January & February Gardens

One of the questions we often get asked
is ‘How do we look after our Houseplants
after Christmas?’. Lots of plants are brought
or given as gifts over the festive period, and
they can really brighten up the house during
the short days of winter. Several of the plants
can actually be used long term in the garden,
but they do need to be treated gently to make
the transformation from houseplants to garden
plants. The shock of moving from inside a nice
warm environment, to a freezing cold, outdoor
January day will kill the majority of plants,
irrespective of how hardy they are.

Plants such as roses, jasmine and evergreen
azalea will all grow outside, but they do need
to acclimatise gradually to a new environment.
Once they have finished flowering, taking
them from indoors, to a cooler conservatory,
to a porch or glasshouse (or even a garage the worst of the winter weather has passed.
Bulbs that have been grown as indoor plants
can also be treated the same, and they will
grow up outside next year and provide a great
display, albeit at a slightly later date than if they
were ‘forced’ for indoor flowering; this would
include plants such as hyacinths, daffodils and
narcissi, crocus and even tulips.

The same process should also apply to a
potted Christmas tree; it is not uncommon
for a tree to be covered in lovely lights and
baubles and be in a heated lounge one day,
and be slung out through the patio doors by
the evening! Treat them fairly and they will
reward you by bursting into life once they are
in the garden.

Some flowering houseplants are really not
worth trying to keep too long in the house.
It is best to realise that they have performed
for about ten times as long as a bunch of
flowers for a similar cost price, and should be
consigned to the compost heap and replaced
with something new and fresh.

Some houseplants are grown to be permanent
features, be it a small cactus or a graceful kentia
palm; they should give you months, if not years,
of growth. Even though most of these plants are
evergreen, and non-flowering, they still need different
growing conditions. A sansevieria, or mother-inlaw’s
tongue, will grow quite happily with little light,
minimal watering and very little attention, whereas a
citrus plant will need more light, more watering and
feeding and will need moving in and out during the
year in order to thrive. But a conservatory, in the early
part of the year, filled with the beautiful sweet scent
of citrus blossom will be a wonderful place to spend
some time.

January and February are also the months to begin
thinking and preparing the garden for crops of
vegetables. One of the first jobs we do in January
is to put out the seed potato displays. We will have
around 20 different varieties, a mix of first and second
earlies, main crop and salad varieties. Arran Pilot
is the nation’s favourite early potato; varieties such
as Home Guard and Foremost have good disease
resistance if you have susceptible ground; Foremost
and Maris Peer also have fantastic flavour; Rocket
produces high yields; Kestrel is a great potato for
baking; Desiree is a great Red main crop, and Pink
Fir Apple has a nutty flavour with a really unusual
shape that makes salads look really interesting. But
my personal favourite is the salad variety Charlotte:
smooth skin, best harvested when the tubers are
small, it has an exquisite flavour and is lovely when
cooked with some mint leaves and lightly coated with
butter, a great accompaniment to fish or salad.

Not Just A Garden Centre Finedon Road, Burton Latimer Northants, NN15 5QA

Only minutes from J10 off the A14 and midway between Kettering and Wellingborough

OPEN: Mon-Sat: 9am - 6pm Sun: 10am - 5pm • Disabled Access All Credit Cards Accepted 01536 722635 www.bosworthsgc.co.uk Visit our online shop: www.shop.bosworthsgc.co.uk www.facebook.com/BosworthsGC

LANDSCAPING All types of landscaping undertaken from Consultation to Design, Construction and Aftercare

e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.bosworthslandscaping.co.uk