Monthly Checklist: January

It’s a new year, and January is the perfect time to plan for the upcoming season.

Plan your vegetable and flower gardens now. With other plants dormant for the winter, your landscape is now the perfect blank canvas.

Pinch back pansies if they’re starting to look a little rough to encourage a flush of new blooms.
Cover tender plants with frost cloths during periods of extreme cold.
If you intend to start a new vegetable garden or raised bed, keep in mind that the amount of sun specific locations get now might change during the growing season.
You can get a head start on spring planting by checking the pH of locations you intend to turn into beds. Most veggies, herbs and annuals prefer a more neutral pH.
- Apply Lime or Mag-I-Cal to raise pH
- Apply Sulfur or Soil Acidifier to lower pH
Now’s a great time to reflect on last year’s garden. What flourished? What didn’t do well? What spots still need to be filled?

You can still plant trees and shrubs this month as long as the ground isn’t frozen.

Add plants to your landscape with winter interest like quince, daphne, winter honeysuckle, paperbush, lenten rose, and mahonia.
Luckily, most insects aren’t active at this time of year, and fungal diseases prefer warmer temperatures. It’s still a good idea to check your plants, especially if they’ve had pest problems in the past. Apply All-Season Oil to kill overwintering insects and eggs on most plants.
It might be winter, but newer plantings might need watering during periods without precipitation. Thankfully, soil dries out much more slowly in winter, so there’s no need to check too often.
Keep an eye out for heaving. As soil freezes, it expands. Repeated freezing and thawing can actually result in plants being “heaved” out of the ground, especially newer plantings that don’t have expansive roots to hold them down yet.
Ornamental grasses can be cut back to 6-8” above the ground.
Mulch garden beds to help keep them insulated during the cold weather.
Cover tender plants with frost cloths during periods of extreme cold.
If there is heavy snow, try and remove as much as you can. Too much weight can lead to broken branches.

There’s not much that needs to be done for lawns this month, both cool and warm season

You can continue your battle against weeds by applying Bonide Weed Beater Ultra or Jonathan Green Lawn Weed Control as needed, following the instructions on the label. Keep an eye on temperature limitations, as some chemicals don’t work or can cause damage at certain temperatures.

- As food sources become scarce over the cooler months, hungry critters might turn to your garden and landscape for a snack. Protect your plants with Animal Repellents.

Create a powerful barrier around plants and garden beds with Deer Scram to keep the deer at bay.

Liquid Fence can be sprayed directly onto plants to protect them from deer and rabbits.

- - Most critters don’t like spicy food, so spraying your edibles with Hot Pepper Wax is an easy, organic way to make sure you’re the one who gets to enjoy your veggies, not the squirrels. (Remember to rinse off your veggies before eatting them or your salad might be a little spicy).
    - Note – if you’re trying to protect plants from birds, Hot Pepper Wax won’t discourage them. Birds lack the receptors to detect capsaicin, so they don’t experience the burning sensation mammals do. Use netting or scare tape to keep the birds away.

Repels All is a good all-purpose repellent that repels a broad range of animals.
While bird feeders are something that can be hung at any time of the year, winter is a favorite time to do so. Not only does it provide food for the birds when sources are scarce, but if you hang them in a location near a window, you can watch your feathered neighbors gather and flutter about.