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Derbyshire Amateur Gardener's Diary - January 2010

Maggie’s Blog – January I hope you all had a good Christmas and I would like to wish everyone a very healthy and happy New Year. With the weather being so cold and the ground as hard as iron there has not been opportunity to garden much this month. The good news is we are now past the shortest day and the days are drawing out, although it will be some time before we notice any change. One of the few jobs I have done this month is to bring my palms (which are in pots) into a cold greenhouse, even though they are supposed to be hardy. If you have palms which are planted in the garden you can protect them from the snow by tying up the fronds and covering them with an old sack, or, even better, a Planto Bio Winter Fleece or Bio Winter Fleece Hood. Even a redundant Planto Tomato Fleece Hood would do the trick (see how many uses they have!). Just remember to remove the fleece or sacking after the threat of snow is past. If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to do more exercise and eat healthier, you should consider a vegetable plot. This need not be big, but digging over the soil is a good calorie burner, and to eat fresh vegetables straight out of the ground is a real treat! For beginners leeks are a good starting crop as they are hardy and have few pests. Most people could manage salad crops such as radish and onions. Even if you have no room for a vegetable plot, you can still grow runner beans in the flower garden. They produce pretty red flowers which do not look out of place in the herbaceous border. They just need some support to climb up. Of course, none of these crops need to be started for a while, and will not be planted out for a few months yet, but it is never too early to be planning your summer garden. Happy Gardening!