The garden in January

Summer dreams begin here

Usually we let the garden take care of itself from November to March. If it snows – which it almost never does in Denmark – I remove it from shrubs and small trees to avoid broken branches and twigs. In December, small delicate shrubs (like my cat. 3 rhododendrons) are covered in loose straw, which serves as a kind of “winter coat”. A quick walk in round the garden, shake off the snow or remove broken branches and twigs. Larger gardening projects will be on hold until spring.

The small snowdrops are already and have been in place since November. I usually buy pots with snowdrops and enjoy them for as long as they bloom. After flowering, I let them wilt in the garden shed and save the bulbs for planting in my garden in autumn. I do the same with mini daffodils (tête-à-tête) and the garden is almost full by now.

Some garden experts recommend that you can plant pots with spring flowers as early as January. I can only advise against that, even though it looks beautifully in the magazines. However, the weather in Denmark is so wet they either rot before you enjoy them, or they freeze to death, so wait until March or April. Why spend a fortune on flowers that will not survive?

Weeds tend to grow all year, especially when covered up, so weeding once or twice might be the solution to that issue.

What’s missing for the new season?

January is a splendid month to have a look at what’s missing of tools and equipment for the new season in the garden. With the first rays of sunshine, I tend to get itchy fingers and cannot wait to get started planting and sowing in the garden and greenhouse.

Over the years I’ve bought a lot, so it’s pretty limited what I’m missing. But then there is the time to plan, order seeds – and dream wonderful garden dreams.