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Janus, who lends his title to the month of January, was the dual-faced Roman god of gates and doorways. He additionally was referred to as the god of beginnings because it was generally believed that you just wanted to undergo a door or gate so as to enter a brand new place or starting.
The god was depicted as trying ahead and backwards on the similar time–ahead in direction of new beginnings and again in direction of the previous. It’s an applicable image for this month because it’s a time when gardeners are serious about final yr’s backyard so as to sit up for the brand new rising season.
If you’re like many gardeners, you most likely preserve notes on annual seed and plant purchases, previous backyard successes and failures, and even new issues to strive. It’s a good suggestion to overview these earlier than you begin planning your seed and gear orders. Maps of previous gardens will provide help to rotate crops and keep away from overcrowding when planning spacing of plantings.
January is an efficient time to start out a backyard journal and even only a file the place you possibly can retailer articles clipped out of newspapers and magazines, or lists of concepts you wish to strive within the backyard. A very good place to get just a few new concepts is by taking a category or becoming a member of a backyard membership. Most gardeners like to speak about gardening and received’t thoughts sharing a few of their tried and true strategies and merchandise with you. Or apply to the College of Vermont Extension Grasp Gardener program. For extra info, go to http://pss.uvm.edu/mg/mg/ or ship an e-mail to [email protected].
Subsequent, test the seeds you saved and saved from final yr’s backyard. Discard something that’s damp, diseased, moldy, or in in any other case unhealthy situation. Look over what’s left, and decide what it is advisable to order.
You additionally ought to check out squash, potatoes, root crops, and different greens and fruits in winter storage. Though circumstances could have been very best while you harvested and saved them within the fall, the chilly, moist winter could make that location too moist or damp. Toss something that has spoiled or has smooth spots. The identical goes for summer time flower bulbs like dahlias and gladioli that you just saved to plant this yr.
As many avid gardeners have found, it’s sensible to plan your seed order with different gardeners. This can assist you to get monetary savings whereas rising a greater variety of crops and flowers. As well as, some seed corporations supply reductions or free seeds for early hen and/or giant orders. Simply don’t fall into the entice of ordering greater than you should utilize. That’s the place the notes you saved from previous years shall be helpful.
If it is advisable to exchange a tiller or wish to add just a few new gardening instruments to your stock, begin comparability buying in January. Granted, a few of this gear received’t be out there for buy in backyard facilities for a few extra months. However by learning catalogs and magazines, speaking to associates, and even browsing the Web now, you’ll have a greater thought of what you need and received’t waste beneficial time within the spring deciding what to purchase.
The identical goes for panorama crops. Though you wouldn’t be capable to plant them now, even for those who may purchase them, this “down time” in gardening is ideal for planning. Begin serious about what it is advisable to fill in gaps in your panorama or what new crops you’d wish to strive. It might assist to take a stroll round your property to visualise the place panorama enhancements are wanted or the place you would possibly put in a brand new flower mattress. Take into consideration colour, scents, textures, and shapes. Then scout out corporations that carry what’s in your want listing.
No yard or backyard is full with out statuary, gazing balls, sundials, and backyard whimsies that make the house uniquely yours. Store now for what you’ll want within the spring to decorate your garden, backyard, and flower beds. Use your creativeness.
This January get inventive within the workshop. Construct a bat home or a birdhouse or two. Paint backyard furnishings. Assemble synthetic lighting set-ups for rising houseplants or beginning transplants indoors. Or set up a composting bin in your basement, including a handful of crimson worms to flip your vegetable desk scraps into wealthy compost for the backyard.
Different actions for January: go to the Vermont Farm Present on the Barre Civic Middle, Jan. 29-31; begin an amaryllis bulb for spring bloom; re-read a favourite gardening e-book or begin a brand new one that you just obtained as a vacation reward.
PLANNING THE SPRING GARDEN AND OTHER JANUARY GARDENING TIPS
By
Dr. Leonard Perryand
Lisa Halvorsen
Extension Nursery and Greenhouse Crops Specialist
College of Vermont
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