January is a good time to do garden chores

"Never let a leaf leave your yard." Tony LiCausi Bella Vista Garden Club

Even on days when the Garden Club meeting is canceled due to snow, there’s work that can be done to ensure a successful summer garden, Tony LiCausi said.

January is the time to get things ready, he said. First, take a look at your gardening tools. Some may need sharpening, some may need cleaning. Sometimes, it’s a good idea to oil the wooden handle on a well-used tool, so that it won’t break later in the year when it’s under stress.

It’s also the time for gardeners to plan. If you are going to order seeds or tubers through the mail, those orders should be placed by the end of January, he said.

As you order, know where each plant will end up. It’s not a bad idea to get a piece of graph paper and draw your garden. Planning means a smoother spring and a prettier summer, he said.

When the weather is clear, walk around your garden and check your mulch. Mulch should cover your soil year-round, LiCausi said. In the winter, it can be disturbed by wind, rain or even animals. When he checks his beds, he carries a bucket of mulch along and covers any soil that peeks through.

A clear day in January is the perfect time to repair your hardscape — walls, paths and raised beds. That kind of physical work will warm you up on a cold day, he promised.

You can also check for places where large leaves build up. Although he believes leaves can make a valuable mulch, you don’t want the large leaves piling up and giving insects and sometimes disease a place to breed. He has a special tool that he can use to stab the large leaves so they can be moved without stirring up the mulch underneath.

“Never let a leaf leave your yard,” LiCausi said. He cuts up some leaves and puts them into his traditional compost pile along with cuttings and kitchen waste. You need some brown to balance the green, he explained. That compost pile is constantly “tossed.”

But he also has a leaf row at the very back of his property for the rest of the leaves. The leaves that go into the row aren’t cut up and, usually, the pile isn’t mixed. Once the long row of leaves is wet, it tends to remain in place. Whenever he buys potting soil, he can use the cheapest brand and then burrow into the center of the leaf row and pull out humus.

It looks like pipe tobacco, he said. It’s usually a golden color and very crumbly. His homemade humus improves the cheapest potting soil so it’s better than the expensive brands.

It’s early to prune, LiCausi said. Most pruning should start in the middle of February.

The Garden Club website, www.bellavistagardenclub.com, has a regular feature about garden chores each month. Several members of the club, including LiCausi, work together on the site, club president Judy Jeffery said. They all agree that pruning to reshape a plant should wait for warmer weather, but emergency pruning when a limb is broken can be done immediately.

The website also recommends planting trees and shrubs in the winter when the plants are dormant, but be sure to water them before a hard freeze.

LiCausi also spends time in his greenhouse when it’s cold, but that’s just for fun, he said.