What Should A Gardener Remember To Do In January? List Of Works. Photo

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What Should A Gardener Remember To Do In January? List Of Works. Photo
What Should A Gardener Remember To Do In January? List Of Works. Photo

Video: What Should A Gardener Remember To Do In January? List Of Works. Photo

Video: What Should A Gardener Remember To Do In January? List Of Works. Photo
Video: Why I Love January as a Gardener 2024, March
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The first month of the year for gardeners is usually calm and free from work. On the street - frost, everything is covered with snow, holidays … But the gardener is somehow uncomfortable. Something seems to be missing. Every day, from morning to evening, we got used to communicating with our garden, to constant work in the garden or vegetable garden. But, here's what an interesting thing turns out, right now, in January, you can take up the garden without fuss and rush. And there is something! In this article, we will recall some of the essential points that it is important not to miss a gardener in January.

What should a gardener remember to do in January?
What should a gardener remember to do in January?

Content:

  • Walking in the garden with a notebook and a pen
  • Rodent control
  • If there is no snow in the garden
  • Checking seeds for germination
  • January crops
  • Seed stratification
  • Cuttings and maintenance of container crops in storage

Walking in the garden with a notebook and a pen

Let's say that January is snowy and frosty in your area. So force yourself every day to go out into the garden and walk in the fresh air. It is good for both your health and your garden. It is in the snow-swept garden that all the lines and bends are clearly visible. It is clear what and where it is planted incorrectly, not in its place, but where it is completely empty.

Take a walk with a notepad and pencil, make notes for the future, do not rely on memory. A good idea for future plantings is difficult to come by, but easy to leave, forgotten.

Get practical benefits from such January walks: check whether the plants are securely covered, whether it is necessary to fix, strengthen, add somewhere? Examine the trunks and trunks, whether they are bare, is there enough snow? Or, on the contrary, whether more snow has adhered than is necessary on the branches, is it not necessary to gently (!) Shake it off so that the branches do not break under its weight (especially important for columnar coniferous plants).

When walking in the garden in January, check to see if you need help
When walking in the garden in January, check to see if you need help

Rodent control

All kinds of shelters made by us not only insulate the plants, but, unfortunately, serve as a home for unwanted rodents in the garden - mice. And the problem is not that they bask under a heap of foliage or straw, but that they don't need to dine and go out. The bark of young seedlings is a perfectly acceptable food in winter. How to fight?

The recommended poison in the near-barrel circle is not the best option (remember about pets), but plastic bottles with sunflower oil buried up to the neck are quite suitable. Or mechanical protection of boles with garden bandages or even tights and nets from vegetables will also do. Such protection, performed to the desired height, will also save you from another gnawing misfortune - from hares. And there are regions where there is no escape from them in winter.

If there is no snow in the garden

What if there is no snow in your area? In the case of a lack of snow and frost, it is worth increasing the insulation for plants as much as possible - mulching with a thick layer of plant residues. And in the event of thaws, the shelter should be slightly opened, allowing cold air to penetrate inside.

Separately, it is worth remembering some horticultural crops with a short period of deep physiological rest - for example, apricot. He deeply "sleeps" until about the New Year, and then only low temperatures restrain him. So, in the event of a prolonged January thaw, his kidneys may begin to lose their protective functions and wake up. The inevitable frosts in the second half of winter will destroy them.

Here the gardener has nothing to do but pray. But it is much more effective to grow zoned varieties and crops suitable specifically for your area with all climatic features. And just in January, it is worthwhile to study what grows without problems in your area and is presented on the garden market.

Regions with thaws, when the temperature rises above zero, have a significant plus. It is possible to do some time consuming gardening activities, significantly saving your spring time. For example, trim trees and shrubs.

In the January thaw, it is quite possible to harvest cuttings for spring grafting. Strong annual growths from the middle of the crown are best suited for this. Just do not cut them directly into cuttings, if possible, keep the whole branches. So less of them will evaporate valuable moisture.

In principle, you can buy planting material from other gardeners in your region, but subject to shipment at positive temperatures.

If neither snow nor other precipitation is expected, assess the scale of the problem, and if it is real (not dismantled, for example, the water supply system), carry out the water-charging irrigation again.

In regions with thaws in January, you can do some time-consuming gardening activities, such as trimming trees and shrubs
In regions with thaws in January, you can do some time-consuming gardening activities, such as trimming trees and shrubs

Checking seeds for germination

January is a great time to prepare for the new season, as February with its sowing hassle is just around the corner. Therefore, calmly, slowly, carefully, meticulously, we select seeds of vegetables and ornamental plants, containers for sowing and soil mixtures in garden stores.

When buying seeds, be sure to look at the manufacturing date and expiration date. As a matter of fact, it is in January that you can check seeds for germination - both newly purchased and from old stocks. To do this, put a dozen seeds on a damp cloth, wrap them in a polyethylene bag and put them in a warm place.

See what happened in a couple of weeks. Have you all been hooked? Excellent! Half bite? Also good, but in the spring you will need to sow more and denser. Nothing wrong? To the trash! And to look for fresh, high-quality, there is time.

January crops

By the way, in January, many are already "really" sowing, in large quantities. The fact is that there are 3 reasons for sowing so early:

  • Some plants have a long growing season. For example, Shabo carnation. From emergence to flowering, it takes about 5, or even 6 months. If you want to start blooming in June - sow in January. Or, say, if you sow seeds of garden strawberries in January, then this year there is a chance to taste the first berries.
  • Some gardeners have a strong desire to get ahead of their neighbors and decorate their plot with flowering annuals in May. Plant petunias already in January, and your neighbors will clatter their tongues and wonder: why is it so early?
  • Some people cannot live without fresh greens in winter: celery, spinach, onions, watercress and others, someone grows it for sale - in winter demand is great.

Of course, you must understand that growing seedlings already in January will require skill, space and technical investments (shelving, lighting, heating). But the result will also please. If you feel that you cannot cope, then it is worth postponing until February-March. The fact is that with such an early cultivation, it is very important and difficult to maintain the correct balance between temperature, lighting, watering and feeding.

Seed stratification

Speaking of seeds, the beginning of the year is the best time to start seed stratification. If you have forgotten, then in short: the seeds of many crops require a long period of time to sprout (from a month to 1.5 years). But all this time, the seeds must be held in a humid environment, with air access and at low temperatures.

Seeds of what crops? Many conifers (junipers, yew, cedar pines), all our favorite fruit trees (apple, pear, plum, peach, cherry), oaks, maples and others. You can, of course, entrust everything to nature and just bury the seeds in the garden in the fall (but there is a risk of finding little in the spring). Better to keep things under control.

For this, the seeds are soaked for a day in cold filtered water (spring, thawed). Then it is folded into a polyethylene bag (container) with wet agroperlite, vermiculite, coconut substrate, paper napkins, etc., placed on the lower shelf of the refrigerator at a temperature of + 4 … + 5 degrees and stored until April.

Do not forget to periodically take out and check the seeds. If mold appears, treat with a fungicide (peroxide diluted 1:10 with water is suitable). If dry, spray with water; if hatched, sow in containers. But, most importantly, do not forget to first study the plant that you are going to sow: whether it needs stratification, and if so, what kind.

The beginning of the year is the best time to start seed stratification
The beginning of the year is the best time to start seed stratification

Cuttings and maintenance of container crops in storage

By the way, in January you can start growing some plants not from seeds, but by rooting cuttings. So you can quickly and free of charge get seedlings in large quantities, with a complete repetition of all varietal properties (as opposed to seed reproduction). Don't think it's easy. With some cultures, you can not stand on ceremony (Fortune euonymus, karyopteris, cauliflower, lavender and rosemary), and some will have to tinker with (spruce, thuja, juniper, yew).

Remember that not only potatoes, carrots and jams with pickles are stored in your basement, but also container seedlings and other planting material. Despite the fact that they wait in the wings until spring, they cannot be left completely without control.

Seedlings in containers are sometimes, rarely and not abundantly, but water them, preventing the earthen coma from drying out. Bulbs, tubers and roots should be inspected for dryness and decay. It is better to discard the spoiled ones mercilessly, and clean the slightly damaged ones and treat them with a fungicide. Yes, I almost forgot, because sometimes cuttings for grafting and rooting are stored in the basement. The same thing - check if necessary - moisten or wipe and treat against mold.

Dear Readers! On long January evenings, do not be too lazy to read something on the horticultural topic: about new plants, agricultural techniques and preparations, tools and devices, and, I'm not afraid of this word, about new ideologies of gardening. There is always a job for a true gardener. Even in January! Happy holidays and less worries!

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