January Garden Notes
Waiting
This will be the state of play for the next few weeks, especially since we are certain to get some hard frost in the coming months, even though you are probably itching to get the new season moving. However there are things that you can be getting on with such as completing the general winter clear up. Also start to keep an eye on the garden stores ready to purchase seed potatoes which are appearing now. It is important to a have a frost free but suitably cool, well ventilated area with good natural light to set them to chit or sprout. Set the tubers on end with any sign of sprouting at the top. Using old egg boxes to hold them works well. As the chits develop rub off all but the three strongest.
Onions
For most gardeners the choice is between growing from seed or planting onion sets in the spring.
Onion seeds can be sown in trays or modules in gentle heat, such as in a frost free greenhouse, in late December through January. Water sparingly and do not let the trays become too warm because this inhibits germination. Grow on in cold frames during March and plant out when hardened off from late April about 12cm apart. Alternatively sow seed directly into the onion bed when conditions are suitable in late February / March. Sow in a fine tilth 2cm deep in rows about 35cm apart
Soil conditions
Ideally an open sunny site. Create a single spit trench and incorporate some manure. Try not to just bury the manure but rather mix it with the soil as you back fill so that the roots can reach it fairly quickly. Add a general fertiliser at a rate of about 30 grams per square metre.
General care
Keep weed free as growth develops and water well in dry conditions.
Raspberries
The late fruiting ‘autumn’ varieties require pruning everything back to mere stumps as short as 30mm. New fruiting growth will develop from the base and can be tied in as they grow although they are largely self supporting. The summer fruiting varieties require all the previous seasons fruiting stems to be cut back and the new growth, made during the latter half of the year, to be tied in. These are the canes that will bear the fruit in the summer.
Red and White currants
These bear the fruit on the old wood. If you inspect the bush you will see clusters of very small bud like growths often where the older wood meets the new growth. These are the fruiting buds so take care not to damage them. Pruning is then just a matter of reducing the amount of new growth you want to keep while at the same time trying to create a goblet shaped bush removing crossing branches and low growth, which will only bend over onto the ground with the weight of fruit.
Blackcurrants
The majority of the fruit is carried on older wood. Pruning can be limited to creating the size and shape of bush you want. As the bush gets older the technique is to remove as much as a third of the plant taking out old branches completely. This encourages new growth from the base of the plant.
Gooseberries
Treat the gooseberry in the same manner as the Blackcurrants. Try to create an open bush which allows better airflow which in turn reduces the likely hood of American Mildew. Many gooseberries are very lax in that they tend to develop a lot of very low growth which tends to flop on to the ground. Remove these.
Loganberries and Blackberries
The basic rule is to remove all the old fruiting canes and tie in the new growth which has developed during the previous season.
All fruit bushes benefit from top dressing with manure.