PlantSowGrowWhat to sow and plant in January
January is planning time: order seeds, sort out pots and labels, and set seed potatoes to chit from the end of the month. Apple and pear trees can be winter pruned while they are bare.
Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April, first frost late October). The PlantSowGrow app dates every job from your own town's frost dates.
Sow indoors in January 12
On a windowsill, in a propagator or in a greenhouse.
🥕 Vegetables 5
🌸 Flowers 7
Ready to harvest in January 10
What you can be picking or lifting this month.
🥕 Vegetables 8
🌳 Trees 2
Trees and fruit bushes to plant 64
Deciduous trees and fruit bushes are sold bare-root from November to March, the best time to plant them. Pot-grown ones can go in whenever the soil isn't frozen or waterlogged.
🍓 Fruit 24
🌳 Trees 40
Jobs for established plants in January
- Cover Against Leaf CurlAlmond (Robijn)
From January to May, rain spreads leaf curl. A clear polythene shelter over small or wall-trained trees keeps leaves dry.
- Winter PruningApple (Cox's Orange Pippin)
Prune while dormant: remove dead, diseased and crossing wood and shorten the main leaders by a third to keep an open goblet shape.
- Winter PruningApple (Discovery)
Prune while dormant: remove dead, diseased and crossing wood and shorten the main leaders by a third to keep an open shape.
- Winter PruningApple (James Grieve)
Prune while dormant: remove dead, diseased and crossing wood and shorten the main leaders by a third to keep an open shape.
- Winter PruneGooseberry (Invicta)
Keep an open goblet shape: remove crossing and low branches and shorten side shoots to two buds.
- Cut Off Old LeavesHellebore (Lenten Rose)
Cut last year's leaves at the base just before the flowers open — it shows off the blooms and removes leaf-spot disease.
- Winter PruneKiwi (Issai)
While dormant, cut back side shoots that fruited last year to 2–3 buds beyond the last fruit.
- Winter PruningMedlar (Nottingham)
While dormant, remove dead, crossing and crowded branches to keep an open shape.
- Cover Against Peach Leaf CurlNectarine (Lord Napier)
Leaf curl spreads by rain splash from January to May. Fit a clear polythene shelter, open at the sides, over wall-trained or pot-grown trees.
- Cover Against Peach Leaf CurlPeach (Peregrine)
Peach leaf curl spreads by rain splash from January to May. Cover wall-trained or small trees with a polythene shelter open at the sides, or spray copper fungicide at leaf fall…
- Winter PruneRedcurrant (Jonkheer van Tets)
Shorten main branches by half their new growth and cut side shoots back to one or two buds.
- Force Early Stalks (Optional)Rhubarb (Timperley Early)
Cover a crown with a bucket or forcer to get pale, sweet stalks weeks early. Do not force the same crown two years running.
- Winter CheckRowan (Mountain Ash)
Prune only to remove dead, damaged or crossing branches while dormant.
- Cover to BlanchSea Kale
Clear dead leaves and cover each crown with an upturned bucket or forcing pot to blanch the new shoots.
- Winter PruningSweet Chestnut
While young, remove crossing branches and any competing leaders. Mature trees need no pruning.
- Winter PruneWhitecurrant (White Versailles)
Shorten main branches by half their new growth and cut side shoots back to one or two buds.
Other months
What to sow in February, What to sow in March, What to sow in April, What to sow in May, What to sow in June, What to sow in July, What to sow in August, What to sow in September, What to sow in October, What to sow in November and What to sow in December.