What Needs Doing In The January Garden

The key words for January are "be prepared". The weather this month can be very unpredictable. Some years the weather changes one minute from a blanket of snow and plunging temperatures to warm almost spring like days, where tree buds feel safe to open early, and then back again to freezing temperatures that kill the tender blossoms. You may need to suddenly rush out to cover a tender shrub in burlap, or clear away heavy snow to avoid tree branches from breaking or plants from being deformed.

When winter is severe and we are confined indoors, January is the time to do indoor gardening activities. You can build a simple indoor water feature with a small aquarium pump, container of choice, and rocks and plants or other imaginative materials for the water to fall over. Catch up on some reading in garden books and magazines and plan for new plants, beddings, or experiments in your garden.

January brings more color with the still blooming autumn flowering cherry and the fragrant viburnum x. Winter Aconites and Snowdrops make their welcome appearance along with the evergreens and confers. Variagated leaves can even give an illusion of sunshine. Winter also makes it easier to notice the many interesting tree bark patterns and textures. There's the fuzzy magnolia buds, the bizaarly twisted corkscrew hazel and the silvery grey branches of the Pink Dogwood. There is beauty all around if we take a few minutes to have a look.