January Gardening To-Do List

Order seeds for the new year around New Year's Day, if not before, especially for spring crops like radishes, peas and lettuce. Everyone else has the same idea and there's only so much seed to go around, so it's best to be an early bird. Go ahead and order for summer, too, and take this slow time to think about your garden goals and make a plan.

Spring is the busiest time for gardening, so that makes winter the perfect time to get your garden tools in shape. Hand tools should be cleaned and sharpened. Remove rust and treat handles and blades with a protective coating. Power tools like mowers, weed trimmers and blowers should also be cleaned, motors tuned up, blades sharpened, etc. For battery-powered tools, make sure to store the batteries indoors. Extreme cold temperatures can considerably shorten the battery life.

Before the growing season starts, gather your gardener friends to share seeds and seedlings that can be started indoors. Ask your guests to share self-gathered seeds as well as commercial seeds from last year that they may not have been able to plant. (Many of us with big garden aspirations buy more seeds than we have room for.) If they don't have any seeds on hand, there are no rules against going out and buying some new seeds to share.

If you’ve got seeds from previous growing seasons, you can test them to see if they’re still good. To test seeds, space several out on a few layers of moist paper towels, roll it up so that the seeds don't touch, and enclose the bundle in plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out. Place in a warm bright location (65 to 70 degrees is fine) but away from direct sun. Check the seeds every couple of days. If they haven't germinated — or only a few have sprouted — in a couple of weeks, chances are they're no good.

Starting seeds indoors in winter helps you get a jump on your spring and summer gardening goals. Seed starting may also save you money in the long run, and, no matter your age, it’s a great way to learn about how plants grow.

If you didn't get a chance to lay down fresh mulch in the fall, do it now. Top dress your garden beds with compost or composted manure. Having a new layer of mulch in the winter has many benefits, including insulating plant roots, retaining soil moisture, suppressing weed growth and protecting bare soil from erosion.

During the winter, birds need our help the most since they spend nearly all their time and energy seeking food, shelter and water. Plus, keeping the birdfeeders full means you can enjoy these feathered beauties out your window on gloomy winter days.

To protect birds in your area, no matter the season, bird feeders and birdbaths need to be cleaned regularly to help prevent diseases. According to The National Wildlife Health Center, you should clean bird baths and feeders every two weeks with a solution of nine parts water to one part bleach. If there is visible debris, scrub it off before soaking in the bleach solution. Dry out the feeder before hanging it back up and refilling it.

Don’t let winter hold you back from growing fresh vegetables and herbs. Root vegetables like carrots, beets and radishes, as well as greens like spinach, Swiss chard and lettuces, can all be grown indoors. Growing fresh herbs such as parsley, cilantro, oregano, mint and thyme can help elevate your cooking and add some charm to your kitchen decor.

Mushrooms can be grown indoors in a combination storage tote and spackle bucket or you can buy a growing kit. Either way you choose, growing mushrooms doesn't take up a lot of space, and they don’t need a lot of sunlight. Mushroom growing kits start around $20 and, considering what you can pay at the supermarket for fresh mushrooms, it's not a bad deal at all. Plus, the mushroom growing kits are a great project to get kids interested in gardening. The spackle-bucket growing method takes a bit more labor than the store-bought kits, but still, it's a rewarding and tasty winter project.

Did you get an amaryllis for Christmas? If you want to keep the bulb as a houseplant after the flowers fade, snip flower stalks at the base after the blossoms fade. Feed plants with a liquid houseplant fertilizer to encourage and nourish leaf production. Healthy leaves in spring and summer are the secret to a pretty flower display the next fall or winter. You can keep amaryllis bulbs indoors year-round or set them outdoors in spring after all danger of frost is past. Water and fertilize plants through summer.

Poinsettias are ubiquitous in December, but what do you do with them in January? Keep them as houseplants. Poinsettias are a tropical plant so you can’t put it outside until the spring when nighttime temperatures are above 55 degrees F. Keep poinsettias in a sunny window away from cold drafts and water when they feel dry. Plan on moving poinsettias outside after the last frost in your area — they’ll make a nice addition to your summer porch or patio. You’ll need to cut it back to encourage new growth, then next fall move them back inside and read up on how to get them to turn red again.

Cut branches from shrubs like tulip magnolia, quince, forsythia and pussy willow and force them to bloom indoors. It's a great way to brighten a space after the holiday decor has been put away. Did you know that pussy willows, whether from a backyard shrub or fresh from the store, are remarkably easy to root? Place them in water and they'll quickly develop roots that you can plant in your garden, then watch them turn into tall, productive pussy willow trees.

If you grow ornamental grasses, resist the temptation to cut the foliage back until later in the winter or early spring because all that top growth helps insulate the root ball. That's especially true if the grass is only marginally hardy in your area.

If you haven't done so already, put your pots away! Deep freezes don't just affect plants, they can wreak havoc on containers, flowerpots and other features in your garden. Freeze and thaw cycles can crack even the hardiest containers, so empty out the soil and then move them to a shed or garage. Even better, scrub the pots clean with a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water before you tuck them away for the winter. If the containers are too big to move, cover them instead with heavy plastic or bubble wrap.

It's not too early to start thinking about your vegetable and herb garden plan for spring. Make sure to rotate your vegetable plant families to protect them from disease and pests, and to help the soil’s fertility.

Dormant seeding is the practice of sowing grass seed in the winter months when the seeds are inactive. If your scraggly, patchy lawn could use some attention and you live in an area where winters are consistently cold and snowy, seeding in January is a way to get a head start on growing a lush, green lawn in spring.

Get an early start on spring planting or extend your gardening season with this DIY cold frame. A type of “mini-greenhouse,” a cold frame built with a glass or plastic lid allows plants access to sunlight and traps heat to prevent cold weather from putting an early end to your winter-hardy crops or when it comes time to harden off your spring seedlings. Follow these simple steps to construct a cold frame using just a few tools, lumber and a reclaimed window frame.

Start searching now to find a source of purple and other unusual potatoes for planting in the spring. The most fun ones typically sell out early.

If you search online, you’ll find strong opinions for and against using a cover. But whether or not you should cover your compost depends on your goals, your region and what kind of composting system you’re using. For instance, if you live in an area with very rainy winters, covering it during heavy downpours will prevent your compost from getting waterlogged, which will put a halt to decomposition. Gardeners in heavy-winter climates may also cover their compost pile to keep it warm and active. If you’re not sure whether or not to cover your compost, ask your local extension agent. They should have the answers to what’s right for your situation.

Indoor hydroponic kits have grown in popularity since they first hit the market a few years ago, and for good reason. They’re easy to use, come in a variety of sizes and are a really fun way to garden, especially in winter. Hydroponic kits are great for beginner gardeners or for introducing kids to gardening.

Not all weeds take a break during the winter. Many sprout in the fall then set seed and grow in the colder months. Deadnettle, chickweed and bittercress are a few of the weeds you’ll see thriving in chilly temps. If manually digging out weeds, be sure to dig deep and get all their roots and runners and be careful not to shake or disturb the weed too much; it may cause you to inadvertently spread more seed. All-natural and chemical herbicides can be used, but do your research to find out what type will work best for your type of weed. Some gardeners will leave a few clumps of Oxalis and clover alone as a cool-weather flowering plant for the occasional warm day when bees or rabbits are out foraging.

If you pulled tender bulbs or tubers out of the ground back in the fall — like canna, elephant ears, dahlias or caladiums — don’t forget to check them every few weeks to make sure they aren't too dry or too wet. Inspect the bulbs and remove any rotten spots and check the moisture level. If they look too dry, have shrunk or are wrinkled, use a spray bottle to give them mist. If they are very damp, remove them from the packing material and air dry them for a few days then repack them in dry material.

After a fresh snowfall, take a quick survey of your landscape. Carefully remove any accumulated snow from shrubs and branches. Taking just a few minutes to do this can save the plant from breakage. But make sure not to force frozen, ice-coated branches or heavy snow — the branches might be very brittle and you may end up causing more harm than good.