January gardening tips

There is no great pressure to do an enormous amount in the garden this month. Take advantage of what remains of the quiet season before Spring gets under way to relax and plan for the year ahead.

Carry on with any jobs which need to be done during the dormant period (i.e. November to March.) Planting bare root hedges (beech, hornbeam, hawthorn, privet) for example, should be completed as soon as possible at any time when the ground is neither frozen solid nor water-logged.

Plant lily bulbs, which are available in Wyevale garden centres now. If your soil is on the heavy side, work grit into the planting hole.

The earliest spring bulbs will start flowering soon. If you didn't get round to planting them as bulbs in the autumn, you can catch up by planting pot grown ones now. Plant snowdrops, in well-drained, humus-rich soil, in light, dappled shade, to spread and multiply over the years. Cyclamen coum, flowering from December to March, with wonderfully varied foliage which is there all winter, make perfect partners for snowdrops and enjoy the same conditions. In sunnier spots plant pots of species Crocus, and dwarf Iris like purple 'George' or brilliant blue 'Harmony'. Plant dwarf Narcissi like classic golden-yellow 'Tete a Tete' and the more unusual white-flowered 'Jenny' - they will begin flowering next month and keep going for weeks.

Dig over the vegetable garden where this hasn't already been done, thus giving it a chance to settle by the time you come to sow or plant in the spring; and giving yourself less to do when the pressure is back on. Stay off it when it's sodden!

If you didn't get round to doing this in the autumn, prepare the ground for sowing sweet peas in the spring by digging a trench to a spade's depth and burying a layer of well-rotted farm yard manure at the bottom.

Finish pruning apple and pear trees, gooseberries, redcurrants and white currants. Start by removing any dead, damaged or crossing branches. With bush trees and soft fruit bushes, the main object is to keep the centres open, so that light can get in and air circulate. Spray fruit trees and bushes with a winter wash to kill overwintering pests.

If you haven't already pruned grapevines (best done before Christmas), this needs doing as soon as possible, before the sap starts rising, which may cause excessive bleeding.

Prune Wisterias. Once the main structural branches are established, all stems growing from them should be cut back at some time during the next two months, to within two or three buds of the base of last year's growth. Following a lighter pruning in July, this will encourage the development of flowering "spurs", as well as restricting excess growth.

Remember to check stored Dahlia and Begonia tubers from time to time. Cut out any bits which appear to be rotting and puff sulphur on the wounds to prevent further infection. If any Dahlia tubers have shrivelled, plump them up by soaking them overnight in water, pat them dry and replace them in their tray of peat or compost until ready for planting.

The Begonias you buy as tubers are the perennial ones with sumptuous big flowers which keep going through summer to the first frosts of autumn, doing equally well in borders or containers, in sun or shade. You will find a good selection to buy now in your local Wyevale garden centre. Put them in trays or boxes, dished side upwards, in multi-purpose compost, which needs to be kept barely moist (ie.not too dry, but certainly not wet) and keep them somewhere cool but frostfree until the middle of March/beginning of April, when you start them off into growth on a windowsill or heated greenhouse. Later in the month, Dahlia tubers will also be available. Again, these need to be stored in trays or pots of compost until you either plant them in the border in mid-April, or get them started into growth on a windowsill and plant out, after hardening them off, in mid-late May.

Buy seed potatoes any time now and get them "chitting" (producing little shoots) on a windowsill, which gets them off to a flying start when you plant them in the spring. Egg trays provide the ideal support at this stage.