01
Deep winter
What to plant in January
The garden sleeps, but the gardener plans. A quiet month for sharpening tools, ordering seed, and dreaming on graph paper.
Sow indoors
- Onions from seed
- Chillies (with heat mat)
- Microgreens
- Sweet peas in root trainers
Sow outdoors
- Broad beans under cloches (mild areas only)
Flowers to plant
- Sweet peas
- Antirrhinum
- Hellebores (plant)
Herbs to grow
- Parsley on a warm windowsill
- Coriander indoors
Beginner tips
- ✦Do almost nothing — January rewards patience more than action.
- ✦Order seeds now while choice is widest.
- ✦Wash old pots in warm soapy water to stop disease later.
Common mistakes
- ✕Sowing tender seed too early — leggy seedlings by March.
- ✕Walking on frozen or waterlogged soil — it compacts and won't recover.
Small garden & pot options
- · A pot of paperwhites or hyacinths by the door
- · Microgreens on a sunny sill
Raised bed suggestions
- · Spread 2–3 cm of compost as a winter mulch
- · Cover empty beds with cardboard to suppress weeds
Plant this month
If you only do one thing in January…
- →Bare-root roses
- →Rhubarb crowns
- →Garlic (if you forgot in autumn)
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