January 2024 Gardening Advice

submitted by Jennifer Fairfield, Garden Mill

As I sat down to write this, I had the song “All I Have to Do Is Dream” by the Everly Brothers going through my head. Probably because right now, that seems like all I can do about my gardens. While we are certainly not getting typical Michigan winter weather so far, it’s still not exactly gardening weather either. So I’ll content myself with dreaming about gardening for now. Though I might get in a little outdoor gardening, too…

While we’re dreaming about gardening, we can also be doing some planning and even some indoor gardening.

Indoors:

• This is a great time to making plans for the upcoming gardening season. Start by thinking about how your gardening season went last year. Then take a look at how your gardens look now (you may be able to do this from the warmth of your home, but a walk-about will give you a truer sense of things). Are there things you need to move because they aren’t doing well where they are? Do you want to add something to an area that is a little bare? Did you see a new variety of plant in your travels or in a magazine that you really want to try this year? Maybe there’s a plant that needs support, or there’s a perfect spot somewhere for a new sculpture or birdbath. January is a good time to start working on your list of wants, desires, and must-dos for spring. Once we get into the actual season, you’ll be too busy trying to keep up with the weeding, trimming, mulching, etc. to remember what you thought of months before. Write it down now!
• January is also a good time to figure out what seeds you’ll need for your vegetable and flower gardens this year. Seeds start showing up in stores soon (ours will be in by January 5 and will be available on our website as soon as they arrive), and catalogs have already begun to arrive in the mail. So take some time now to determine what you still have and what you need to stock up on. There are always lots of new varieties coming out, so maybe it’s time to try something new. Be sure to get your seeds early so that you get what you want.
• If, like me, you tend to neglect indoor plants much of the spring and summer, because you’re so busy tending to everything outdoors, the winter months are the time to make it up to them a little. Houseplant leaves tend to gather dust when you aren’t watching, which can keep the plants from getting enough sun. With the gray, dreary days we tend to have at this time of year, they need all the help they can get on that front. You can gently wipe dust off of leaves with a dusting cloth or wand or give your plants a shower to remove the dust. Move plants to a room with south-facing windows to make the most of what sun we do get at this time of year, but don’t put them so close to the windows that they touch the cold glass.
• Make sure your indoor plants are getting enough humidity now, too. If you don’t have a whole-house humidifier, one potential option would be to move all of your plants to a room where you can set up a humidifier for them. If that’s not possible, there are still ways to increase the humidity around them. One way is to put the plant on a tray of pebbles that is kept filled with water. The plant’s roots won’t be in the water all the time, but the evaporating water will humidify the air around the plant. You can also put trays of water out around the plants to accomplish the same thing.
• Indoor plants should not be fertilized for the next few months, because they need a resting period to allow them to concentrate on root growth, rather than foliage and flowers, for a little while. There are some exceptions to this rule, such as African violets, which need to be fertilized regularly to keep blooming.

Outdoors:

• Now would be a good time to take advantage of the somewhat warmer temperatures and lack of snow to finish mulching any plants you haven’t gotten to. And if you didn’t get burlap screens up around your evergreens, finish that task now, too. Screening evergreens with burlap can help to protect them from the drying winds of winter as well as hungry deer.
• When we do get snow (you know we will at some point), take a look at your trees — especially the evergreens — to see if the snow is weighing down branches. If so, it might be a good idea to try to clear the snow from them to prevent damage. Gently brush the snow off, but be careful not to bang on the branches, as that can do even more harm. Leave ice to melt naturally. It’s easy to do more harm than good if you try to remove ice that encases branches.
• And, of course, don’t forget the birds! Keeping the feeders clean and filled can be a time-consuming task but one that will bring lots of pleasure as you watch your feathered friends show their appreciation for all your hard work.
• Water is also important for your birds. With temperatures going below freezing, water is hard to find when you live outdoors, and birds can’t work faucets. Putting out a heated birdbath or a de-icer in your birdbath can be a literal lifesaver for birds during the winter.

For as little as $1 a month, you can keep Manchester-focused news coverage alive.

by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.