Gardening in January: From sowing to frost protection, there is a lot to do

Created: 12/31/2022, 07:00

Frost protection on the beds, pre-cultivation with seeds in the house and disposing of the Christmas tree - what hobby gardeners should do in the garden in January.

Christmas and New Year's are over and with them the cozy days off at home in front of the fireplace or the television.

It's back to work - and that also applies to hobby gardeners.

January belongs to the season of winter.

Nevertheless, a lot can be done in the garden in the first few weeks of the new year, including sowing, harvesting, plant protection and, of course, recycling the Christmas tree. 

Recycle the Christmas tree in the garden

The birds in the garden look forward to food in winter © JuergenL/IMAGO

The Christmas tree was once again the center of the celebrations, but now it's the beginning of January and it has done its duty and obligation.

Sustainable hobby gardeners do not simply dispose of the tree at the recycling center, but rather recycle it in their own garden and thus give it a use until the end.

If you bought a tree with roots in a pot, you can of course plant it.

Anyone who had a sawed-off Christmas tree should now continue to use the fir in parts.

The branches, if they still have needles, can be used, for example, to cover beds, perennials or tree bases to protect them from frost.

The trunk of the Christmas tree makes a good border or border for a bed, or simply as a decoration, and dry branches on top of the compost ensure that the dung heap is well aerated.

Harvest in January: You can now get these seasonal vegetables out of the bed

Although the beds are not rich in fruit in winter, hobby gardeners do not go away empty-handed when it comes to harvesting in January.

If you have winter plants in your garden, you can, for example, take winter bulbs out of the bed, which can be harvested all year round.

The same goes for the winter onion, also known as the everlasting onion, which survives in the garden all year round.

If you have prepared and planted well in summer and autumn, you can also harvest other seasonal vegetables such as mushrooms, kale, parsnips, leeks, radicchio, Brussels sprouts, black salsify, turnips, Jerusalem artichoke or savoy cabbage.

It is best to wait for a frost-free day to avoid damaging the vegetables.

Winter vegetables: Ten frost-hardy varieties that you can still harvest in the cold

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Herbs such as wild garlic, parsley or lemon balm are also robust and can also be harvested in winter.

In this cold season, it is best to make a herbal tea from it.

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Planting and sowing: These plants can be placed in the bed or on the windowsill

Despite the low temperatures, there are already foods for January that hobby gardeners can plant or sow in their own gardens.

However, most of it still happens indoors and thrives in a pot on the windowsill before it comes out into the garden in spring.

Windowsill plants that can already be grown in pots include Andean berries, broccoli, buckwheat, chili, peas, lentils, kale, kohlrabi, cress, microgreens, peppers, leeks, mustard, rocket, sunflowers or sprouts such as Soybeans, alfalfa, peeled fenugreek, peeled grain or beetroot.

Herb pots with savory, basil, sage, small onion sets or rosemary also thrive at the window.

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If you have a greenhouse, you can also grow vegetables in it, such as garden cress, lamb's lettuce, radishes, spinach, white cabbage or winter purslane.

Some types of spinach, radishes, wild garlic and woodruff can even be put in the cold frame.

What else is there to do?

gardening and planning

January isn't quite as busy in the garden, so it's the perfect time to start planning.

For example, if you are planning to build a herb wall, a new vegetable patch or a greenhouse this year, now is the time to start planning the project.

Tip: It is best to plan right away which plants you want to put in which bed and when, in order to be able to make maximum use of your garden.

During the planning one should not lose sight of the current garden.

It's the cold season, there may even be snow, and birds are having a hard time finding food.

Hang one or two fat balls or some fruit in a tree and be happy when the animals flutter through your garden again in spring.

By the way, if there is snow on the beds, you should remove it, otherwise tubers and plants can suffocate under it.

Anyone who has fruit trees should watch out for frost cracks in January, which can occur on the north and south side of the plant due to the strong temperature differences.

To prevent this from happening in the first place, you should coat the bark with a lime-clay broth in January, which reflects the sunlight and thus protects the trunk from drying out.