January Gardening Tips

It’s hot and often humid in January, which is great growing weather, so you’ll need to be vigilant keeping weeds in check and vines under control.  Also, watch out for fungal problems and pests as now is the time when they can quickly explode in numbers to devastating effects. 

And here’s the tip; don’t dig, stay out of the sun during the hottest part of the day and instead use the time to do things that work best in hot weather, or at least can be achieved in the early hours of the morning or cooler evening hours.

Weeds

Summer weeds are luscious.  So well do they grow it almost seems a shame to waster them…so don’t, turn them into great compost instead.  Many weeds are full of nitrogen and break down quickly in a hot compost to provide a rich feed for your garden – but you have to make sure you’re not including pernicious weeds…keep your system turned regularly and it should be hot enough to kill of most weed seeds, but leaving out onion grass, onion weed and oxalis bulbs is prudent!  Our Hungry Bins are great at turning your weeds to feed in no time.

 

Climbers and Vines

Tendrils from wisteria, jasmine, bougainvillea, grapes and many more can start to feel like The Day of the Triffods instead of a garden scene.  It’s a great time to reclaim your pergola and trim back these climbers.  If you want a summer project, wind the snippets into wreaths, balls, or even tripods that you can use in your garden to support peas and sweet peas.

 

Fungal Problems

The humid weather can spawn a whole heap of spores… and a host of fungal problems in the garden.  Use Eco-Fungicide or Mancozeb Plus to control a broad spectrum of problems, and Yates Rose Gun Advanced to do some fungal problems and pests on a range of ornamentals, including roses.

 

By: Meredith Kirton