The month of January provided near average temperatures for the month, although the start of February is forecast to be colder as I write these notes. February is the month to finalize any design considerations for the year to come since March becomes busy with gardening activities. This month is also the time to complete the ordering of seeds, since many of the more popular varieties will soon become sold out. On warmer days, make it a point to walk through your garden, enjoying its beauty and giving thought to exciting new spring improvements. Reread your journals from last year, and focus upon how to improve those parts of the garden that performed poorly or on how to repeat last years’ success stories!

Things to do:

• Sharpen pruners and handsaws in preparation of the many pruning tasks to come. If you own a by-pass pruner, like a Felco (pictured at right) or Corona, take the pruner apart to sharpen since the side of the blade without the beveled edge needs to be laid flat on a sharpening stone to sharpen.
• If you own a saw with a tri-edge blade that is dull, they are notoriously difficult to sharpen and it is probably best to simple purchase a new blade.
• Clean and sharpen the edge of spades, as well as make certain wheelbarrows and other tools are in good shape for the season to come.
• Start to prune fruit trees, including apple, pear and quince as well as grapevines. For budded fruit trees, including Pawpaws (Asimina), make certain to remove root suckers, since they are actually the understock and are not the plant/fruit variety that you wanted.
• Prune winter damaged branches if your garden experienced snow, ice or wind damage. When pruning back to a trunk, be certain not to remove the swelling where the branch meets the trunk, otherwise called the branch collar. The collar aids in the healing process.
• Should it snow this month, knock the snow off of shrubs to reduce limb breakage.
• Begin to prune multi-stemmed shrubs, such as Forsythia, Lilac, Deutzia and Weigela. These plants flower best on younger stems necessitating the removal of 1 to several of the oldest canes in order to provide light for the growth of new canes. For Lilac, if the plant only has one or two large trunks and it is not suckering, it is most likely grafted onto privet understock. In these cases, it is safer not to prune the plant back harshly, since it will not sucker from the base.
• Bring Forsythia, Quince and Witch Hazel (Vernal Witch Hazel is pictured below right) branches into the house for forcing or to enjoy the flowers and fragrance should they be in bloom.



• Clean-up the greenhouse. Check on the heat mats and grow lights to make certain everything works and is clean. Check as well for sufficient potting soil, labels, fresh markers for labelling and pots for the seeding and potting tasks to come?
• Near the end of the month, start to sow seeds indoors for cool season crops such as Broccoli, Cabbage and Leeks and for warmer season crops or ornamentals, such as Begonias, Eggplants and Hot Peppers.
• Finish ordering seed for spring. Go through your stored seed and discard packages that are over 2 years old. Or, you can place some of the older seeds on a moist paper towel and place in a warm spot (like on top of the refrigerator) to evaluate the percentage of germination. If few seeds germinate, discard the package. Organize them by sowing time to make life easier for April and May!
• Check on the bulbs that you have brought into the garage or placed in a protected spot outside for forcing. The Crocus and Snowdrops should be ready to bring inside soon for you to enjoy.
• Check on stored tubers and corms, such as Canna or Elephant Ears. Discard any that are showing signs of decay.
• With the days becoming longer towards the end of the month, begin to water indoor plants more frequently – but do not saturate, since that will encourage fungus gnats & root decay.



• Cut back Lenten Rose (Hellebore x hybridus) foliage (pictured at right) and other early bloomers, such that the foliage does not distract from the floral display. Watch areas where early spring bulbs are planted for some early color (and to avoid stepping on them!)
• Cut back any matt forming perennials, such as Nepeta (Catmint). Often rodents will hide beneath the foliage and either eat the crowns or create homes. Leave behind any fallen leaves or lightly mulch to protect the crowns from freezing temperatures.
• Do not remove any temporary winter mulch on Perennial beds, such as the boughs from the Christmas tree, unless it is around those early spring blooming bulbs. Late February and early March can still be bitterly cold.
• Continue to apply anti-desiccant sprays to recently planted Rhododendrons, Hollies, Camellias or other evergreens that are in an exposed location on days with above freezing temperatures.
• Watch for deer predation and set up fencing if needed.
• When temperatures rise into the 40’s, get a head start on edging those bedlines and spreading mulch where possible. Every day that you can complete a springtime chore will relieve some of the burden of the April panic to get everything done.

Bruce Crawford
State Program Leader, Home and Public Horticulture (NJAES)

January always begins with the festivities of the Holiday Season, but reality soon returns as gardeners are looking at short and often cloudy days, cold temperatures and a sleeping garden. Looking on the positive side, we now have the leisure of working in the Garden when the time or the weather suits our schedule, since it is a time when the garden stands still. Continue taking notes in your journals on the temperatures, snowfall or rain amounts along with the sightings of visiting birds, all while enjoying your favorite winter beverage by a warm glow of a lamp.

Things to do:

• Plain your vegetable and annual gardens! As seed catalogues continue to appear almost daily in the mailbox, keep your designs handy so you do not buy more seed than is needed.
• Order your seeds early, as gardening is promising to be popular this year and certain varieties may sell out quickly!
• If this is the first time you are planning on creating a vegetable garden, think small to start. A 10’x12’ or similar sized area is perfect for a start. Also consider starting with easy vegetables, such as Zucchini, Bush Beans, Beets or Lettuce. Tomatoes are great but are best when staked, so make certain you also have staking materials. As a reminder, tomatoes can grow to 6’ tall, so it is important to plant a crop on the North side of tomatoes that will tolerate partial shade.
• Resist the urge to order too many of those vegetables that yield heavy amount of fruits. Three or four tomato plants is often all that is needed for a family of 4!
• Reread your journal from the past year. Take note of some of the major problems you encountered in 2020 (or even 2019) that can be resolved in 2021. Some of these problems may have included starting seed to early or planting vegetables too closely.



• Study the winter bones of the garden. During the calm of winter, give thought to improvements that can be made for a more colorful winter garden, such as the addition of colorful stems with Red Stemmed Dogwoods or Willows, the blooms of Winter Witch Hazels such as ‘Jelena’ pictured at right, views that need to be screened or new views that should be created, etc.
• Take care of your tools! Sharpen, clean, oil and otherwise repair saws and pruners. Sharpen the cutting edge of spades and lawnmower blades, repair the handles of shovels and wheelbarrows or any other tool placed on the ‘to be fixed’ pile. Compose a list of tools to purchase that are beyond repair.
• Start to evaluate pruning needs. Typically, most pruning is completed in January through late March, with the heaviest pruning reserved for late February and early March. January is the time to evaluate plants for heavy cuts, and to begin structural work, shaping and thinning of small trees and shrubs. All rubbing or potentially rubbing branches should be removed as well as any necessary shaping. All suckers (vigorous shoots originating from the roots) should be removed and water sprouts (vigorous shoots originating from branches) should be thinned.
• Study your shade trees for potential problems as well. This is a great time to hire a tree service to tend to these problems and the woodchips produced from the trimmed branches makes a great mulch or a surface for woodland paths.



• Cut some branches of winter blooming Witchhazels (Hamamelis hybrids), Winter Sweet (Chimonanthus praecox), Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) or Flowering Apricot (Prunus mume) to force and enjoy indoors.
• If snow is absent, start cutting back Hellebore Hybrids (Helleborus x hybridus) towards the end of January. It is easier to remove the foliage when the buds are not present and the foliage often turns brown by bloom time. The foliage of Helleborus niger ‘Joseph Lemper’ (photo at right) often remains green throughout the winter and nicely compliments the flowers.
• This past December I noticed a number of Hellebores breaking bud early. Helleborus niger ‘Joseph Lemper’ was blooming in early December and H. x ‘Royal Heritage’ were showing buds. Consider laying evergreen boughs of pine or even the Christmas tree on these plants, providing protection during cold days.



• Remove last year’s foliage of Cut Leaf Japanese Maples (Acer palmatum var. dissectum) that has accumulated on top of the plant branches, as it will hold snow and cause limb breakage. Pictured at right.
• If we receive snow, remove heavy snow from hedges and tightly grown plants to prevent breakage!
• Check any potted plants that you have in a lightly heated garage or basement for watering needs. Keep them on the dry side so they do not begin to push vigorous growth or start to decay. You may also wish to invest in a Min-max thermometer, which records the coldest and hottest temperatures. This will allow you to understand just how cold the garage is getting on those cold winter nights. For more tender plants, even though dormant, you may wish to put them on a table to keep them off the cold floor.
• If you have Colocasia or Alocasia tubers stored in a peat, potting soil mix or shredded mulch for the winter, lightly water the mix periodically (around once a month) to prevent desiccation of the tuber. Or, if they were left in their containers and the foliage is still up, water them lightly and check for spider mites, especially in the case of any Alocasia that may serve as house plants for the winter. If you do have spider mites, wash the leaves thoroughly with regular tap water – obviously, this is more easily accomplished if you can bring the plant outside on a warmer day. If the temperatures remain cold, you can simply wipe down the leaves and stems with a moist rag.
• By and large, most of your houseplants need to be kept on the dry side during winter, as too much water will cause root or crown decay. Put your Poinsettias, Amaryllis or Cyclamen in a sunny southern window and water when the top of the soil becomes dry.
• Houseplants should be rotated 180 degrees every few weeks so that the plants receive equal light on all sides.



• Tillandsia or Air Plants should be soaked in warm tap water every 5-7 days. More frequently if they are located next to heat ducts. I have come to enjoy placing Tillandsia among the leaves of larger plants, such as the Jade Plant (picture at right). It provides great presentation and looks like the Jade Plant is flowering!
• If you have Coleus, succulents or other easy to root annuals in containers, you may wish to start cuttings of new plants in late January, building up your supply for the summer garden. With succulents, you can often place a leaf or a cutting on a table and over a period of several weeks, it will sprout roots, after which, it can be potted.
• Repair fences! Perennials, vegetables, vines or other plants whose roots resent foot traffic typically grow adjacent to fences and prevent access during the growing season.
• Set-up and fill bird feeders. Place them near windows so the birds can be appreciated!
• Most important – pour yourself a cup of good tea or a glass of wine to celebrate your garden accomplishments of 2020. It was a tough year for a number of reasons. Personal accomplishments deserve a personal reward and no one knows those accomplishments better than you!

The hustle and bustle of the Holiday Season is finally upon us! November provided plenty of moisture, minimizing any worry for watering newly installed plants or evergreens. The temperatures were also warm, providing good root growth. This is the time to properly prepare the garden for winter as autumn truly bids us farewell and the sub-freezing temperatures of winter are just around the corner. As time permits between the cooking and the ‘online’ shopping, continue your ledgers with notes on the weather and how plants are performing. Wishing everyone a very Happy and Merry Holidays!

Things to do:

• • Finish removing leaves from lawn areas. If possible, shred the leaves with the lawn mower and add them to perennial or annual beds as mulch. The shredded leaves that remain in the turf are actually very beneficial for the grass.
  • Many people think that the decaying leaves look unattractive and should be removed from beds around the home. However, the leaves, whether shredded or whole are very important to our biosphere and should be used as mulch wherever possible!
  • If you have water features or ponds, keep the leaf nets over the pond at least through months’ end or until prolonged subfreezing temperatures are predicted to keep any leaves that are still blowing about from getting into the pond.

• • Decorate those plastic and fiberglass containers or window boxes that can remain outdoors for the winter. Evergreen boughs such as Yew, Pine, Hemlock, Juniper Southern Magnolia, Holly or Cherry Laurel can be pruned from the garden to decorate the container. For large pots, add containers of red stemmed Dogwoods (Cornus sericea or Cornus sanguinea) or Willow (Salix alba ‘Britzensis’ or Salix x ‘Swizzlestick’) for their glowing red stems. The dancing stems of Salix x ‘Swizzlestick’ are pictured at right. Add some white painted birch stems, which many Garden Centers carry and an attractive winter container will result! Come spring, the containers of woody plants can be removed and added to strategic locations within your garden.
  • If you have recently planted an evergreen, make certain that the soil remains moist in case we have several weeks without another rainfall. A 3-4” layer of mulch over the roots certainly helps to retain the moisture and will moderate the depth to which the soil will freeze, reducing the plant’s ability to absorb water.
  • Rhododendrons, Holly and other broadleaf evergreen shrubs that have been planted this fall will benefit from an application of an anti-desiccant spray. Apply during periods when the temperatures are above freezing for several hours and continue to reapply as temperatures permit though the winter according to directions.
  • Finish cutting back those perennials which have collapsed to the ground, especially around the base of newly planted trees. The debris acts as a veil for hungry mice during the winter who enjoy eating the tree bark throughout the winter.
  • By the same token and wherever possible, leave the stems and seed heads of Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), Cup Flower (Silphium), Purple Cone Flower (Echinacea) and similar flowers standing for the winter, since the seeds provide food for the birds and the hollow stems habitat for beneficial insects!
  • Equally as important, allow hollow stemmed shrubs such as our native Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) and Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) to remain standing through the winter and refrain from cutting off dead wood where possible. The hollow stems serve as a winter home for our beneficial insects as well as a location to lay eggs in the season to come.
  • Finish digging up Canna and Banana tubers, letting the soil dry so it can be knocked off once brought into the garage and then wrapped and stored in a cool basement.
  • Finish gathering seed from various annuals that are not hybrids as they will come true from seed. Dry and place in labeled packets for sowing come spring!
  • Remove the old foliage from Bearded Iris (Iris germanica) that is now shriveled, brown and laying on the ground. These leaves harbor potential egg masses from the Iris Borer that were laid by the adult moth and are poised to hatch and enter through the flower stem come May.

• • Bearded Iris is not the only Iris that should be cleaned up for winter, as it is a good idea to remove the foliage from most all the Iris for the winter. They may not be subject to the Iris Borer, since they do not possess large rhizomes, but previous season’s foliage provides an ideal cover for winter roaming mice. The root systems of all Iris make a tasty winter’s snack! Iris tectorum (Japanese Roof Iris) is picture above.
  • Consider edging bedlines if the ground is not frozen and time avails, as it will be one less item to consider come the spring! In general, it is easier to dig in the fall since the soil is not as damp. Do not dig the edge of the bed too deep, as lawnmower wheels are likely to fall into the trench and scalp the lawn.
  • Pot-up daffodils, tulips or minor bulbs into shallow pots and place them in the back of an unheated or minimally heated garage for the winter. Water when the soil appears dry. As the shoots begin to appear in February, place them in a sunny but cool window. They will provide nice early color to the kitchen table in March or for outdoor containers in March, April and May.
  • For Tea Roses, mulch the graft union with soil, leaves or shredded bark after the soil has started to freeze. This will ensure that the named selection that has been budded onto a rootstock will not perish during the winter. It is often beneficial to partially prune Tea Roses back to reduce any potential wobbling due to winter winds. Complete the pruning come spring.
  • Winterize lawn mowers and other gas-powered equipment. This entails cleaning or replacing the filters and amending the fuel with an additive that will prevent it from becoming more viscous and potentially blocking fuel lines come spring.
  • If there is access to composted or even fresh horse or cow manure, it can be spread now in the annual beds (not vegetable or perennial). Shredded leaves can be spread as mulch for vegetable gardens if there was not sufficient time to sow a cover crop as it adds organic matter back into the soil.
  • Finish cleaning out old plants from the vegetable garden and take note of where various plants were located this past year allowing for crop rotation, even if on a minimal scale.
  • Continue to adjust houseplants that prefer less direct sunlight as the sun continues to dip lower in the sky and reach further into the room.
  • Take inventory of potting soil, seed starting materials and gardening tools. If some of your inventory is in need of replacement or updating, they might make good Holiday gifts should you be that person who already has everything!
  • Evaluate the Garden to see if it is in need of additional December flowering or fruiting cheer! Plants like Mahonia x ‘Charity’ (pictured at right on November 23, 2019), Climbing Aster (Symphyotrichum carolinianum) and Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) are presently in full bud or bloom and Winterberry Holly (Ilex verticillata) is full of glorious red, yellow or orange fruit depending upon the cultivar! Ilex verticillata ‘Winter Gold’ is photographed at right.

Bruce Crawford
Program Leader in Home and Public Horticulture