Gardening To Do List for January - Big Y® World Class Market®

OUTDOORS

Winter weather conditions.
Feed birds mixed seed and suet. Also, provide them with a constant water supply.

PLANNING

Plan spring and summer landscape changes. Consult a garden designer or contractor; study books and catalogs. Use the "Garden Design Workbook" from Fulcrum Publishing to keep track of your evolving landscape from year to year.

Plan your summer vegetable and herb gardens.

Now's the time to place orders from mail-order catalogs.

INDOORS

Fertilize houseplants showing signs of new growth with a water-soluble, organic houseplant fertilizer or fish emulsion.

Groom houseplants weekly, pinching back lightly to shape. Turn window plants for even growth. Protect plants from icy, drafty windows by pulling pots back at night. Repot plants that have outgrown their current pots.

TOOL TIP

The digging trowel is an essential tool, ideal for planting bulbs and seedlings, repotting plants in beds, digging out weeds, and general work close to existing plants.

CHORES AND MAINTENANCE

Prune woody plants while dormant, including fruit trees, summer and fall blooming shrubs and vines
Check for signs of overwintering insects and disease.
Spread wood ashes from the fireplace, but don't overdo it. Have the soil PH tested first.

WINTER PROTECTION

Avoid walking on frozen or frosty grass, which causes bare spots, damages the grass and encourages diseases.
Check winter mulches. Tender broadleaf evergreens are susceptible to sunscald and small plants are vulnerable to frost heave. Use the boughs of discarded Christmas trees to protect them.
Sweep or shake snow off the branches of evergreens, especially conifers.
Check the guy wires on newly planted trees that have heaved with the frost. Tighten wires, if necessary.