January Gardening Tips & Jobs for Guernsey Gardeners
There’s nothing better than getting back in the garden as the days begin to lengthen. January is a great time to get yourself organised for some busy and fun gardening months ahead! Here are our top January gardening tips and what’s looking good at Earlswood Garden Centre right now…
Plants on sale now and looking good this month:
- Winter bedding
- Camellias in flower
- Hellebores
- Planted Bulb Arrangements – Spring flowering bulbs “in the green”
- Seed potatoes now available – click here for advice on growing potatoes
- Summer flowering bulbs/tubers now in (Dahlias, lillies, begonias etc). Buy now and store while there’s a great selection!
- Rhubarb crowns
Top January Gardening Tips:
Recycle your Christmas tree
Either by shredding it for mulch or taking it to one of the States of Guernsey Christmas Tree recycling points – the nearest one to us is the Chouet Green Waste site.
Buy new seeds ready for sowing
We have a comprehensive range of Johnsons and Mr Fothergill’s flower, vegetable and herbs seeds.
Chit your seed potatoes ready for planting – find out more
Clean pots and greenhouses ready for spring
Dig over any vacant plots that have not been dug already
Disperse worm casts in lawns
This can be easily done using a stiff brush.
Prune apple and pear trees to remove any dead, damaged, congested and diseased branches.
Start forcing rhubarb
We sell terracotta forcing jars, or you can use an upturned bin or bucket. Forcing gives you sweeter stems earlier.
Keep putting out food and water for hungry birds
High fat content foods such as fat balls or peanuts will be particularly appreciated during cold spells.
More advice available here in our guide to Wild Bird Feeding.
Gather up and bin (don’t compost) diseased leaves from under roses and fruit.
This will help to limit the carry-over of disease from one season to the next. Applying a generous mulch helps to suppress the disease infection too. We stock Levington landscape bark which is perfect for this.
Check tree ties and stakes
Adjust those that are too tight and tighten those that are not. Make sure the top tie is near to the top of the stake so that it prevents the tree rubbing. Check that the stake is still sound and it’s preventing movement at the base of the tree trunk.
Turn and mix your compost heap
We sell organic compost improver which can be added to your compost heap to assist in the composting process. Make sure that it is moist throughout the whole pile. Shred Christmas wrapping paper (watch out for foiled bits and sellotape) and mix it into your compost heap.
Plan your garden for the year
On a sunny winter’s day it’s a great time to look around your garden and think about things that need moving, or new plants you want to add.