Gardeners have a fantastic excuse for eating too much on Christmas Day, so we need the energy for our Boxing Day Gardening! If you need some exercise to work off all that Christmas pudding, here are our top 6 gardening jobs for Boxing Day.
Top 5 Gardening Jobs For Early January
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Sow onions. Traditionally, show growers always sow their onions on Boxing Day, giving them a good long growing season to develop into show-worthy giants. You don’t have to be a show grower to follow this tradition; it will provide you with an early harvest of onions in summer. Sow the seeds in modules in a propagator or a heated greenhouse, and plant them out in spring. Onion ‘Ailsa Crag’ and ‘Red Baron’ are excellent for winter sowing.
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Mulch your beds. One of the best things you can do for your garden is spread a thick (at least 5cm/2in) layer of organic material, such as well-rotted farmyard manure or garden compost, over any bare soil. The freezing and thawing will help work the mulch into your soil. Worms and other soil organisms will start to work it into the ground over winter, improving the soil structure. With a few years of annual mulching, your soil will drain better in wet weather and retain moisture better in dry periods.
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Make sure your garden wildlife is having a good Winter too! Fill up bird feeders and bird baths, and place your live tree for some shelter for the birds.
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Rake fallen leaves off your lawn and collect them in a pile so that they can break down into leaf mould, one of the best soil conditioners there is. The leaves take a year or two to break down, but the results are well worth it.
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Plan next year’s planting. If the weather’s too cold and miserable to make gardening enjoyable, now’s the time to start planning for next year. Get yourself a notebook and pen, a cup of tea and a mince pie, and let your dreams of the perfect garden start to take root!
Even though we are closed for the winter, you can still call us for soils and non plant items during the week.
