January: A fresh start!
Hi ,
It’s a new year, and with it comes resolutions, and a great deal of excitement for the coming months. Read here for my Top 10 plants for your January garden, and get ready to force your Rhubarb to guarantee a bumper harvest.
If one of your New Year’s resolutions this year is to start gardening, I’ve got plenty of tips and tricks to help you get started. One of the best things you can do in January to prepare for the growing season is to plan what you’re going to plant and when. If planting up a vegetable patch is your plan, I have a handy vegetable planting calendar here to help you get started.
Houseplants are a wonderful way to brighten up your home again after you have taken down all of your vibrant and colourful festive decorations. This week is Houseplant Week UK 2024, running from Monday 8th of January to the 14th of January, the perfect opportunity to celebrate your indoor plants. Take this as the chance to invest in a couple of new plants, share your tried and true houseplant care tips, or learn something new about plants you already have. See my Houseplant Week UK competitions below for the chance to win some amazing prizes.
Make sure to keep an eye on ITV on Sunday mornings from 10am, where you can see me in upcoming features on Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh for some great gardening tips to start your year.
January is the perfect time to settle into the brand-new year and enjoy the lovely winter weather. For advice and my best gardening tips, visit my website and YouTube channel.
Happy gardening!
David
Gardening tip of the month
Prune your apple and pear trees
Whilst these trees are dormant over winter, it is the perfect time to cut them back so they are nice and tidy.
Make a plan and prepare
You want to be sure you have all the right equipment, and choose a good day to safely prune your fruit trees. If you need to use a ladder, you don’t really want to be climbing up on a wet and windy day. Make sure your secateurs are nice and sharp for clean cutting.
How much should you cut off?
For a winter prune of an apple or pear tree, you want to aim for 10 to 20% canopy removal. This is enough to ensure you have removed the old wood, stimulating the growth of new wood, but not too much that you risk damaging the tree.
Consider the shape
Try to think of this prune as an opportunity to ‘thin out’ rather than shave a few centimetres off the top. If you only cut the top branches, you will end up with a large quantity of non-fruiting shoots growing straight up. Try to prune by shortening various branches throughout to avoid this.
Keep an eye out for potential problems
You may find that a hard prune leads to ‘watershoot’ production. These crowd the crown if allowed to continue growing, so remove them. Take this opportunity to look out for signs of disease such as sunken patches, many dead branches, and cavities in the trunk or branches.
New Video from David
In this latest video, find out how to look after your feathered garden friends.
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Congratulations! Keep your eyes peeled for other competitions and winner announcements throughout January.
David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist, Broadcaster, and Author. David has worked with a number of the UK’s leading garden retailers as a plant buyer and strategic consultant. With more than 30 years experience, in horticulture, David is as passionate about plants now as he was when he bought his first plant at a village fete.
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