Ever the optimist, I, like many of you start the year with renewed hope, and whatever the years outcome there is one thing I can guarantee, some things will go right and some may not, but it matters less if you’re in the garden!
January is a month when the indoor tasks become a priority, every year I promise myself that I am going to prepare a plan for both the seasonal tasks I have to do and most importantly the sowing dates for the flowers and vegetables I hope to grow. It is also a month when, weather permitting I like to finish pruning fruit trees and inspect ornamental trees and shrubs for wind damage and dieback. It’s also easier to see where deciduous shrubs are congested and complete formative pruning.
If you lifted your Dahlia and Begonia tubers last year it’s a good idea to check on them every couple of weeks, the damp cool weather can encourage rots and moulds. Any you find that are showing signs should be dealt with by removing all rotting tubers or corms and dusting with a suitable fungicide (Check at your local Garden Centre for the best product to use).
If you have a large Rhubarb plant in your garden you could try forcing to produce young fresh stems. Start by digging up a section of the crown with a sharp spade, choose a part that has three or four strong dormant buds and lift carefully placing to one side. Refill the hole with garden soil mixed with ‘well-rotted’ compost. Retire to the potting shed with the lifted crown and select a pot large enough to fit the root and leave two inches (5cms) between the pot side and the root. Place a little multipurpose compost in the bottom of the pot place the root in the pot and fill around the sides with compost carefully firming as you go. The crown should be just above the surface, the same level as it was in the garden. Water the pot well and leave to drain, it shouldn’t need watering again. Place in a frost free place, Shed or garage and place a deep plastic bucket or old kitchen bin over the top of the crown. I use an old plastic dust bin, it covers the whole pot and gives enough height for the stems to grow quite long. You should be able to harvest the forced stems after about eight to ten weeks.
If you haven’t already done so go through your seed catalogues or garden magazines and make a list of those flowers and vegetables you would like to grow. Some you may choose to buy as plug plants others will only be available as seed. Plug plants are more expensive but avoid the need to heat the greenhouse to a high temperature and avoid problems with seed pests and diseases. They are ideal where you only need small quantities. If you plan to grow from seed then it is a good idea to draw up a sowing plan, especially if you are planning to grow salad crops or micro veg as they are sown at intervals throughout the season to give a continuous crop. Time spent working this out is time well spent as when you reach March and April there will be so many tasks to do in the garden it is easy to forget a sowing date if it’s not on your calendar.
Don’t forget to order your summer flowering bulbs corms and tubers, Gladioli, Lilies, Dahlias and Begonias, they are usually on sale in early spring. If you are buying from a nursery or Garden Centre make sure they are firm and free from mould with no shoots emerging.
Next month we will be sowing and planting, in the greenhouse and in the garden. Tidying and preparing perennial borders.
Happy gardening,
Martin S Walker – ‘A Yorkshire Gardener’
For all your gardening questions email;
gardening@yorkshirereporter.co.uk
we will try to include them in a future issue.
