As January gets underway and you start to think about this year’s growing season and your plans for your garden or outside space, factor in some features that help attract wildlife.
Whatever the size of your garden creating a wildlife-friendly habitat is simple to do and can attract a host of garden visitors. Small creature-friendly features that will attract and sustain wildlife can be incorporated into any outside space – and are relatively easy to maintain.
One simple solution is to create a mini woodland with trees and shrubs or plant a hedgerow. Natural hedgerows are long-lasting, wildlife-friendly and sustainable alternatives to garden fencing. In addition to providing cover and food for nesting birds, hedges left to flower and fruit with berries will also provide a valuable source of food and shelter for other wildlife. Traditional hedgerows contain several different plant varieties like hawthorn, hornbeam and dog rose.
January can be a difficult month for wildlife as natural food sources are in short supply, so it’s important to ensure that bird feeders are regularly topped up and water supplies are fresh and not left to freeze.
In severe weather, the RSPB advises putting out high-energy, high-fat food for birds twice a day – in the morning and early afternoon – to keep up with demand. It’s also the Big Garden Birdwatch over the weekend of January 26-28, which encourages you to count the birds you see in your garden, balcony or local park. For more, see: https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/big-garden-birdwatch
As well as birds, insects need some thought at this time of year.
A good pollinator plant for January flowering is Winter Heather (Erica carnea).
While heathers are best grown in acidic soils, some can also thrive in neutral soil conditions – welcome news for gardeners wanting both colour and bee-friendly flowers in the depths of winter. This winter flowering shrub likes a sunny spot where it can slowly spread out and its small bell-shaped flowers that hang from evergreen shoots are a favourite of honey bees.
In addition to stocking your garden with wildlife-friendly plants, other top jobs for gardeners this month include:
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Pruning of deciduous trees, shrubs and hedges can be carried out now and throughout the dormant season – it’s also easier to see what you are doing when the branches have no leaves! Think acers, beech, hazel, hydrangeas and roses.
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Cleaning pots and greenhouses ready for spring which helps control pests and diseases. Giving your greenhouse a clean now, whether glass or plastic, greatly improves the growing environment for plants by removing the build up of algae, moss and grime to let in more light.
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Planning your crop rotation for the coming growing season if you are growing your own fruit and veg. The principle of crop rotation is to grow specific groups of vegetables on a different part of the vegetable plot each year. This helps to reduce a build-up of crop-specific pest and disease problems and it organises groups of crops according to their cultivation needs.
Plus, here’s what the experts have to say …
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January might be the middle of winter but as the days lengthen the garden starts to grow. Now is a great time to plan for the coming gardening year and to order seeds and plants. Enjoy the fresh air on dry sunny days and check your winter protection, stakes, ties and supports are still working after any severe weather. Also put out food for birds and leave some garden areas uncut, a little longer, to provide shelter for wildlife in your garden – RHS
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There are jobs to do in January but few that cannot wait until better weather or opportunities in February if need be. But I try and get done what is needed as soon as possible as an insurance against future bad weather. Also if it is very frosty, saturated soil is blessedly dry for a change and so you can wheel wheelbarrows and walk on the grass without reducing it to a sloppy quagmire. Trees and shrubs will come to no harm if pruned when it is cold so a spell of frosty weather means pruning. – Monty Don
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As our climate warms, some bee species increasingly forage for food during winter. Make it easier for them by growing nectar-rich flowers such as heather, aconite, mahonia and snowdrops. Many nectar gems make great container plants to brighten the front door and can be planted out in the garden after flowering: for instance hellebores, which will continue to flower into spring. – BBC Countryfile
