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Sowing seeds and gorgeous scents… Grow-How Tips for January

Elaine

Mid-January in the UK and I don’t know about you, but I find it a little less tempting to venture into the garden. But there are lots of tasks like early seed-sowing, scrubbing down patios and paths, and planning for winter scent etc. that will take our minds off the chill and put a gloss on our halos……

Sowing the Earlies

I know that you might be itching to start the new gardening year off, but please don’t be in too much of a hurry to sow bedding or veg plants, or buy tiny plugs of these things. They will take an awful lot of looking after, you don’t gain much in terms of early flowers/harvest, and they are more likely to be ready to plant outside long before the weather will allow you to do so.

There are however some plants that really do benefit from being sown very early in the year because they take a long time to mature. I am referring to things like pelargoniums, Lobelia, petunias, Coleus, Begonia, snapdragons (Antirrhinum), Iceland poppies, sweetpeas, dahlias, Cobaea, as well as leeks, chillies, basil, parsley, peppers, alpine strawberries and aubergines.

Low light and short days can be a real problem in winter especially in the north, so do make sure that the greenhouse or window-glass is lovely and clean and clear. The general sowing advice demands thin sowing of the seeds in pots or trays of seed compost and covered with vermiculite or fine grit; they should then be placed in a warm light position. But it’s essential to follow the instructions on individual seed-packets because some have quite quirky extra needs.

For instance, delphinium seeds will germinate better if the tray is kept in the fridge for 3 weeks, before being brought out to a temperature of 15-21 degrees. And Cobaea (the lovely cup and saucer vine) likes to have its seed soaked in tepid water for a couple of hours before being sown. Most, but not all, of these early seeds will get going much more readily given some heat, in the shape of a propagator or warming cable.

A few seeds are best sown REALLY early in the year…..

This can also be the best time to sow some seed of more exotic plants like ginger lilies, Strelitzia reginae (bird of paradise flower), Agapanthus and Canna. You need patience for some of these – they often think about things for a long time before deciding to grow. But by starting the seeds off early, you stand the best chance of having some plants large and strong enough to survive next winter.

Scents of Winter

Picture the scene – you’re wandering round the dark, cold, wet winter garden contemplating a return to the sofa with a cuppa and what remains of the Quality Street tin, when all of a sudden, you are assaulted by a wonderful scent wafting through the chilly air…What an unexpected pleasure, what a thrill among the drabness!! And the scent is often gloriously powerful, trying to lure the few insects around at the moment. Even if you haven’t got a garden, what about a pot of winter fragrance right by your front door? Irresistible, surely?

If you haven’t yet acquired some scented winter shrubs, go along to a good garden centre now in the depths of winter and …..sniff. Stick your nose into any flowering shrubs – look particularly at Chimonanthus praecox (to quote Isabel Bannerman from her luscious book ‘Scent Magic’ that I was given for Christmas: “..understated yet devastating in looks and scent”), Sarcococca, Daphne varieties, Hamamelis (witch hazel, as in the lovely feature pic this week), Lonicera fragrantissima and purpusii….. If they are not in flower yet, make a note in your diary to repeat the visit in mid-February and mid-March. Their scents may be spicy, or fruity, or sweet, so just see what you like. Don’t forget to check that your chosen site would suit the plant – some, like Sarcococca, are perfectly happy in part-shade, for instance.

Treat yourself to some glorious scent in your winter garden – how about a Daphne bholua like this?

See if your local large gardens, RHS or otherwise, offer Winter Walks – lots do, and they are a marvellous way to get ideas for winter scent. For instance, Wakehurst Place in West Sussex opened a wonderful new Winter Garden in January 2019. We Growbags have also explored the subject in more detail (and not a little sisterly banter!) in January 2018. Make sure that by next winter, you’ll have good reason to look forward to your winter garden.

Scrubbing Up

In the murky midwinter weather, moss and algae can creep across paving, decking and steps more readily, especially in shady areas. It usually looks messy and fairly horrible and even worse, it can be dangerously slippy – especially for older lady gardeners who sometimes scurry round the garden getting things done, but not always looking properly at what’s underfoot…………………..

So tackle these green patches now, using a sharp old kitchen knife or weeding tool along the paving cracks, and a wire brush or stiff broom on the surface. A power-washer is handy for washing away the debris, if you have such a thing. If you want to go down the chemical route, proprietary patio-cleaners are available, but do check that they won’t damage plants growing nearby or discolour the stone.

Clean away those slippery patches of moss and algae.

If there are areas that are persistently prone to this algal problem, can you prevent or at least slow up the re-growth? Maybe you could dig shallow channels alongside the paths, drives etc. and fill them with coarse gravel? This would usefully absorb the run-off. Chopping back overhanging branches would let more light and air dry up standing moisture. Think also about sprinkling coarse sand in steps or attaching chicken wire over decking which hugely improves grip.

Let’s keep safely on our feet as we go about our gardening business……..

Gardening Shorts

  • Little sessions on the borders to keep them weed free will pay off when you come to spread a mulch over the soil in early spring.
Keeping right on top of the weeding now will pay off handsomely later on.
  • Buy your seed potatoes and sit them in egg-boxes in a cool bright place to develop little stubby green shoots – this process is called ‘chitting’.
  • Scoop out any rotting leaves in garden ponds to prevent them from souring the water. Leave them on the pond side for a short while for any pond critters to creep back into the water.

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By the3growbags

We're three sisters who love gardening, plants and even the science of horticulture but we're not all experts. We'd love everyone even remotely interested in their gardens to be part of our blogsite.

6 replies on “Sowing seeds and gorgeous scents… Grow-How Tips for January”

Seed sowing is something to get on with now while the weather is cold and wet. I fear I’m becoming a fair weather gardener – or just getting older!

Linda, Caroline here, both of those definitions absolutely apply to me too. Me gardening looks very much like me ironing at the moment – something I do indoors with the radio on!

Hi Jill, Elaine here. Yes, you can, though they can be a little tricky. Oriental poppies are more usually propagated by root cuttings.Sow the seed THINLY into pots of seed compost, misting them with a spray of water and then not covering with more compost, but placing a folded newspaper over each pot. Put the pots in a cold place in your house, or in a cold frame, and check every 3-4 days for signs of the seeds sprouting, while keeping them damp. Once they have, take away the newspaper and put the pots in full sun on a windowsill. Once the seedlings are 4″ tall, you can plant them out into the garden. But BE CAREFUL! They are appallingly touchy about having their roots disturbed, so never thin the seedlings and plant them out with as much of the original rootball as you can possibly manage. Good luck!

Hi can you help me please? I friend just gave me a huge skimmia japonica… I think…. Bright red berries and lighter green leaves. He’s dropped it off with a tiny amount of roots really do I fear it was dug up a bit savagely ? what can I do to give it a good chance of survival please? It’s a huge shrub fir such a small root ball ?

Hi Carly, Elaine here. Laura and I have had a chat about this, and we think your best bet is to give all the top-growth a hard cutback (Skimmias are pretty tolerant of hard pruning anyway, and will break from old wood) to reduce the pressure on the meagre roots to sustain it all. You might even consider cutting it back to match the size of the top growth with the rootball. We reckon you should then plant it in a container or very sheltered partially-shaded part of the garden, sprinkling some mycorrhizal fungi granules (Rootgrow) around the roots, and keeping the area well-watered and mulched, to encourage fresh roots to develop. Good luck!

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