Plants may be dormant but you don’t need to be
Once the excitement of the holidays has passed, January can have an empty feel about it, especially with a long stretch of winter ahead. It is a quiet time in the garden too, when most plants are dormant, so I like to seize the opportunity to get ahead (or more accurately catch up) with all the necessary tidying and pruning, and try to plan for the coming season to give me time to get organised for spring.
Winter is the time to prune freestanding apple and pear trees while their branches are bare. Shapely established trees may need little attention, but check for any dead, diseased or damaged wood and remove with clean, sharp tools. Branches can also become congested and should be thinned out where they cross or come too close. Vertical water shoots should also be cut out at their base, because only branches growing more horizontally will be fruitful. Only remove the necessary branches and renovate tangled old trees over several years, because overpruning promotes lots of vigorous vertical shoots, which are of no benefit at all.
Many other trees can be pruned during winter to improve their shape or lift their canopy to allow in more light. Avoid pruning cherries (Prunus) while dormant, however, to reduce the risk of silver-leaf disease. Seek professional advice for larger specimens, but find a qualified tree surgeon, because few things look worse in a garden than a mutilated tree.
Any remaining leaves can be collected up and old foliage cut back from herbaceous plants, although I proceed with caution at this time of year to try and avoid disturbing any
The priority now is to order seed potatoes and onion sets
wildlife they might be sheltering. I do make a point however, of cutting the leaves of hellebores back now, so that as their flower stems push upwards I get to enjoy every moment.
Planning sounds dreadfully mundane, but actually, there’s nothing nicer than cosying up indoors surrounded by colourful seed catalogues bursting with possibilities for the growing season ahead. Take time to work out what will fit in your vegetable plot, choosing a succession of crops to grow and harvest throughout the year, and some quick-croppers to sneak in among the slow-growing veg. The priority now is to order seed potatoes and onion sets which, along with summer bulbs, will go on sale at the end of the month. Think how your ornamental beds could be developed too, by lifting, dividing and moving the existing perennial plants in early spring, and perhaps adding more colour by growing your own annuals or perennials from seed. There’s nothing like the prospect of some riotous summer colour to counteract the January gloom. n