Yes, January is the time for dreaming about this years garden. With the cold and snow of my mid-Atlantic growing area, there is not much that can be done outside. But there are things you can be doing to get ready for the dream garden in your head.
Now is the time to begin planning for this years garden.
If you have kept a garden journal or took photos of your last years garden, you can refer to them when planning for this year. Now is the time to evaluate what worked and what didn’t; things you would like to do different, or something to change, or to try new. You can evaluate the design and structure of the garden. The location of the garden, the walkways and structures, anything that needs worked on or changed.
This is a wonderful time of slowness when you can peruse magazines, garden books, and the internet for garden ideas for this year. It is still a little early to begin starting seeds for our area, but that time will be here soon enough.
(A job waiting for me as soon as workable, that didn’t get completed last fall!)
Some photos of the big snow storm of recent…..one of the biggest snowfalls that I can remember in a number of years.
It has snowed most every day for over a week now.
Temperature have been below 0 many nights. Too cold for me!
It took us a couple of days to dig out and clear the walkways and drive.
Things to do in January
- Plan this years garden
- Peruse seed catalogs
- Start this years garden journal, noting things that you would like to try new or change
- Inventory your old seeds
- Decide what and how much you would like to plant this year
- Gather items needed for seed starting and get things set up
- Prune as needed
- Learn new things
- Start seeds of slow germinating plants and some cool season plants
- Shovel snow on to your growing beds
- Get ideas from books and the computer
- Keep up with houseplant care and overwintered plants
- Keep wildlife animal feeding and watering stations filled
- Clean and organize your garden shed or storage area
- Clean and sharpen your garden tools
Are you getting anxious to get back to gardening again?
Here’s to a wonderful, bountiful garden of your dreams!
margiesgarden.com 