From the Potting Shed, with Chris Milborne

From the potting shed...

Our monthly gardening newsletter, written by our Great Amwell plant department colleague, Chris Milborne.

January 2024.

January brings a new year and a new beginning in the garden. The winter so far, has seemingly been wet and cloudy but also mild. January weather can be challenging, but even now if you look beneath the layer of decaying autumn leaves lying on the beds and borders, you can see the early green shoots of spring bulbs starting to push through, giving hope for the wonderful displays to come.

Although the garden may seem empty there are still colours to be found with evergreen plants. Many have interesting foliage with a range of colours and textures such as Conifers or the coloured stems of Cornus. The colourful tree bark of Acers and Birches are also beautiful as is Prunus Serrula, with its smooth, shiny, conker-brown bark.

With less gardening to do, now is the perfect time to plan ahead. Look at the garden and consider changes, as gardens evolve over time.

Consider a plan

What do you want to use the garden for? Will it be for the family, entertaining, to grow your own? Or perhaps, if time is limited, a low maintenance garden using shrubs and evergreen plants that would be more suitable?

If you have more time to spend in the garden you could think about growing fruit and vegetables and if space is limited, you can place them amongst other plants. I have grown Asparagus alongside herbaceous perennials and the colourful leaves of Beetroot and Kale also look good with flowering bedding plants.

Create colourful hanging baskets and seasonal containers that provide wonderful displays. These will, however, require time and effort when replanting, dead heading, feeding and watering, although growing topiary in containers does alleviate some of these procedures.

For year-round appeal, you could create a mixed border of spring bulbs, seasonal shrubs (flowering at different times of the year), herbaceous perennials, summer bulbs, roses, climbers and a few evergreens for winter interest. These plants can provide colour to catch the eye each month.

Visit your local Blue Diamond Garden Centre each month to see which seasonal plants are in stock. By doing this you will be able to select plants that give your garden the ‘wow factor’ for 12 months of the year rather than just in spring, summer, autumn or winter.

Why not visit some of the many gardens open to the public too. Here you will see so many different gardening styles to inspire you.  Public gardens provide interest throughout the year and provide ideas for colour and shape of plants that can be grown alongside one another to achieve amazing displays. Select a few plants that work well together with a view to recreating the display at home.

If you have limited time for gardening, consider growing easy-to-care-for shrubs such as Ribes, Forsythias, Spiraea, Philadelphus, Roses, Hydrangeas, Lavenders, Cistus, Potentillas, Hardy Fuchsias and ground covering plants to suppress the weeds.  These plants are low maintenance and once they are established after the first season, only general care, such as pruning, dead-heading and feeding is required.

To attract insects, birds, bees and butterflies, create a small pond or water feature and plant flowering shrubs such as Buddleias, Lavenders and single-flowered herbaceous perennials so that bees and butterflies can reach the nectar and pollen.

By selecting different species of perennials, you can have flowers right through to autumn and many have splendid flowers in a wide range of colours - purples, reds, oranges, bright yellow or pastel shades. Plant a variety of bulbs such as Alliums or early Crocus for Bumble Bees, choose single-flowered Dahlias.

Plant a tree!

Trees play a crucial role when attracting wildlife into the garden. Many flower and bear fruit and they also provide shelter and nesting sites. They very often have interesting bark which provides a home to a multitude of insects.  

Hardy annuals are easy to grow from seed as are herbs such as Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano and Sage. The spring weather in 2024 was terrible for the insect population and this in turn affected the whole wildlife food chain so it is very important for gardeners to provide a rich diversity of plant life to help numbers recover.

With this in mind, there has been an increased interest for growing a range of flowers for inside floral displays and many of these include bulbs and perennials such as Tulips, Gladiola, Dahlias and many hardy annuals. Perhaps one of the best examples is Sweet Pea.

When planning your garden, take into account which parts are sunny and which parts are shady (but do bear in mind this can very often change with the seasons). Importantly, consider the soil type too.

Here are a few handy tips that work well for me in January:

• When purchasing smaller plants such as 1 litre pot herbaceous plants, pot them up into a larger container to grow them on before planting out. By doing this, they are less prone to slug and snail damage and the established plant provides instant impact.
• Plant up Dahlia tubers and grow them on in a frost-free greenhouse or cold frame. You can then plant them out during the second week of May. The established plants grow more strongly and tubers don't rot in the wet soil conditions of early spring.
• With the recent winds and rain, check newly planted trees and shrubs have not been loosened in the damp soil and firm in again.
• Put the branches of your Christmas tree through the shredder and use as a mulch round Blueberries, Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Camellias.
• Prune Wisteria and cut back the side shoots to 2 to 3 buds from the main shoot - be careful not to remove new flower buds!

Early colour in the garden

Winter interest plants, especially plants with fragrant flowers are best when planted near doorways or grow them in containers and move them round as the season charges.

Some of my favourite plants for early colour include:

• Sarcococca - also known as 'Sweet’, ‘Winter’ or ‘Christmas Box’ with highly scented, small, fluffy white flowers. In late summer they develop glossy red or purple and black berries. Sarcococca originates from Asia, China and the Himalayas and it was the botanist and plant hunter Joseph Hooker’s expedition of 1847 to 1851 that found them in India and the Himalayas. Joseph Hooker later became the director of Kew Gardens and the Sarcococca Hookeriana was named in his honour.

• Skimmia with its scented flowers.

• Viburnum Tinus is a bushy evergreen shrub that makes a good background plant for winter trunks and stems. It has pink buds that burst open to clusters of white flowers in late winter. Grows in any position including shade.

• Jasmine Nudiflorum Winter Jasmine – with bright yellow flowers, a slightly untidy plant that needs the support of trellis or allow it to grow up through evergreen shrubs. It grows in any reasonable soil but avoid east facing, early morning sun or frosts as this can brown the petals.

• Other good plants include Daphne, Lonicera Fragrantissima, Witch Hazel and winter-flowering Heathers.

• Helleborus Niger, known as the ‘Christmas Rose’ usually flowers from January to February and many Hellebores also have shiny marbled foliage.

• The blue-green stems of evergreen Euphorbias make an interesting addition to a winter garden.

• Edgeworthia Chrysantha is an interesting shrub with clusters of fragrant yellow flowers on bare stems that open in late winter.

• Clusters of tiny Snow Drops with their pure white flowers are a welcome sight and for many the start of the new gardening year.

Grow your own - fun, healthy and tasty!

Seed potatoes, onion sets, shallots and garlic bulbs become available in late January in time for spring planting when conditions allow. Start planning your vegetable growing area by removing any perennial weeds and incorporate compost to your soil for extra early sowing. Cover the soil with fleece, cardboard or cloches to warm it slightly, and add compost to your soil for extra early sowing if the soil is easily cultivated and crumbly.

Fruit bushes such as Gooseberries, Blackcurrants and Red and White Currants can be pruned this month. Give standard Apple and Pear trees a winter prune - great exercise on a dry, cold, winter day! As a guide remove any crossing, dead, diseased or damaged branches then shorten the previous year’s growth for an open, wine glass shape to allow for good light and air circulation through the branches.

If the soil isn’t frozen or too wet, mulch around trees and shrubs with a good layer of garden compost, leaf mould or well-rotted farmyard manure (sold in bags for convenience). This helps the plants get off to a good start in spring with extra organic nutrients to feed the soil. It also helps to suppress weeds and to retain moisture.

Indoor Gardening

Conditions in January for houseplants can be at their most challenging with household temperature variations, low light, humidity and watering. To help compensate this, be careful that houseplants placed on windowsills are not damaged by cold overnight temperatures. Stand houseplants on trays of damp gravel as this helps with humidity in warm dry rooms.  Water sparingly but not allowed to dry out. In warm, centrally heated rooms, increase watering when plants start to come into active growth. Check light levels and move to a brighter, sunny position if in a dark room.

January is also a great time to enjoy your houseplants as they are an amazing group of plants, some with spectacular tropical flowers such as Orchids and Anthuriums, some with lush tropical foliage, some upright growth habits and others trailing with myriad leaf shapes and vibrant coloured leaves. Many have health benefits too such as cleaning impurities from the air as the leaves absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.

Easy-to-care for houseplants that can tolerate a wide range of conditions and clean the air, include Spathiphyllum, commonly known as the Peace Lily. This plant grows best in bright to shade light and tends to flower better when slightly pot bound.

Dracena and Yuccas enjoy bright conditions and an average room temperature and don't like to be over watered especially in winter months. Ficus varieties such as Ficus Robusta - the good old Rubber plant or Ficus Benjamina the weeping fig, have been popular houseplants since Victorian times with their exotic looking foliage. They require a warm bright spot with no cold draughts and the compost should be kept damp rather than allowed to dry out completely between watering.

Striking Anthuriums are native to South America growing in rain forests and produce coloured waxy flowers that last for many weeks plus shiny glossy leaves. They do best in a warm, shady position such as the kitchen or bathroom. Stand the plant on a saucer of damp pebbles or grit for the extra humidity that they like.

Monstera Deliciosa, commonly known as the Swiss Cheese plant is a fascinating climber native to tropical forests where the young plants crawl along the dark forest floor until reaching a tall tree allowing the plant to grow up into the sunlight. It has lush, deeply cut large leaves that allow flecks of sunlight to reach lower leaves. It enjoys a bright to partly shady spot and needs some support such as coir fibre support that has replaced, the moss pole, and the aerial roots, can be tucked into this.

Other interesting foliage plants include Aglaonema commonly known as Chinese Evergreen native to the tropical forest floor of Asia and Calathea with its interesting foliage. It enjoys a shady and humid environment.  

Other easy and interesting houseplants to grow include Cacti, Succulents, Palms, Philodendrons, Strelitzia, Sansevierias and Ferns with many different foliage types to choose from!

Summer Bulbs

Late January sees the arrival of summer-flowering bulbs such as Dahlias, Lilies, Gladioli, Nerines and Begonias all with their bright coloured flowers that give us all something to look forward to!

Don't forget to keep putting out food and water for the hungry birds, especially in the cold weather and ensure bird feeders and water bowls are kept clean to avoid diseases.

As always, enjoy your garden and make the most of any bright cold sunny days.