January Gardening Tips From Barnsdale Gardens

January Gardening Tips From Barnsdale Gardens: Happy New Year from the Barnsdale Gardens team! Do you think there are simply no jobs to be done in the garden in January? Think again!

A successful garden will always need pampering, and now is the time to lay the foundations for the growing season ahead! Below, the Barnsdale team share their tips for tasks to be achieved this month to spark the beginnings of a beautiful and fertile garden in 2025!

Make The Snow Go!

If you have had an influx of the white stuff falling where you live, it is advisable to knock off snow from shrubs and conifers.  This is particularly wise if it is forecast to freeze at night, as the weight may snap branches and therefore ruin the shape.

Cut Back Grasses

There will now be some varieties that have flopped over or the seed heads disintegrated enough to make them no longer valuable in our borders and beds so, in order to keep the garden looking at its best, these should now be cut back.

Sow Summer Cabbage

You can now get some of your cabbage sown for a summer harvest. These early ones need to be sown thinly in seed trays indoors as it is too early to sow directly inside. From the seed tray, they will be pricked out into modules and planted out from there.

Re-firm trees and Shrubs

With all the wet and windy weather we have been having recently, once the ground has dried a bit, it would be prudent to re-firm newly planted trees or shrubs and/or those that might be a bit top-heavy. Just using the heel of your boot to firm around the root area again should be more than enough.

Check for Disease with Stored Plants

It is important to keep checking stored tubers and corms, such as Dahlias, Gladioli and Begonia, just in case they start to suffer from disease. The main one will be grey mould (Botrytis) which will rot the plants, so if you see any signs then deal with it by cutting out the diseased part and restoring the plant.

Sow Sweet Pea Seeds

If you didn’t get a chance to do this at the back end of last year, then don’t worry as it’s not too late. At Barnsdale, the team use 15cm (6 ins) strips of newspaper to roll into tubes, as these will disintegrate into the soil. Once filled with compost all that’s needed is to push an individual seed into the compost and cover. Soak the seed in tap water overnight before sowing, as this will allow better germination.

Sow Hardy Perennial Seed

If you have a propagator, heated mat in a greenhouse, or just a windowsill, now is a good time to start sowing perennials indoors.

The team like to sow in modules, if possible because this eliminates the need to prick out. They aim for about three seeds per cell, although this is less easy to achieve with very small seeds. In modules, they use vermiculite to cover the seed, but generally use a thin layer of compost to cover when sowing into a seed tray. They will germinate faster given bottom heat of around 15°C  (59°F) This is an ideal method for growing Echinops.

There’s plenty to see and do all year round at Barnsdale Gardens!

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