The new year is always a great time to start afresh and get back into the garden. Remove any tired or spent annuals and fill the gaps with new babies that will flower into autumn. Planting fresh herbs and veggies will also help you stick to those healthy New Year’s resolutions. Happy 2021, dear green fingers, and please do remember that your Life is A Garden!

What to do in the January garden

• There is still enough time to sow Eschsholzia, Lobelia, and Phlox for an abundance of summer and autumn colour.
• Water regularly during dry spells.
• Put out snail bait after rainfall or after watering in the evening.
• If yellow patches appear on the lawn, this is an almost sure sign of lawn caterpillar, also known as armyworm.

Tip: Use a thick, moist towel placed over a patch at night. If lawn caterpillars are the culprit, they will still be foraging on the lawn in the morning when you lift the towel. Consult your local GCA Garden Centre for a remedy.

• Colourful Begonias are available in trays to liven up semi-shade and shady areas.
• Deadhead hydrangeas and use the beautiful blooms in dry arrangements.
• A light summer pruning of your roses will help to extend quality flowering into late autumn.
• Gently prune lavender plants that have stopped flowering to encourage an autumn flush.
• Mulch, mulch, mulch to beat the heat and save water.

What to do in the January veggie garden

• Most veggies need 60 to 90 days to harvest so if we are sowing in January, we need to think about what we will eat fresh from the garden in March and April. Never sow the whole seed packet at once as it literally contains from around 50 to several hundred seeds, so rather sow in 14-day intervals to achieve a continuous harvest.