What to do in the vegetable garden in January. The summer resident's worries in January. List of main works in winter

In the life of a gardener, January is not only the beginning of the year, but also the beginning of the season, the time for planning and revising garden material and tools. January provides the gardener with the opportunity to thoroughly prepare for a future start in the garden, vegetable garden and flower garden.

Gardening in January means keeping the snow cover. Sufficient snow cover is a guarantee successful wintering garden pets. The first month of the year is generous with frosts, so shelters with plants are covered with snow so that an excellent snowdrift is formed, because one centimeter of snow saves from one degree of frost.

They also throw snow on the trunks of trees and fruit bushes.

If cuttings are buried in the garden, they also throw as much snow as possible on them. After snowfalls, the trees are shaken off with a strong stick tied with a rag on one side so as not to break the branches.

Vegetables are checked in storage facilities, spoiled ones are thrown away. In case of excessive dampness, sprinkle the shelves and floor with lime. In the thaw, the cellar is ventilated, if possible.

They take care of the birds in the garden, hang unsalted bacon in nets, put seeds. They remember that birds cannot eat bread, especially black bread.

A planned revision of seeds is carried out, a list of seeds planned for purchase is made. Be sure to choose a few new products in order to personally test unusual vegetable crops in the garden.

Buy pots for seedlings, special soil, if it has not been harvested in the fall. They make sure that there are enough peat tablets for future pets. Purchase garden tools.

Packages with pumpkin seeds, and these are: cucumbers, zucchini, squash, pumpkins, squash, watermelons, melons and lagenaria, are placed in a warm place until April, this will increase the number of female flowers.

In the garden, they must clean off snow from greenhouses, especially after heavy snowfalls.

Green crops for salad are sown on the windowsill, onions are placed in jars of water to get a green feather.

The work in the garden in January is aimed at planning future plantings. Using the vegetable compatibility table, future plantings are planned.

In addition, in January, the seeds of such hard-germinating crops as celery, leek, marjoram, parsley and parsnips are tested. To do this, soak several seeds in wet paper towels. If after 20 days they have not hatched, they buy new seeds. This is done in order not to miss planting time due to low-quality seeds. Such work in the garden in January will allow you to get guaranteed seed shoots on time when the time comes for sowing.

At the end of January, strawberries, peppino and lisianthus are sown in peat tablets.

Working in a flower garden in January is a close inspection of the stored bulbs and tubers. In case of excessive moisture, when the sawdust or sand in which they are stored is too wet, the bulbs are taken out of the drawers and laid out on a shelf for several days in one layer. Dry well wet sawdust or replace with new ones.

Be sure to look through all the gladiolus bulbs. If most of the bulb is affected, discard it. Small spots are carefully cut out with a sharp knife and a cotton swab dipped in brilliant green, covered over. The day is dried and then put away for storage.

If there are stored pots with calla lilies, gloxinia, hippeastrum and other "dormant" flowers, they are slightly moistened once a week so that the bulbs do not dry out.

They also draw up a plan for the future flower garden, plan crops for pots, balcony boxes and garden compositions... They buy a little more seeds than it is planned to plant plants.

In January, specialized stores actively offer various perennial rhizomes. Despite the huge temptation, it is still better to postpone their purchase at least until February or March.

The main job of the gardener in January is accumulating snow in the garden. January is the coldest month of the year. Fruit trees, berry bushes, planting strawberries at this time need protection from the cold. From time to time they need to be covered with snow, throwing it closer to the boles.

If the winter is frosty (up to -25 ° C), and there is a lot of snow in the garden, boles and the forks of the trees are covered with snow. At the same time, the snow should be collected no closer than half a meter from the crown projection - this is necessary so that the root system does not freeze, but so that, while raking snow to the tree, it does not expose the soil under the crown and does not freeze the root system.

Root system apple trees suffers if the soil temperature drops to -14 ° C, roots strawberries do not tolerate soil temperature -8 ° С. In this case, snow should be collected no closer than half a meter from the projection of the crown - this is necessary so that the root system does not freeze.

Snow retention on garden plot they are carried out in the same way as: you can arrange snow banks, install shields or scatter branches over the section.

After heavy snowfalls and blizzards, branches trees and bushes Shake gently to reduce the risk of breakage.

In January, the garden continues pest control: Collect the nests of hawthorn and goldtail on unopened leaves, the remaining mummified fruits, egg-laying ringed silkworm.

In January, feeders are arranged in the garden and useful birds are fed. As feed, you can use pieces of unsalted bacon, sunflower seeds, weed seeds, bread crumbs.

Breeding gardeners fruit trees in their nurseries, in January they continue to prepare for sowing.

Seeds apple trees and pears give friendly shoots only if they underwent post-harvest ripening in cold conditions - stratification... The duration of stratification, depending on the variety, is from 30 to 100 days.

If there was no dangerous frost and there are no dangerous frosts yet, harvesting can be carried out for the garden in January cuttings fruit trees for spring grafting (copulation), checking the dates with the lunar sowing calendar for January. Only annual shoots are cut off, tied into small bunches, tightly wrapped with plastic wrap, which is fixed with soft wire.

Having dug up the snow to the soil surface, bunches of cuttings are laid on it and again covered with snow. A place for this is selected elevated, but shaded by a fence or buildings, so that in the spring the snow melts more slowly.

On the berry, as well as continue to work on snow retention. Planting strawberries, as well as raspberry bushes, bent to the ground, poke up with snow. Gooseberry and currant bushes also need additional snow cover.

Towards the end of winter, rodents such as hares and mice can seriously harm young trees. After heavy snowfalls, it is necessary to carefully trample the snow on their near-trunk circles. Such safety measures will not give the mice the opportunity to penetrate under the snow to the trunk and nibble on the bark on the boles of young trees.

In addition, various repellent drugs can be used against mice and other rodents: naphthalene, mint, tar, creolin, which are scattered around tree trunks.

In order to scare away rodents boles young trees can be coated with one of the following compounds:

- one bucket of mullein is mixed with one kilogram of freshly slaked lime dissolved in water;
- mix equal parts of clay and mullein with the addition of 50 grams of creolin per bucket of mixture.

The condition of the autumn and safety strapping of young tree boles is periodically checked and, if necessary, corrected.

Prepare garden tools, plastic wrap and lutrasil, purchase pesticides, organic and mineral fertilizers, bird nets and other necessary things.

The stored fruits are periodically checked apples and pears.

The harvest of the coming season will largely depend on how correctly the work in the garden will be performed in January.

January and February are usually the coldest months of the year. Helping the garden to safely endure winter hardships is the main task of the gardener in the middle of winter.

During the long January holidays, you had the opportunity to visit your "pets" wintering at the dacha. There will also be work in the garden in January.

What work should be done in the garden in January

The roots of trees and shrubs need special care. Even trees with little snow can tolerate better if they received water-charging irrigation in autumn, if the soil around them met the winter in a loose state and under a reliable layer of mulch.

Trees on compacted and insufficiently moist soil are threatened by drying out of tissues by wind and frost.

From winter desiccation, the shoots of berry bushes, especially raspberries and gooseberries, which are damaged by diseases and which are delayed in autumn, suffer more often. Mulch the soil frozen from above around the berry fields, as well as lignified cuttings planted in autumn with humus, compost or peat to protect the suction roots, which die off already at minus 2-5 degrees.

The best protection of roots from frost is snow. If it is not enough, rake from the paths, from the grooves and scatter under bushes, under young trees.

After a snowfall, it is useful to cover not only the trunk circle with snow, but also the trunk of the tree.

But large amounts of heavy sleet or ice crust on branches can harm plants. To avoid breaks, shake off the snow from the branches or prop up old and weak tree branches with chatals. And tie the columnar trees loosely in several places.

If possible, trample the snow several times during the winter: the plants will be warmer, and the mice will not be able to get to the trunks of young trees. Cover the strawberry bushes with snow, trap the snow with brushwood, shields, plant debris.

There is enough work in the country and in January: it is necessary to cover trees with snow, to protect them from rodents.

If you have not done this earlier, then in January it is not too late to carry out such work - walk through the garden, inspect carefully the bare crowns. Notice sick (mummified) fruits on the branches that spread disease, cut them off and burn them in a fire. Send cut nests of hawthorn, goldtail and other pests there.

In January, it is already worth tackling the trunks of fruit trees. With sharp fluctuations in day and night temperatures, the bark can burst, frost cracks appear. You will find them by knocking on the trunk with a piece of wood: in those places where the bark has come off, the sound will be dull.

Frostbite on a tree trunk.

On a warm sunny day, you need to carefully clean it, apply a tight gauze band and cover the whole place with melted garden pitch. When it dries, wrap the trunk in burlap, cover the top with foil and leave until spring.

Check out the fall whitewash. If it peels off, restore it in the thaw.

If the trunks were not whitened in the fall, do this work now: shovel the snow, whitewash and re-hedge the trees. It might be late in February.

January works in the fruit storage

In storage with fruits, monitor the temperature and humidity. Take action in a timely manner: in case of cold snap (severe frost is predicted), close the hatch and vents, in case of warming - open. Fruits freeze already at minus 1.4-1.8 degrees.

When the temperature rises, the fruits overripe, with excessive dryness, they wither. Excessive moisture leads to decay of the fruit, the appearance of an unpleasant aftertaste.

For most varieties of apples, the optimum temperature is from 0 to 2-3 degrees and the relative humidity is 85-90 percent. If necessary, sort out the apples and pears in storage. Noticed mouse gnaws on the fruit - put mousetraps, spread poisoned baits.

Seed stratification

In late January - early February, cherry and plum seeds laid for stratification begin to hatch. To stop germination, place a bag of seeds in a snow pile, cover it on top with sawdust in a layer of 8-10 cm. And store until April-May.

Seed stratification can be done fruit crops to accelerate their germination.

Re-layer the seeds with wet sand, sawdust or peat chips and keep at a temperature of 1-5 degrees and with free air access.

At the end of January, the period of natural dormancy in plants ends. Therefore, make sure that the buds do not swell on the cuttings prepared for grafting. If they begin to swell, transfer them to a cooler place.

Winter grafting

In January, you can start the winter (table) grafting of stocks harvested in the fall. After finishing the work, place the grafted rootstocks in a box, the bottom of which is lined inside with a film with cuts for water drainage. Pour a layer of sawdust on the bottom, put the grafts on them, sprinkle them with sawdust and so on to the top of the box. Cover the drawer with plastic wrap.

Keep the box with vaccinations at a temperature of plus 20 degrees for 10 days. After a few days, untie 1-2 vaccinations, check if they have grown together. Tie it up, put it in a box and place it in the basement before landing in the ground.

While there is time, you can do desktop vaccination.

Some gardeners manage to plant cuttings in the crown of trees right in the garden at the end of January. And it turns out well. Try it. Select a branch, split it. The length of the split is 3-4 cm. Take an annual branch as a scion. Make a cut first on one side, then on the opposite. The stalk can have 6-7 or 3-4 buds.

Insert the stalk into the cleft, tie it with a cloth folded in 4 layers (it is possible with cotton pads). Cover everything on top with foil. And wait until spring.

Preparing for the upcoming summer cottage season

If possible, harvest wood ash, bird droppings, and manure in winter. When stacking manure, sprinkle it with superphosphate (2-2.5 kg per 100 kg of manure). Purchase mineral fertilizers and plant protection products in advance. Observe the precautions when storing them.

At each visit to the dacha in January - February, feed the birds, make additional feeders.

Stock up on fertilizers, repair gardening equipment, treat it with a strong solution of potassium permanganate. Get the missing one.

You can prepare fertilizers at home in winter. Dry potato peels on paper near the battery. Fold them in plastic bags, and take them to your dacha in the spring. You can put the cleaning in compost, or you can burn and enrich the ash with minerals.

January cares of the gardener

January is not the busiest month for gardeners. There is still time to sit quietly and think about what and where you will plant. Check the availability of seeds and, if necessary, purchase the missing ones. Don't forget about seedling soil. It is necessary not only to buy it, but also to have time to properly freeze it, and thus get rid of pests and infections that could be there.

Many growers are already starting to grow vegetable seedlings with a long growing season. These plants primarily include:

• White cabbage and cauliflower
• Bitter pepper and early varieties pepper for growing indoors.
• Early varieties of tomatoes intended for cultivation in greenhouses
• Leek and nigella if you are going to grow a turnip in one summer
• Root celery
• Parsley and dill
• If you are going to grow potatoes from seeds - it's time to start sowing.
• When sowing seeds of garden strawberries in January, the harvest can be obtained at the end of summer

Flowers that begin to grow in January

In January, flower sowing usually begins in two cases:

1. Seedlings of flowers are grown for seedlings and in May they should bloom.
2. The flower grower really wants (regardless of any inconveniences and troubles) to see his favorites blooming as soon as possible.

In January, the following flowers can be sown on seedlings:

• Turkish Cloves and Shabo Cloves
• Eustoma
• Lobelia
• Petunia
• Garden primrose
• Pansies
• Fuchsia
• Rodendron
• Kobei
• Cyclomen
• Bulbous for distillation by March 8

All these flowers, when planted in January, will bloom in May June

However, for all these seedlings, you will definitely need good backlight... Think about whether you can arrange such lighting and whether you are ready for such troubles. Maybe you should postpone the planting to a later date?

Immediately after the end of the New Year and Christmas holidays experienced summer residents start to implement the plan of work in the garden and in the garden in January, because it is in this month that the time comes for pleasant efforts to prepare for the upcoming summer cottage season. What activities will need to be carried out in the harsh January days and what work in the country - in the garden, vegetable garden and flower garden - should be done during this period?

There is no particular rush in the implementation of the January events, but it is very important to prepare in advance a complete and detailed plan of action, trying not to lose sight of a single detail. Try to record all planned procedures on paper, not relying on memory alone - in the future this will help you control the progress and order of work. For greater convenience, our recommendation to get a special diary, thanks to which it will be easier and easier for you to plan certain events.

Basic work in the country in January

One of the main January activities in preparation for the upcoming summer cottage season is planning future plantings. To implement this item, you can use the following recommendations:

1. Draw a plan on paper suburban area.
2. Mark in the picture the places of future plantings in the vegetable garden, garden, flower garden and greenhouse, taking into account the crops previously growing in these places.
3. Indicate the approximate dates of sowing and planting.

Thanks to such useful scheme, You can easily determine which areas will be empty for some time, waiting in the wings. They can be used for planting early ripening, green cold-resistant crops - for example, spinach, lettuce and mustard leaves, which are sown in a backlit winter greenhouse.

In addition, such a plan will allow you to quickly and competently navigate the plantings, based on the characteristics of the predecessor crops. This will help in the future to avoid the development of serious diseases in plants and their damage by pests, which often move from previous crops to subsequent ones.

Garden work in January

The list of basic summer cottage work in the garden in January usually includes items such as:

• - purchase of seeds vegetable crops for the coming season;
• - checking seeds (purchased or own) for germination;
• - purchase of polyethylene film, covering material;
• - purchase of organic and mineral fertilizers;
• - purchase of plant growth stimulants (zircon, humates, epin);
• - purchase of protective drugs against pests and diseases;
• - checking the stocks of vegetables in the storage or cellar;
• - loosening dry land in greenhouse buildings;
• - preparation for the cultivation of basic greenhouse crops (preparation of a land substrate for growing seedlings, seedling boxes and containers);
• - sowing in a winter greenhouse with illumination of fast-growing green crops - arugula, garden cress, lettuce and mustard, spinach, radish;
• - planting for forcing greens of onions, parsley roots, celery, heads of chicory salad roots and young shoots from old asparagus rhizomes.

Regardless of whether you plan to sow seeds - purchased from a specialty store or your own - the planting material will need to be checked. With this measure, you will protect yourself from disappointment resulting from an unreasonably low harvest or, even worse, a complete lack of it.

Seed germination is checked by germinating them. So, a small amount of seeds (10-15 pieces) is placed on a moistened blotting or filtered paper (a clean table napkin is also suitable), after which they are covered with wet clean gauze or a cloth and sent to a warm, dark place. You cannot hold a saucer (or other flat container) with seeds near the battery! As the gauze dries, its surface is re-moistened.

Good and quality seeds radishes, radishes, turnips, melons, rutabagas and cucumbers fully germinate in 5-7 days. Seeds of tomato, carrot, zucchini, pumpkin, eggplant, beetroot, cabbage and lettuce sprout for about 7-10 days, and parsley, parsnip, pepper, celery, dill, onion and watermelon - for 10-14 days. Based on the results obtained and the number of seeds laid for germination, the percentage of their germination is determined.

In January, they inspect the stored vegetables left over from the last harvest. With prolonged or, more often, improper storage on different parts of the root crops, gray and white rot may develop, as evidenced by a gray fluffy bloom or softening and mucousness of the affected areas.

Lead-gray spots on potatoes, in turn, indicate the defeat of tubers by late blight even during cultivation. Slime and softening onions - a sign that the vegetable has suffered from cervical rot, which often occurs under improper storage conditions. Any vegetables of any doubtful appearance should be removed from the cellar and destroyed.

Summer residents, who are in a hurry to start growing plants as soon as possible, in January often carry out work on forcing young heads of cabbage from the roots of lettuce chicory and tender shoots of asparagus from its two- or three-year-old rhizomes. Both chicory heads and asparagus shoots have a high dietary value and contain many nutrients, minerals and trace elements.

For forcing lettuce chicory, large-sized root crops are used, in which the diameter of the upper part reaches 3-5 cm.Before planting, they are leveled in length, the ends are cut, leaving the upper part of 20-22 cm for planting. Planting is carried out in boxes or pots with sand, or light earth. Root crops are planted quite tightly, watered abundantly and covered with a 20-centimeter layer of earth, sawdust, sand or peat. Forcing must be carried out in the dark, so if you decide to plant chicory root crops in a winter greenhouse, the planting site will need to be covered with black film. In the first 10-14 days after planting, the temperature in the room should be maintained at + 2 ... + 10 ° С, after which it should be increased to + 12 ... + 18 ° С. 3-4 weeks after forcing, the chicory heads can be cut off. Cutting is carried out with the capture of a small part of the root crop, or they simply break off the heads of cabbage and send them to a box covered with a lid or black paper, since in the light they begin to turn green and acquire bitterness. Cut heads of chicory are used both fresh and boiled.

Forcing asparagus shoots is not too difficult, for which the rhizomes of two- or three-year-old plants are used. Harvesting of asparagus rhizomes must be carried out in the fall with the arrival of the first frost, after which they must be stored at a temperature of 0 .. + 2 ° С. The planting is carried out in boxes or in greenhouse soil, placing the rhizomes in the ground close to each other, after which they are covered from above with a 20-centimeter layer of humus. For the next 8-10 days after planting, it is required to maintain the temperature in the room where the forcing of asparagus is carried out within + 10 ° C. Then the temperature is increased to + 15 ... + 18 ° C. After 40 days, young and tender asparagus shoots can be cut off and immediately used for food (for making soups, salads and dietary side dishes), as they quickly lose their juiciness.

Gardening in January

In winter, the garden requires special attention and proper care. Moreover, no less work in January will have to be done by novice summer residents who are only planning to equip a cozy and fruitful garden on their territory in the coming season.

So, the list of summer cottage works in the garden in January includes the following items:

• - purchase and inspection of planting material;
• - loosening dry soil in the winter garden;
• - fight against garden pests, their nests and wintering places in the garden;
• - providing protection garden trees and snow retention;
• - implementation of winter vaccinations;
• - feeding birds, making birdhouses;
• - stratification and sowing of seeds of stone fruit and pome crops, propagation of certain plant species.

Pre-purchased seedlings sent for storage will need to be carefully examined. Usually, by mid-winter, the period of natural dormancy in plants ends, so you will need to make sure that the seedlings in the storage do not wake up ahead of time. If during the examination you find swelling of the buds or regrowth of roots, try to lower the temperature in the room or simply move the seedlings to a cooler (but not colder) place. If you have any suspicions that the seedlings managed to freeze during storage, then doubts can be dispelled very in a simple way - by cutting off several branches for their subsequent germination.

Also, the main dacha work in January in the garden involves the implementation of all kinds of measures to combat pests and rodents. In the process of inspecting the garden, it is necessary to remove the discovered nests of garden pests from the trees - the caterpillars of the golden-tailed and hawthorn, and cut off the parts of the shoots on which the eggs of the ringed cocoon moth winter. All removed wintering sites and cut off affected shoots must be burned.

In addition, in the second half of winter, hares often visit the garden, gnawing at the bark of young trees. Due to severe damage, the tree may eventually dry out. To avoid this, various prevention methods are usually used - for example, such as:

• - coating trees with a creamy mixture of mullein and clay with the addition of a spoonful of carbolic acid;
• - hanging scaring light metal garlands;
• - wrapping the stems with a frequent metal mesh.

To implement the latter method, you will need a mesh with a height of at least a meter, which is wrapped around the stem at a short distance. The resulting "cover" will protect the tree from the teeth of uninvited guests - it is only important not to overdo it, burying it in the ground so as not to damage the roots.

During the inspection of the garden plantings, the integrity of the protective strapping of the boles against mice and hares is checked, and if any defects are found, they are eliminated. If there is a thaw on the January day of walking around the garden, the snow around the boles will need to be trampled down (this will disrupt the mouse paths), and then cover the trampled areas with snow. It is advisable to trample the moves regularly.

In January, birds are fed in the garden - especially during the period of snow and ice. For this purpose, feeders filled with seeds of sunflower, cucumber, watermelon, sorrel, melon, etc. are hung on tree branches. Feeders are regularly inspected and cleaned of accumulated snow. Such winter feeding will further ensure the protection of the garden from dangerous and hard-to-remove pests, since the birds, having got used to feeding troughs during the winter, will begin to settle in the garden or near it.

Examining the garden, it is necessary to pay attention to the condition of its wintering inhabitants. If the winter turned out to be cold with even frosts, and you have taken care of the garden plantings in advance, then there should be no cause for concern. It's another matter if winter is accompanied by sharp temperature changes and thaws, during which some trees can wake up. Here, mention should also be made of the importance of timely whitewashing of trees, which helps to protect plantings from sunburn... If during the autumn rainy season the whitewash layer has managed to fade, it is not forbidden to renew it in winter. To do this, on a fine warm day, it is enough to dig out the snow near the trunk, reapply the whitewash on the trunk and the bases of large branches, and then bury the snow in its original place and pile it higher.

Also, in the process of bypassing garden and fruit plantations, you need to ensure that they are reliably covered with snow. In the absence of snow, the roots of trees may freeze (at a soil temperature of -12 ... - 18 ° at a depth of 20 cm). To survive a snowless winter without unpleasant consequences, you will need to take measures to accumulate snow - for example:

• - install shields in advance and compact the paths across the direction of the prevailing winds;
• - scatter branches and brushwood over the free areas of the site, which will retain the snow;
• - equip snow banks, etc.

And, on the contrary, in a winter full of snowfalls, you should take care that the snow adhering to the branches of trees does not cause damage to them. Even strong enough branches, unable to withstand the pressure, can easily break off, so periodically accumulations of snow must be gently shaken off, and during thaws, snow-covered trees must be cleaned with a long stick with a soft burlap wound at the end.

In early January, you can start growing Chinese lemongrass from seeds. For this purpose, its dry seeds, previously stored at room temperature, are soaked in a shallow dish, in which the water is changed every day for 5 days. The floating seeds are thrown away. On the sixth day, the seeds are dried and sown in boxes with a mixture of turf, humus and sand, taken in proportions of 2: 1: 1. The crops are covered with sand by about a centimeter, after which they are kept at room temperature for 3-4 weeks, moistening the soil from time to time. Next, the box with seeds is moved to a snow pile, in which it is kept until the time of spring sowing.

Seasonal summer cottage works in January associated with the stratification of plants of pome and stone fruit crops. This procedure provides for the preparation of difficult-to-germinate seeds for spring sowing by treating them with low positive temperatures (+ 3 ... + 7 °) with high substrate moisture.

To do this, the seeds are soaked for 3 days in water, the floating specimens are removed, and the water is changed daily (at least once a day). For the last time, instead of water, a solution of potassium permanganate is poured (at the rate of 2.5 g of dry agent per liter of water), the seeds are kept in it for a short time, after which they are taken out and dried until flowable. Then they are pollinated with charcoal, after which they are mixed with the substrate, based on the calculation of 1 part of seeds and 3-4 parts of the substrate (instead of it, it is allowed to use sawdust without bark, moss, peat, coarse river sand or vermiculite / perlite). The substrate is steamed, slightly moistened - so that water does not flow from it when compressed. Then the mixture of seeds and substrate is sent to a strong box made of wood with holes for water and air, filling it with a layer of 20-25 cm. After that, the box with the mixture is moved to a room where the temperature does not exceed +3 .. + 5 °. From time to time, the contents are checked, making sure that the substrate does not dry out and that the seeds are not moldy. At the end of January, the seeds are inspected for the presence of "bites".

Works in the flower garden in January

With the onset of January, flower growers are advised to inspect the available stocks of flower seeds, and then check them for germination in the above way. On the territory of the summer cottage, you will also need to inspect flower beds and flower beds, checking how well they are covered with snow. If necessary, they add snow, and between the ridges with perennials, roses and bulbous flowers, they trample the snow cover, disrupting the mouse passages.

The stored corms of gladioli and dahlias are also subject to verification. Also, in the room where they are stored, it is advisable to check the temperature (it should be about 6-8 ° C) and measure the air humidity (its level should vary within 80%).

At the end of January, the seeds of one of the most popular cut flowers, Shabo carnations, are sown. Seeds are sown for seedlings, since this plant has a rather long growing season. Throughout January, summer residents continue to accumulate useful waste - such as wood ash, onion and garlic husks, and tea brews. All this will certainly come in handy with the onset of the next summer season for work in the garden, vegetable garden and flower garden.

So the most beloved, most joyful holiday has come - New Year!

The New Year begins with us, gardeners. After all, there is no month, even in winter, that we are not left with troubles. Continue and gardening in January.

Now is the dormant period for tubers and bulbs stored until spring, and for indoor flowers. But winter is the only time of the year when the gardener and florist has time to think about himself and his beloved and to fulfill some old desires. Of course, it is too early to buy plants for the garden. But on the other hand, you can update your gardening tools, buy new books on gardening - there are now a great many of them, very beautiful and affordable.

In the garden

Try to get to the site during the holidays. There is such beauty! Even if there is no deep snow cover, the winter garden makes a fabulous impression. Every branch, every blade of grass is clearly visible.

The weather presents us with surprise after surprise, and no forecasts can predict what it will do this time. Let's try to consider different options... Although there is not much work on the street, some things should not be forgotten.

If there is no snow and it is warm enough

Need to check the status covered plants -, rhododendrons, hydrangeas and other sissies. Promises of a harsh winter force gardeners to wrap them up especially carefully in the fall, and unexpected warmth in such cases can lead to their damping out and death.

If you added seedlings in the fall, then check if mice have made their way there. If there is damage in the prikop itself or on the planted trees, coat them with garden varnish and wrap with strips of burlap. If the case is severe, then later, in the spring, it will be possible to inoculate with a "bridge" to save the tree.

If there is no snow and it's cold

At such an unfavorable time, and even at strong wind, plants dry out, many die flower buds (action, weigel, rhododendron, forsythia). If you haven't covered these plants in the fall, then wrap them with covering material or put bags or cardboard boxes on top.

Very bad in such conditions. Cover it with at least fallen leaves.

Gardeners often cherish the aboveground parts of plants, forgetting about the roots. But in frosty, snowless winters, the root system is the first to suffer. If there is no spruce branches for shelter, then cut off stalks of perennials, foliage, peat, shavings, sawdust and even compost are suitable.

When there is a lot of snow and frosty

When the weather is such wonderful, typical of the Russian winter, check your rocky hills and throw snow on them if the wind blows it off. Pull loose conifers with a rope to prevent branches from breaking.

Shake off the snow from bushes and trees from time to time. When there is glass or polycarbonate greenhouse - free the roof from snow. At the end of January - February there are the heaviest snowfalls.

In severe frosts, sprinkle bushes and tree trunks with additional snow, being careful not to bare. When clearing paths, throw snow on problem areas.

When the snow cover is high and the fence is low, hares can cause a lot of trouble. Broken-eared pests are especially fond of plum shoots and. It happens that in the spring, instead of seedlings, if they were not protected, the owner finds only stubs. Paradoxically, it happens that stubbornly not growing trees, with such a "brutal" pruning, which the owners would never have dared to do, give excellent growth and quickly recover.

Examine your apple trees and pears to see if there are any dried fruits hanging on them, which were mummified due to disease damage even during the ripening of the crop. They are an inexhaustible source of scab and garden rot (moniliosis) infection for several years to come. Pick up the fruit picker urgently and remove all these "decorations". Then it is best to burn them.

Do not forget about the birds - bacon and not fried seeds will come in handy.

Checking the seeds

Do not forget to test the seeds of flowers and vegetables for germination in order to avoid disappointment when sowing seedlings in spring. Later, in the spring, in case of failure, precious time will be lost, and not all varieties will be lucky enough to buy when the season of high demand begins.

The easiest way to germinate seeds on gauze in any low container. Place them in a plastic bag or cover with lids to reduce moisture evaporation.

For phlox Drummond, marigolds, calendula, verbena, gatsania, gelichrizum, the shelf life of seeds is only 1 - 2 years.

From vegetables the most "perishable" seeds are in,. The seed bags have a date until which they can be sown without fear of loss of germination. But usually the seeds remain viable for a little longer.

Let's start sowing celery

Root fans can start growing it in January. Its seeds are difficult to germinate due to the large amount essential oils, germinate for a long time and seedlings grow very slowly.

To accelerate germination, seeds in a bag of gauze or other cloth are washed for several minutes under running hot water, and then left for 2 - 3 days in water at room temperature. The water is often changed, then cold water is poured over the seeds.

In the same way, they prepare seeds for sowing, parsnips, if they want them to grow faster.

We store, check

We check the stored begonias and other perennials from time to time to see if they have suddenly dried up or there are signs of disease. If necessary, put them in wet sand, sphagnum moss. Clean all doubtful spots and wounds to healthy tissues, treat with brilliant green or potassium permanganate, sprinkle with coal. Use Maxim if easy remedies don't help.

If the tubers have already begun to sprout, it looks like the storage temperature is too high. January is not the time for them to start growing. Nao move them to a cooler place.

Good mood and good luck in all your endeavors, dear friends!