After all the festivities of Christmas and New Year January can seem like a bleak time to us all. But with the flush of spring only weeks away it’s never to early to be preparing your garden for the season ahead.
With all the new ranges coming into store at the beginning of the month, now is a fantastic time to be making plans for your garden this spring.
Whether you are a flower fanatic or vegetable lover, there will be plenty to choose from in bulbs, seeds and seed potatoes on offer this January. Of particular interest to us at the Garden centre are the new ranges from Mr Fothergills, who have a huge offering in vegetable seeds this year,. Look for the New Carrot “Speedo” a fast cropping variety or Broccoli “Covina” a long seasoned variety with a good quality harvest.
In the flower ranges there are some stunning new varieties like Sweet Pea “Turquoise lagoon” and “Little Red Riding Hood”, and as 2018 has been named “Year of the Marigold” it is certainly worth a look at the varieties on offer such as “Red Knight “ a pretty French marigold with deep red flowers and a compact form. These can be sown indoors now with the aid of a heated Propagator to promote germination, Sweet Peas however prefer cooler conditions on a well lit windowsill, frost free greenhouse or cold frame.
January is also the time to select your seed potatoes and onions ready for spring planting, When selecting your spuds it is important to think about their cropping times, qualities and uses best suited to your needs, there a 3 main types:
First Earlies – Best planted from the end of Feb will crop approximately 10 weeks later.
Second Earlies – Planted around mid march will harvest 13 weeks after planting.
Main Crops – Planted from late march onward will crop between 15 & 20 weeks later depending on variety.
Get yours now while there are plenty to choose from, they are quite happily stored in a cool ( but not frosty) environment until you are ready to plant and don’t forget to pick up some fertilizer too, we recommend a little sulphate of Potash when digging in. At Eastfield Garden Centre, the Family here have been Farming Potatoes locally for many decades. So if after all you don’t fancy giving potato growing a try, you can always pop down to the Centre for a bag of our home grown spuds straight from the field, at only £2.99 for 12.5kg.
This month, summer flowering bulbs such as Gladioli, Dahlias, Lilies and more begin to appear in store, with a huge variety to choose from to add colour to pots and borders all summer long. These like the potatoes can be stored until planting time, from march onwards, but more about that later…
