Gardening Jobs to do in January

January is a great time of year to make a start on those cleaning and tidying jobs outside.

The Greenhouse

On wet days why not put the radio on and set to tidying the green house. Start by removing all the benching, pots and removable items. Once this is done you can clean the greenhouse using a mild disinfectant (sold at Meadow Grange nursery).

I know it is cold outside but cleaning the green house is an important job at this time of year. Getting rid of all those unwanted bugs and diseases in all of the out of reach places is really important. On a dry day leaving the greenhouse door open for a couple of hours is also a good idea to let some air flow in. When everything has been put back tidily, check through all opened seed packets to see if there are any out of date or empty packets, throw them away and make a list of what you need to buy at the garden centre.

Vegetable Patches and Flower Beds

If you have a vegetable patch or containers for seed potatoes don’t forget to chit your seed potatoes ready for planting. It is much better to buy your seed potatoes from a garden centre than use old ones you have at home or ones you buy from a supermarket. To chit your potatoes stand them upright in a frost-free place until the new shoots start appearing, once these shoots are about an inch long, they are ready to plant. Now is a good time to plant broad beans and sweet pea seeds too. Don’t forget to check your flower beds and remove old spotted and dead leaves which are laying on the ground, remove weeds which have survived the start of the Winter.

Wrap up warm and be careful of slipping on any wet wood or paving on the patio