January To Do list

Landscape design

Pruning trees, vines, climbing roses and groundcovers

Pruning is somehow a mystery and most of us are scared to confront this task in our garden. We are scared of damaging or even kill our plants! Winter is the best time to prune certain plants like deciduous trees, some vines (not Wisteria or Honeysuckles), climbing roses and groundcovers. Not only because the plant is dormant but also is the best time to observe the structure of it without leaves. Even though pruning is a massive topic that occupies whole books or various chapters in horticulture books, there are a couple of rules of thumb that will help you prune with confidence. One of them is to never prune or remove more than 1/3 of the plant at one time (the exception to this rule might be roses). And secondly, always stick to removing the 3Ds: disease, damaged and dead wood. I would add overcrossing branching or those obstructing the original or structure or shape you are willing give to your plant.

Houseplants
Because the lighting has diminished outside, the plants enter a quiet and kind of dormant period (they grow less). Reduce watering and fertilizing applications. The heating dries the atmosphere around the plants. A shallow dish with pebbles filled with water and placing your pots with plants on top, might help increase the humidity for them. Spraying the leaves of the indoor plants is a common practice but I do not recommend it. It does not makes a difference in the amount of humidity it provides to the plant atmosphere and it can also promote diseases. A good practice to add to that of preparing pebbles and water in a dish below the pot is to keep or group your plants. This makes a difference. Not only it creates a beautiful ambience in your room, but benefit the plant creating a bigger area where the evaporation of water diminishes. Plus plants love to be connected to other plants!

Bulbs

Add side dressing of compost to spring bulbs at the first sign of their leaves starting to emerge from the soil. Do not be tempted to add high nitrogen fertilizers as they will promote a lot of foliage and tend to predispose to rot and diseases.

Garden tools

It is a perfect moment to take care of your garden tools. Check which of them would need replacing. Shears, loppers and pruning saws would appreciate a clean-up with a piece of steel wool and linseed oil. Sharpen the blades with a sharpening tool and wipe them with a piece of cloth with more oil in it. For shovels, spades and trowels, would benefit also from a cleaning with steel wool and then sharpen the edges.

Edible landscaping

It is time to start thinking about starting some seeds indoors. As soon as they germinate you should provide with sufficient light for the seedlings so they don’t grow thin and tall. This weakens the plants and predispose them to diseases and most likely failure to survive. A windowsill, unfortunately, does not provide enough lighting for the seedlings. We recommend you put them under growth lights. If this is not a possibility, you can take them to a greenhouse or cold frame outdoors where they are protected from the frosts, but get sufficient outdoor light during the rest of the day. If this situation is also not feasible, then I suggest you wait a little bit longer to start growing your seeds indoors. This will guarantee the weather is milder outside, for when is time to take the seedling out (once they have germinated).

Microgreens

It is a great time to start growing microgreens indoors. Follow the link and video below to learn more about this great opportunity for those that have little space o no garden at all but would love to start growing your own food.

Kitchen garden

Planning

Plan crop rotations and succession plantings. Review those crops that did well last year and select the ones you liked and did well.

Seeds

Keep studying seed catalogues and order seeds

Protect your crops
Continue to protect your crops from frost and wind like we mentioned in our previous newsletter.

Test and amend your soil
It continues to be a good opportunity to send soil samples to analyze to a soil lab. Having a soil test done guarantees that you are only adding the nutrients that you need so the plants grow healthier in the season.

We offer services of taking and preparing samples of soil to send to the lab. Contact us for more information.

Let’s keep gardening together!