JANUARY GARDENING IN THE WESTERN CAPE

The new year is the perfect time to get your green fingers busy beautifying your summer garden. Refer to our January gardening guide to find out what to plant this month, and for tips on sowing your own herb and vegetable seeds, planting heat-tolerant annuals and feeding your lemon trees for a good harvest come winter.

ON YOUR TO-DO LIST FOR JANUARY

  Plant & Sow

• Sow or plant herbs such as basil, dill, nasturtiums and parsley in well-draining soil in containers. Pro tip: Keep the soil moist until the first shoots appear. Pinch out new growth on seedlings to encourage them to become compact and bushy. The more you trim your herbs, the more flavourful they become. Place them in a spot that receives at least 5-6 hours of sun.
• Plant heat-tolerant annuals like alyssum, celosia, marigolds, petunias, portulaca, red salvias, sunflowers and zinnias.
• Sow summer vegetables such as microgreens, celery, parsley and leeks.

Feed

• Feed lemon trees with 3:1:5 or 8:1:5 (an organic fertiliser) and water well. Surround the trees with a thick layer of organic mulch.
• Fertilise fuschias with an organic potassium fertiliser such as a 3:1:5.

Prune & Trim

• Lightly prune roses to encourage new flowers. Snap off any suckers (light green, thornless shoots) growing from the base of the bushes.
• Remove some of the smaller flowerheads on dahlias to encourage development of bigger blooms (we’re talking dinner-plate size!).
• Use grass and plant clippings (from pruning) as mulch in your garden beds.
• Stake tall-growing perennials and trees to protect them against the infamous Cape Doctor winds.
• Remember to pull up any weeds before they go to seed and cause more problems in the garden. Weeds rob your plants of valuable water and nutrients, so right now couldn’t be a better time to get rid of them.

OTHER FRESH IDEAS

Sign up to the Stodels Garden Club Start the year off on a good note and save with a Garden Club card. As a member of our Garden Club, avid gardeners benefit from points on each purchase, exclusive savings on plants and garden accessories, café specials, a free gift every month with a purchase, and a voucher during the month of your birthday. If you’re not a member yet, make it your New Year’s resolution to sign up!