A New Year of Great Gardening

• We have now passed the Winter Equinox and the days are starting to lengthen again - Hooray!!

• This is a perfect time to start planning for the new season ahead - if you are sowing vegetables and flower seeds, many can be started off in a propagator or on a warm windowsill later in the month for an early start on the growing season

• Remove the old leaves of hellebores to expose the new flowers and continue to clear the old foliage of last year’s perennials

• The cold and frosts will probably have finally nipped the leaves of most half-hardy plants that were still going in December, so cut the stems back and mulch or move to a more sheltered spot. Fuchsias and geraniums (zonal pelargoniums) will usually survive with minimal care

• In the vegetable garden, continue to harvest winter veg such as brassicas, parsnips, and any remaining carrots, then dig over any vacant plots

• Plan your vegetable garden rotation - ideally on a three- or four-year cycle. Incorporate well-rotted manure into beds that will be growing potatoes, brassicas, and legumes, but do not manure beds for root vegetables

• Continue to ventilate greenhouses on warmer, sunnier days or give it a pre-Spring clean inside and out and ensure that the glass is clean to allow as much light in as possible

• Water Poinsettias sparingly and keep in a warm place away from draughts - see the January Newsletter on how to keep this Mexican native in full health until next Christmas

• As you enjoy your garden and the frosts that paint the stems and foliage, spare a thought for the birds, and put some food and water out - they will repay you later in the season by eating lots of the pests in your garden