Gardening Jobs For January

It’s officially winter, the nights are long, the days dull, and we seem to have more rain than frost or snow – so what can we get done in the garden?

Many of us worry about what to prune and when. It’s always good to check in with the experts to ensure you get the most out of your garden all year round.

We’ve pulled together some top tips for gardening in January from our favourite gardening resources.

Fruit Tree Pruning

Before you start pruning it’s good to plan so you can bring out all the tools and equipment you need. Check to see if you will need a ladder (we recommend a Henchman Fully Adjustable Tripod Ladder), sharp secateurs or pruning saw.
Once you’ve gathered all the tools and equipment needed, you’re ready to start.

You want to aim to take off around 10-20% of the overall canopy in any one winter. Your aim is to take out a little bit of old wood each winter to help stimulate new growth. 

Ready for Spring, cleaning!

Get those scrubbing brushes out and get into the greenhouse and start shining up the windows. This will improve the growing environment and by removing the moss and grime, it’ll keep the pests away too.

Dig deep it’s cultivation time.

Soil cultivation is hard work but is well worth the time invested. Not only does it give you the opportunity to bury weeds and debris, it also is great to minimise compaction and allows you to further enrich the soil with fertilisers.

Time to recycle that Christmas Tree

If you had a cut Christmas Tree for your festivities, don’t just let it go to landfill repurpose it in your garden!

Leave the tree on a patio until all the needles fall off. Collect the needles and use as a mulch for plants such as blueberries.

Once you’ve reused the needles, you can plant the bare tree in the garden and use it for your climbers. Sweet peas will love climbing up and around the tree.

If you don’t have any use for your tree in the garden, have a look at your local council’s green waste scheme. Most councils will collect for free and chip them to make into compost or mulch.

Wildlife Gardening 

Encouraging wildlife into your garden during harsh winters is a relatively easy thing to do.

  • Placing fat blocks in wire cages, spreading mixed nuts, seeds and even over ripe apples and raisins will help to feed a variety of birds over winter.
  • Check bonfires for wildlife before lighting them. Hedgehogs, toads, and frogs like to hibernate within stacks of wood and leaves during the winter.
  • Melt a hole in the ice on ponds to allow wildlife to drink and enter and exit through the hole.
  • Provide a shallow dish of water at ground level, this will be a benefit for lots of wildlife during the winter.

For more gardening advice – check out our Winter Gardening Guide or head over to the RHS website or Gardener’s World, they each have more in-depth guides for gardening jobs each month. For more tips on wildlife gardening, head over to the RSPB website.