Essential January Gardening Jobs
Even though this is the coldest time of year and the garden in January may look asleep, this is a month for optimism and there are lots of January gardening jobs to do. By the end of the January pearly white snowdrops and golden winter aconites will appear, making a perfect partnership with hellebores. Those brave plants that are flowering at this time of year can be admired without distraction. There is always something to see and do in the garden!
1.Cut Flowers for Scent in the House
Gather sprigs of flowers from your garden for sustainable cut flowers . There is a lot to choose from if you plant wisely. Shrubs that are flowering at the moment include one of my favourites, the winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima and L. x purpusii) which fills the air with wonderful scent. I made a mistake when I planted mine right at the end of the garden a couple of years ago… it really needs to be nearer the door to be fully appreciated. However, they make good cut plants and I bring stems into the house. 
2. What is the Best Plant to Plant in January?
Most winter flowering plants, although flowers are small, have very good scent in order to attract the few insects that are around. It is possible to plant all year round in southern areas of the UK, provided the ground isn’t frozen. If you want scent in the garden, there are several good choices. I’ve written an article on winter flowers here Many of these choices have scent.
Others to try include Daphne mezereum, Viburnum farreri, V. x bodnantense, Mahonia japonica and M.Charity. Avoid my mistake and place them somewhere you will walk past frequently. Showy but lacking in scent are winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum), Viburnum tinus and Garrya elliptica with its long grey catkins and evergreen leaves; ‘James Roof’ is the best variety, if you can get it.
3. Plant Bare Rooted Hedges 
Other January gardening jobs to be getting on with include planting a hedge. If you are planning a new hedge, you will find that nurseries are full of bewildering varieties of bare-rooted hedging stock. Avoid the ubiquitous Lelandii, which is really far too fast growing for most of our gardens. There are so many alternatives. If you’re not sure which would be good in your garden, a good rule of thumb is look to see what grows well in neighbour’s gardens and copy! Beech for example is fussy about soil conditions. If you want a similar hedge, Hornbeam is a good alternative, if you have heavy clay soil. A little knowledge about your soil type goes a long way before planting anything. It’s well worth taking the trouble to buy a soil testing kit from your local nursery and finding out which type of soil you have – sand, clay, chalk or loam, or a combination.
4. Improve Borders.
Even if the ground is frozen, there’s no excuse to do nothing in the garden. Spreading around organic matter, such as well rotted manure or compost can done over frozen soil, is less messy when frozen and will save you time later in the year. For years I’ve been practicing the ‘no dig’ gardening method, as Charles Downing explains so well in his article for beginners. I know, having gardened on clay soil all my life that this method of improving your soil does work. But, it takes time. The is the most perfect of January gardening jobs, because it’s a good way to keep warm and exercise off all those excess Christmas calories! Every year I empty the contents of the compost bins on my borders to keep on feeding and improving the soil. It makes for a perfect workout in the garden, and I know that come summer I’ll be glad I did!
5. Can I Start Gardening in January?
If you have a lawn, keep off icy grass but on milder days you can improve the drainage by pushing a garden fork well into the ground and wiggling it about a bit to open up the holes. Do this at about 15 cm intervals all over a waterlogged area of lawn and then spread sharp sand or horticultural sand (not builders sand) over the whole area working it into the holes you’ve created with a stiff brush. If you have a large lawn you can hire mechanical spikers to make the work easier. It’s well worth taking the time and trouble to do this job over the winter for the overall health of your grass.
6. Take the Lawn Mower in for a Service
Get ahead of the crowd and take your lawnmower in for a service this month. If you leave it until spring lawn repair shops will take much longer and generally charge more because they are so busy.
7. Brush off Worm Casts and Mole Hills from the Lawn
Much as we want to encourage worms to work the soil in our gardens, worm casts can look unsightly and so should be brushed off the winter lawn regularly, if left they can be trodden into the surface encouraging weed seeds to grow. Moles get very active towards the end of January, and there isn’t much to humanly do about them. I have learnt to live in peace with my fellow creatures in the garden, even moles can give a benefit. The soil is beautifully sifted so I use it in containers and thank the moles (through gritted teeth 🙂
8. Pruning Apple Trees
Top of the list of January gardening jobs is pruning your apple tree, if you have one. This is particularly important for espalier trained apples – it’s essential for healthy growth and fruit production. Remove dead, damaged, or crossing branches to improve airflow and sunlight penetration. Focus on shaping an open, goblet-like structure to prevent disease and encourage even fruiting. Use clean, sharp tools to make smooth cuts just above a bud or branch junction.
9. January Gardening Jobs – Give attention to climbers
Wisterias require winter pruning by the end of February at the latest. With no leaves on the plants you can see exactly what needs to be pruned. Shorten all the shoots back to two or three buds from the main stem. This encourages new flowers to give a spectacular display in the spring. The national Trust have produced a great video on exactly how to do this essential job here.
Virginia creepers, valued for their autumn foliage colour, have a habit of working their way into window frames, doors and gutters so cut them back hard now to save damage being done. They grow back quickly so don’t be gentle with them!
10. Start Sowing Seeds – My Favourite of the January Gardening Jobs 🙂
Let’s face it… gardening in winter months can be grim, even for an enthusiast like me. But of all the jobs I love to do, sowing seeds is right up there at the top. It gives me a sense of optimism that these grey winter days will be over and there is hope for longer sunnier gardening days.
Sweet pea seeds can be sown this month on a windowsill to get them off to a great start in spring. They have a long root run so it’s best to sow them in special sweet-pea tubes filled with peat free compost. To help with germination soak them in water the day before sowing.