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Happy New Year to you and
your garden. While there is definitely less for gardeners to do during the
winter, there are still things to keep you busy. It’s time to get ready for a
whole new growing season. Start planning now to make this year’s garden better
than ever.
It’s time for many people to make resolutions for personal improvements in the
new year. Maybe the time is right for you to participate in some advanced
education through your local University of Wisconsin - Extension. The Master
Gardener Volunteer program trains volunteers to assist individuals and groups
with gardening and plant-related information and projects. The Web address to
find sites, dates, days and directions to programs in Wisconsin is http://www.hort.wisc.edu/mastergardener/
. Locally in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties, training for new MGs begins on
January 14 and 15. To find out more and to download a registration brochure, go
to the SouthEast Wisconsin Master Gardener (SEWMG) website at http://milwaukee.uwex.edu/mg/.
Other UW-Extension resources for gardeners include our Horticulture Team
website, University Publications and InfoSource. The Hort Team website with
printable factsheets and articles by UW-Extension specialists is at http://wihort.uwex.edu.
University publications can be downloaded and printed or ordered from http://learningstore.uwex.edu.
InfoSource is an on-line library of over 600 messages to access via your
computer. Text versions may be printed from the website http://infosource.uwex.edu.
Keywords to search for InfoSource messages related to specific garden calendar
entries are in italics in this month’s calendar. Some are live links directly to
the InfoSource message.
First Week
Reuse
your Christmas tree in your own yard to provide protective cover for our
feathered friends. Place it near an existing feeder or make the tree itself a
naturalistic feeding station.
Another option is to cut off the limbs and use them to cover planting beds where
perennial flowers, strawberries, parsley, carrots, etc. are trying to survive
the winter.
They also give added protection to screen sun and wind from broadleaf evergreens
like boxwood, hollies, and rhododendrons.
Next spring when these limbs have lost their needles, they can be used to stake
peas and vining vegetables or perennials that need a little extra support like
delphiniums and peonies.
The Christmas tree trunk striped of its limbs can be used as a naturalistic bed
edging or lay it at the back of a mulched perimeter planting bed allowing it to
decompose naturally.
Bulbs in cold storage for forcing can be brought out now if they have had their
proper chilling period. Small bulbs like crocus and hyacinth need 8 weeks and
larger ones like tulip and daffodil need 12 - 14. If potted before storing,
simply move them into a warmer and lighter area and begin watering. If stored
cold but unpotted, plant them in a well-drained medium that will also hold
plenty of moisture.
Care of poinsettia, amaryllis and Christmas cactus after flowering calls for
bright light, cooler temperatures and reduced watering. Start fertilizing now
with a dilute, balanced fertilizer.
Trees and shrubs may need winter protection from damage by rodents, rabbits, and
deer. Install small mesh hardware cloth, chicken wire or plastic trunk guards.
Apply repellents to susceptible plants like young fruit trees and burning bush.
Be certain to reapply repellents often since they wear off over time.
Second Week
Brush
off ice and snow from tree and shrub limbs. Use an upward sweeping motion to
prevent breakage. Tie together tall, multiple stemmed evergreens like arborvitae
with wire covered with hose segments or old pantyhose. Sometimes bent branches
can have hairline cracks that are invisible once the branch has snapped back
into place. Then in June when the branch inexplicably wilts, the correlation to
this winter damage is seldom made.
Use tree wrap on trunks of newly planted trees as well as those species with
thin bark like linden, ash, mountain ash, and maple. This helps prevent frost
cracking of the sun warmed bark (generally on the southwest side of the tree)
when it freezes again rapidly after the sun sets on a winter day. Always wrap
from the ground up so the overlap sheds water rather than collects it. Remove
wrapping in spring.
Third Week
Indoor
foliage plants really benefit from an occasional cleaning. Dust settles on
leaves and clogs "pores", hindering light penetration as well as gas and
moisture exchange. Give them a shower to wash the leaves. Water allowed to run
through the soil helps leach out minerals and salts.
Wait until really vigorous growth begins again in the spring to transplant
potbound houseplants. Fertilize sparingly now and also water so that the water
runs through the soil and out of the drainage holes. Do not allow plants to
reabsorb this water since it contains salts and minerals that can be toxic when
they are concentrated in the soil.
Fourth Week
Now is a great time to start
garden carpentry projects. Plans for cold frames, trellises,
benches, etc. can be found in the many gardening books available
at your public library. Build a lighting rig for starting
vegetable seeds indoors. Use one cool white and one warm white
fluorescent bulb in a fixture which can be kept 4 - 6" above the
plants, adjusting it as they grow.
Start to grow seedlings inside now for varieties that are slow
to germinate and require long growth periods to be ready for the
garden in late May. These include impatiens, petunia, and
begonia. Be forewarned, however, that supplemental lighting is
almost an absolute to successfully grow these seedlings indoors
for such a long time. Use specially designed heat mats to
provide bottom heat to produce really strong seedlings.
If you are getting antsy inside, do a tool inventory and
cleaning. Hoes, shovels, and spades all need to be sharp to
perform at their peak. Soak and scrub to remove dirt. Then coat
with light oil to protect metal surfaces. Sand handles and apply
boiled linseed oil. Use a splotch of brightly colored enamel
spray paint to personalize them and make them easier to locate
when left lying among the foliage. Padded grips can be added to
cushion your hands.
