January Garden Guide

IN THE EDIBLE GARDEN

Here’s what you can sow or plant this month: Artichoke, beetroot, beans, brussel sprouts, cabbage, capsicum, carrot, cauliflower, chilli, courgette, cucumber, eggplant, leek, lettuce, mizuna, parsnip, peas, radish, rhubarb, rocket, silverbeet, spinach, squash, sweet corn, swede, tomatoes, turnip. For herbs we’ve got basil, chives, dill, fennel, parsley, rosemary, sage, spring onion. Plant new lettuce and herbs regularly so you have a continuous supply throughout the season.

These summer vegetables should be ready for harvest: beans, courgette, cucumber, eggplant, garlic, lettuce, certain varieties of potatoes, onion, peas, radish, silverbeet, spring onion, tomatoes. Your sweet corn cobs are ready to be picked when the end tassels start to dry and turn brown.

These fruits are also ready for picking this month: apricots, blueberries, cherries, nectarines, peaches, passionfruit, plums, raspberries, strawberries.

Get into a good routine of picking every day to encourage continuous fruiting - this is particularly true for cucumbers, courgettes, peas, beans, eggplant.

Prune long runners back on strawberry plants to encourage more fruiting. You can then plant these runners out as new strawberry plants!

IN THE FLOWER GARDEN

Plant alyssum, calendula, cosmos, dahlias, echinacea, gypsophila, impatiens, lupin, marigolds, nemesia, petunias, phacelia, poppy, sunflower, swan plant, verbascum, verbena, zinnia. You can still plant summer flowering annuals & perennials, just make sure you keep them well watered until established.

Your main task in the flower garden this month is to pick or ‘dead head’ spent or dying flowers to encourage new blooms. Deadheading is essential for prolonging the flowering period. If you remove the flower as soon as it dies or wilts, you have essentially stopped seeds being created and therefore plant’s life cycle hasn’t been completed. This means the plant will put out more flowers to try and produce seed! This is how you get a flowering plant to keep on flowering throughout the summer and into autumn and avoid having to plant another round of plants. Keep dead heading right through summer and into autumn. You can read more about that here.

Here’s a few beautiful blooms that should be ready for picking this month: roses, hydrangeas, fuchsias, dianthus, delphiniums, lilies, gladioli, sweet peas, agapanthus, sunflowers, geraniums, cosmos, sunflowers. Now is the best time for roses, enjoy them inside in a vase or kenzan!

TASKS THIS MONTH...

• When it comes to watering, if it’s particularly dry in your area soak your garden every 3-4 days rather than regular shallow watering. Water early or later in the day, and direct the water to the roots rather than the leaves.
• We also recommend using a sprinkler with a timer, or installing drip irrigation like Iriso - this can be set up to deliver the right amount of water to your plants, exactly where it's needed. Along with so many other benefits! Pair with a water tank for an even better low maintenance watering set up. You can shop irrigation systems here.
• Mulching is super important this month! It helps the soil to retain more water and keep roots of your plant cooler in hot weather. Read more about mulching on our latest blog here.
• Speaking of mulch, get some mulch in around your roses, or check & re-apply as needed.
• Weeds - like your other plants - are growing quickly at this time of year! Pull them out as they appear (before they go to seed) to stay on top of them. Make sure you remove any weeds before laying down any mulch.
• You can remove smaller flower-heads on your dahlias plants - this helps to encourage those gorgeous, ginormous blooms!
• Fertilise your flower beds, pots & containers to help replenish nutrients. Use this organic Opulent Bloom Mix from Seacliff Organics for the most beautiful blooms! It provides a boost of potassium, phosphorous and magnesium to ensure an easy nutrient uptake. It promotes vigorous flowering, and is designed specifically for heavy feeding plants in their flowering phase.
• Netting or tunnels may be needed to protect ripening tomatoes and other summer fruits from birds and insect pests. Shop garden cloches & tunnels here.