It’s not too late and it’s not too early.
Some of our most common questions are regarding whether or not it’s too early or late to plant something in the garden. Although January can sometimes be a tricky month, depending on temperature fluctuations, we often have mild enough weather to do a lot of gardening. You are usually never too late if you still have some perennial clean-up projects. Typically, the longer you wait the harder it may be to clean them up because new growth is pushing through. For the most part though, it’s no problem waiting until January, or even later, to clean up any dead plant material from last year.
It gets a little trickier with regards to January being too early to do some planting. It all depends on the plant material, and again, the weather. January can be a great month to plant pansies, primroses, early spring vegetables, and perennials. As with any season, I like to tell people to avoid planting during extreme temperatures. In January, and early spring, I typically like to avoid planting when the nightly lows are in the 20’s. I think it’s tough on even the hardiest plants to spend their first two to three nights after transplant in temperatures below freezing. It’s better to let them adapt to their new environment for the first few nights with temperatures above freezing. Then, when it does freeze, they will be better acclimated. You can also cover them for the first couple nights to allow the plants to adapt to their new environment.
We have been enjoying our much needed holiday break. We will return to our winter business hours of Mon-Fri, 9:00am – 4:00pm, on January 16th.
Hope to see you then!
Kelly Brainard
