January Garden Guide and Landscaping Tips

There's plenty to do in the garden this summer! Read on for our expert garden and landscaping tips for the month of January.

Many plants suffer dehydration in summer which inhibits their ability to grow and produce crops. This doesn't mean you need to irrigate twice daily, but when you do water it needs to be deep and meaningful.

Adding a fresh layer of Mulch helps to lock in the moisture, check out our massive range of barks and mulch here.

Key Garden & Landscaping Products for January

Mulch | Compost | Topsoil | Premium Garden Mix | Premium Lawn Soil | Fertilsers | White Limestone Chip | Hoggin | GAP 20 | Scoria | Drainage Metal | Rain Garden Mix | Pavers | Ponga Logs | Timber Sleepers

January in the Fruit & Vegetable Garden

• Summer is big harvest time and it’s important to pick fast-growing vegetables such as zucchini, beans, and cucumbers regularly otherwise the food grows beyond its best.
• Growing a good bean crop – keeping them well staked up and watered helps production. Canny gardeners water the bright orange flowers of runner beans, saying it helps pollinate them.
• Beans and zucchini need regular water and frequent picking to continue production over the season.

• Watering is very important – with watering restrictions train the household to capture buckets of water in the shower, dishwashing etc, for use on container gardens and raised beds that dry out more quickly.
• Pea straw is a major aid in keeping the roots of vegetable plants cool and helping to stop evaporation. Water beds, then layer it around plants.

• Lettuce and herbs going to seed? Leave a few in the vegetable garden – their flowers attract the bees for pollination.
• Use an organic pesticide such as Bugtrol to control whitefly and aphids that are breeding quickly in the heat. Spray very early before bees are active.
• Maintain a regular fertiliser and watering programme around fruit trees while fruit is growing and ripening. Cover fruit trees and grapevines with netting to prevent birds eating ripening fruit.

• Plant 'soft' seedlings in parts of the garden that aren't in full sun. This applies to lettuces particularly. Many soft-leaved plants such as rhubarb and lettuce do revive once the sun has moved on.
• Potted vegetables dry out more quickly than those in the garden: train yourself to save the buckets of 'grey water' from washing the car and pour them into your pots. It's amazing how often they get watered once you get into the habit.
• Remove brassicas that have gone to seed such as broccoli, bok choy or cabbages, because the white butterflies tend to lay their eggs on the leaves. The eggs hatch as the voracious green looper caterpillars.

• Harvesting garlic: when the tops of garlic begin to wither it’s a sign that the cloves are ready. Pull out the entire plant, then let it lie on the soil in the sun for a few days to dry off. Storage by hanging in a cool dry area (plaiting is great), will keep it ready to use for months.
• Don’t give up if your eggplants aren’t forming but try hand pollination with a small soft paint or make-up brush– their insipid little flowers don’t always grab the bees.

• Plant leeks – punnets or newspaper-wrapped seedlings contain lots of individual leek plants, so you can easily start a couple rows – remember to plant them in a trench or create 5cm deep holes in your Premium Garden Mix to drop them into. Trim off the tops. Don’t fill the hole with soil, it will gradually fill in, as the leek grows.
• The summer garden is in full swing, make sure you harvest fast growing vegetables regularly to keep plants producing.

January in the Ornamental Garden

• January flowers – roses are taking a break from flowering and spring shrubs are finished. Hydrangeas, agapanthus, daylilies, penstemons and salvias are great value for summer colour.
• Roses: If you're planning a late summer wedding, modern roses should be cut back 8-10 weeks beforehand. Deep watering and a layer of mulch is helpful to encourage growth and flowers
• Summer prune wisterias and once flowering rambling roses.
• Water up under leaves of rhododendrons, viburnums and citrus plants to dislodge thrips that cause unsightly silver leaves in March. Alternatively spray with an appropriate pesticide.

• NZ cabbage and Kowhai trees come under attack from caterpillars in the summer. For young plants control is helpful, so they don’t lose all their foliage.
• Get some bright summer colour going by planting canna lilies, alstroemerias, hibiscus and impatiens.
• For plants with lower watering requirements, Kalanchoe and freely flowering succulents make a great show during the summer and work well in pots.

• Swan plants in the ornamental garden add colour and bring the monarch butterflies around. Purple and pink flowering plants attract them as well.
• Remember to top the water up birdbaths and bowls in the garden as the temperature increases – dehydration doesn’t just affect humans.
• Delay trimming hedges or big branches that can expose shrubs beneath – a sudden burst of hot sun on foliage that was in the shade will cause burning.
• Deadhead or cut back spent summer flowers to encourage a fresh batch of flowers to grow.

January Lawn Care

• Set the blades on your mower high through summer, cutting low can stress the lawn.
• Remove weeds before they set seed – a good clean-up while you’ve got some holiday time around home gives the desirable plants space to grow.
• Watering in the cooler morning and evening hours is important now, and don’t forget to leave some water out for the birds!
• Recycle: Use grey water (washing up water from floors, handwashing or a bucket in the shower) to top up pots and prized plants. It’s amazing how this can get you into a good ‘watering routine’ when your plants need it most.

Landscaping Projects for January

Build a raised garden bed

Summer is the perfect time to complete some DIY projects, like building your own raised garden bed from timber sleepers. We recently completed a project using Trustwood Sleepers with a base of GAP 20 to create an even surface, a layer of Scoria for fast drainage, then topped with our Premium Garden Mix.

Check out the project here and learn how to build your own raised garden bed.

Create a fun-filled sandpit

Sandpits are perfect for the lazy days at home: Our East Coast Sandpit Sand is our most preferred sandpit sand and is used frequently at day-care centres and kindergartens. Edge the area with timber sleepers, tip in the sand and grab the buckets and spades!

Improving your drainage systems

The drier months are a good time to deal with those areas that get boggy in winter. Check out our blog Five Easy Tips to Make your Garden Flood Resilient for some ideas. Or pop into your local Central Landscape Supplies yard for advice and the products you need—including Scoria, Novacoil Drain Coil, Drainage Metal, Mulch, and Rain Garden Mix.

Paved pathways and courtyards

Summer is a great time for paving projects, getting the jump on the wetter months. Feinwerk Pavers are perfect for pathways. With a high cement content and fibre reinforcement, they're thinner, lighter, and stronger. Professional-quality Feinwerk Pavers are safer to carry, with reduced risk of injury, easier to work with, and better for precision installation. Box them in with a surround of White Limestone Chip for striking results.

Anyone for a round of Pétanque?

How about using Hoggin to create an ideal surface for a Pétanque court? Measure out the area and dig out the topsoil. Box it in with timber and lay a sub-base of GAP 20, then compact it. Apply Hoggin on top to a depth of 5cm, and away you go.

Shop Online for Garden & Landscape Supplies

Central Landscape Supplies has all the garden and landscaping supplies you’ll need for January.