Carry out plantings
In January, if the weather is sufficiently mild, if the ground is not frozen and if no frost is forecast for the following days, you can carry out some plantings:
- You can plant deciduous and bare root trees and shrubs, such as birch, forsythia, maple, lilac, hazel, small-fruited shrubs, etc. To do this, a week before the planting itself, prepare the holes, ensuring that it is sufficiently large. For a shrub, plan a hole 50 cm in diameter, and 80 cm in diameter for a tree. Depending on the nature of your soil, do not hesitate to enrich it with compost or drain it with sand.
- If you are considering creating a hedge with deciduous shrubs, now is also the time to do so. In the latter case, be careful to respect the planting distances between trees, but also the regulations in force in relation to the neighborhood. Indeed, trees and shrubs must be planted at a minimum distance from the property line: either 2 meters from it for trees and shrubs exceeding 2 meters in height when mature, and 50 cm from it for those not exceeding this height of 2 meters.
Plant your Christmas tree
Yes, nothing is lost! If for Christmas you have chosen a container tree, plant it in your garden as soon as possible. But that doesn’t mean you have to rush out and take it straight from your living room to the open ground. We must indeed ensure that gradually acclimatize it to prevent thermal shock. You can, firstly, allow it to spend a few days in your garage or under a shelter.
Move trees and shrubs
It may be that after planting a tree or shrub, you realize that it is not in the right place, either because it is in the way or because it is not at a suitable location. location that meets its needs, either because it is too close to the home, etc.
In this case, the month of January lends itself perfectly to its transplant. But to do this, you must proceed with caution to facilitate its recovery:
- If the tree is already large, do not hesitate to reduce the crown.
- Dig a trench around the tree, so that you can then pass a straight shovel or spade under its roots.
- By exerting pressure on the handle of your tool, make movements from top to bottom, then from bottom to top so as to lift the root ball.
- Cut the roots holding the root ball.
- Once the root ball has been extracted from the ground, carefully move the tree or shrub and its root ball to install it in the hole you have previously prepared in its new location.
Maintain your trees and shrubs
- If you have camellias, you can mulch the ground around their feet to protect them.
- If it snows a lot, remember to shake the branches to prevent them from breaking under the weight of the snow.
- Using a brush, remove any moss that may have grown on the trunk of your trees. This will, at the same time, eliminate the eggs of larvae, insects or mealybugs which may have nestled there.
- If necessary, remove mistletoe or ivy which can grow on trees and quickly take over them.
Caring for the soil
You will not have beautiful trees or shrubs if the soil is too poor or too dense. This means that if you have to take care of your plants, the same goes for the soil:
- In order to promote the penetration of rainwater, scratch the earth at the foot of your plantations.
- Add fertilizer and compost at the foot of fruit trees and shrubs. For good integration into the soil, scrape the surface of the soil.
Prune your trees and shrubs
Depending on the weather, you can also prune certain trees and shrubs. By doing it at this time, you avoid loss of sap. Here’s what you can prune:
- Glycine: this size will allow you to get it back into shape and prevent it from going over what you don’t want it to encroach on. To do this, simply cut off the annoying secondary branches.
- Summer flowering shrubs: if it does not freeze, you can prune summer flowering shrubs, such as buddleias, hibiscus, tamarisk, etc. Be careful not to prune shrubs that will flower in spring, as you risk compromising this flowering.
- Large trees: you can prune dead branches or the few branches that are poorly placed. Do not hesitate to protect the wounds thus created to prevent diseases from developing there.