January

To Do This Month

The weather is COLD – but not as cold as other places! January is the coldest month in New Mexico. Temperatures range from the low 20’s at night to day me highs in the upper 40’s on average, with a mean snowfall of 2 1⁄2 inches. The snow doesn’t last long on the ground except in higher elevatons. It’s sunny and not very windy, except when a snowstorm develops.
What’s Blooming
Crocus – the harbinger of spring – comes up through frozen ground. Creeping rosemary is covered with ny blue owers if grown in a warm, protected spot.
Xeric Blooms
None this month.
Garden Activities
Once the holidays are over, it’s time for a new project. Do a little spring cleaning. Toss out your holiday catalogs and make room for seed and plant catalogs. It is too cold to do much outside, but it’s a good time to start planning. Spring seems like light years from now, but some advance planning and planting will save you me and money in the months to come.
What new plants are being ordered? Are there any new colors or varieties of the old standbys? What plants have been designated “Perennial of the Year”? Is it something you already have? Would it fit in your garden? The gardening merits of a plant are not always obvious from its photograph. “Perennial of the Year” winners are worth checking out. Before you order by mail, see if your local nursery can order it for you. Most would be happy to try.
Now is the time to study your garden from indoors. Find a window with a ray of sun and put a chair beside it. What can be seen from there? Delight in what you see; plant more of your favorite plants — perhaps a different color/variety. What shapes and colors are interesting? Consider planting an ornamental tree or shrub in a place where it can be seen from the window.
Plants should be placed so they will be seen from a particular vantage point. For example, early bloomers should be placed where they can be seen from inside the house. Tall plants should be placed at the rear of a visual space. Chances are you will not be spending very much me outdoors in January and February. Late bloomers can be placed near the patio or other seating areas that are used in the summer.
Start a gardening journal for ideas; later you can identify what worked well and what did not. Be sure to include copies of your original plans, as well as the final versions. Visit city parks, xeric gardens, and neighborhood yards to create a list of plants that have colorful fruit, interesting bark, or attractive seed heads during winter. This is a great way to make new friends as you walk around the neighborhood. Update garden journals.
To Do List

• If you did not recycle your Christmas tree for mulch, let it be a tasty treat for the birds. Set it outside (still in its stand) and decorate it with cranberries, suet, pine cones covered in peanut butter and birdseed, etc. Enjoy the birds and see how many you can identify. (A good bird guide would be helpful.) Discard the tree when you begin preparing the garden for planting.
• Turn your compost pile, lightly dress with manure, water, and cover lightly with soil, compost. For the most part, the compost pile is dormant. This is a good month to do trench composting.
• Check to make sure that perennials and tender shrubs are mulched. Finish cleaning up any leftover plant material from the garden. Pile discarded Christmas-tree boughs and evergreen prunings on top of perennial, bulb, and shrub beds. Hay straw (use weed free) and pine needles also work.
• Ensure that all your tools have been cleaned and prepared for spring: clean, sharpen and oil your shovels, pruners, and hand tools. Check wooden handles to see if they should be replaced, repaired, oiled lightly with linseed oil, and stuck into a bucket of sand. Make a list of tools to purchase.
• Plan your spring and summer garden. Make out your seed and plant list. Order specialty seeds that you cannot purchase locally.

 

• GARDEN TIP!!!. Make a scale drawing of your lot. Take it to a copy center and make several (at least 5) copies, enlarging the largest planting areas (save the original for future use.) Sketch in and label all plants by blooming season. Take the 5th copy and plan the changes that you want to make. Take your calendar and schedule the week you want to or must do it by. Taking a few hours to get organized now will make your gardening experience much easier!
  Watering
  Continue watering once a month as long as temperatures are below 50 degrees. Be sure you don’t forget any perennials. Exception: Many established xeric plants DO NOT require winter watering.
  Pruning
  This is the me to begin pruning trees and shrubs – while plants are dormant. Prune when the temperature is above freezing. Cut out dead, diseased, and crossing branches first; then prune to shape. DO NOT prune spring flowering ornamentals, like forsythia, until after they bloom (this year’s flowers appear on last year’s growth). DO NOT prune grapes or roses yet to avoid risk of frost damage. Prune honeysuckle hard. Prune pomegranate, wisteria, and summer-blooming spireas now through March. Prune nandina by cutting oldest stems to the ground as needed to keep plant bushy. Late in the month, you can begin pruning butterfly bush back to active growth.

Planting It’s time to start planting — indoors, that is. Now is the me to start your seeds for biennials and slow growing perennials. New seeds are available this month at the nurseries, and seeds you order from catalogs will arrive quickly. Why start seeds indoors? There are several reasons.

• You will get better germination under controlled (indoor) conditions.
• It is economical.
• You can try varieties that are not available in the nurseries.
• You can garden sooner!
  It’s not too late to scatter some wild flower seeds for blooms later this summer. Starting hardy perennials is a fun gardening exercise to do with children. Hardy perennials that can be planted include bleeding heart, butterfly weed, columbine, delphinium, liatris, and penstemon. These seeds require a period of chilling to germinate. Plant seeds in soil-filled pots and place them outdoors out of direct sun. Keep the soil moist, and whenever snow is available, pile it on the pots. After six weeks of chilling, place the pots in a greenhouse or set them on a sunny windowsill to sprout. When two sets of true leaves appear on the seedlings, transplant them into individual containers. Continue growing plants indoors until spring when you can plant them into the garden.
  Seed-starting can be done easily and inexpensively with materials that are available at the hardware store, or for free. One pointer: if you use recycled pots, they need to be cleaned with chlorine bleach and water (1:10 solution) to remove old soil and eliminate potential disease problems, like fungus or bacteria. This will help you avoid passing on last year’s problems.
  Plan ahead! It is important to purchase any seeds you will want for fall planting as well as earlier in the year. They are often hard to find later in the summer. Lettuces and other greens, sweet peas and edible peas, annual poppies, larkspur and many wild flowers are some to remember for fall planting.
  Troubleshooting
  Aphids. Earliest aphids may appear on pines. Leaving early aphid populations alone may actually help establish predator populations, as the early predators will find a food source. Eliminate winter annual weeds such as wild mustards. They harbor over-wintering insects such as leafhoppers.
  Weekly Check Walk. On a mild, sunny day walk around your yard and take stock. Branches damaged by winter storms may need to be pruned.
  Brown Egg Cases. As you look over your plants, watch for the brown egg cases of praying mantises. They are a valuable predator in the yard that you can encourage by not disturbing their eggs during clean-up or pruning. The egg cases are about one-half to one inch long, shaped like a lozenge, and are usually a ached to a twig or wall. ​

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Houseplants
Let tap water stand overnight or use a chlorine remover before watering plants. Chlorine frequently causes brown tips on leaves and/or leaf drop on palms, spider plants, African violets, and corn plants. Some plants are NOT sensitive to chorine.
If possible, give plants a footbath when watering. Set the plants in a basin of water — or the bathtub with 2-3 “ of tepid water — for several hours to thoroughly hydrate the roots.
Remove dead leaves and flowers from forced bulbs. When the paperwhites and hyacinths bulbs are done blooming, plant in a pot with a slow-release granular fertilizer mixed into the soil. Set the pots where the leaves will receive some sunlight, and replant the bulbs outside in March for spring blooms next year. Paperwhites will need to be planted in a somewhat protected spot.
Check all houseplants carefully for insects. White flies and fungus gnats are particularly obnoxious this time of year. Know your plants. Some plants should be completely dry before watering, while others should never dry out. Check to ensure applicable plants are dry before watering. Over-watered plants are more vulnerable. Ensure that all plants have suficient humidity. 

​This is an excerpt from the calendar published by the Albuquerque Master Gardeners. 
www.abqmastergardeners.org. Visit their website for a schedule of classes and events!

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