Your Garden In January

Planting containers

Make your garden and your plans for it to be your place of happiness! Even if it is raining or just plain gloomy and regardless of its size, a garden makes a wonderful escape place, an oasis from all that’s going on in the ‘real world’! Make your January garden or patio even more appealing by planting up some containers with winter bedding. These could be new pots, troughs, hanging baskets or the summer planters or containers that you simply re-use and re-plant.

What you choose depends on the size of the container, but it might be a pretty evergreen or winter flowering shrub for a larger pot of half barrel, or some winter and spring flowering bedding plants or early performing perennials for medium or smaller planters. 

If you choose a larger plant such as a shrub as the main plant, don’t forget to make use of the ‘free’ space in the container and plant this with cheery seasonal flowers for double-impact. If you’re re-using a container you should change the compost as it’ll not only be likely to be tired and lacking nutrients but may even harbour problems. I use old compost as a soil mulch or add it to places like my veg plot so it isn’t wasted. Just don’t re-use it in a container.

If there’s any bed or border space to spare, then you could treat yourself to some winter perfume – no, not the stuff in a bottle, but a richly scented winter flowering plant such as winter box, witch hazel or a winter-flowering viburnum or honeysuckle. They look lovely but their perfume is even better. So, put on a coat and escape into the garden with a steaming cup of coffee or tea and enjoy the calm and tranquillity it has to offer. Then make some notes about your plans for this vital place in the year ahead….and plan to make it even better!

Content By:

Pippa Greenwood