provides lovely rich matter to help your plants thrive. You can include grass clippings and vegetable peelings. Make sure you turn the compost every month to aerate it.
10. Support the wildlife by putting out bird seed. The birds will appreciate finding easily accessible sources of food as the ground can be hard and impenetrable.
So, there we have plenty to be getting on with over the next month to keep us busy before heading into Spring when everything will look a little brighter.