10 Gardening Activities for January in the Midwest

1. Holiday Bulb Care

Treat your indoor amaryllis and other bulbs like you would treat outdoor bulbs. Once they flower, let them develop leaves and then place them in bright light and continue watering. Once weather warms, you can take them outside to a location with partial sun (ideally morning sun or indirect sunlight). Fertilize with a general-purpose bulb fertilizer such as Bulb Tone. Remove the foliage only after it dies back. (The leaves are important for the bulbs to develop next year’s flowers.) Bulbs can stay in their pot until the end of the season (late-September or October), when you can remove them from the container to chill if necessary, and repot. Learn more about potting and forcing bulbs in this video.

2. Get Out Your Seeds & Seed-Starting Equipment

Before you start ordering seeds, be sure to get your old seeds out and take inventory. Seeds have a shelf life and may not germinate predictably, or at all, especially if they're more than 3 or 4 years old (this chart shows the longevity for various plants), or if they're not stored properly (humidity is especially damaging to seeds). Once you have an inventory of your seeds, order new ones to fill the gaps in your wish list from seed suppliers such as Burpee, Johnny's Selected Seeds, or Botanical Interests. It’s also a good idea to check your seed-starting equipment (lights, trays, etc.) to make sure it’s working properly. If you don’t have a greenhouse or cold frame, then start your seeds indoors with a grow light.

3. Cut Flowering Branches for Indoor Displays

If you have trees and shrubs with flowering branches, take cuttings that are 2 to 3 feet long to force their blooms indoors. Flowering branches that are good for forcing this time of year include serviceberry, magnolia, flowering quince, forsythia, crabapple, flowering cherry, and redbud. Once the branches are cut, make crosscuts on the end of the stems. This will insure they take up adequate water. Then lay them in a bathtub filled with room-temperature water and leave the branches to soak overnight (around 8 hours). When they’re done soaking, remove the branches from the water and place them in a vase filled with clean water. Keep the branches in a room that’s around 60 degrees, out of direct sunlight, and change the water daily until flower buds swell. After the buds swell, move the vase and branches to a cool room. Avoid placing branches in direct sun. Keep the water fresh by changing it every several days.

4. Keep the Garden Tidy

Winter weather can cause damage to the garden. Be sure to keep up with garden maintenance this month. When weather permits, prune broken branches and remove any branches that have fallen. Remove leaves from gutters or install gutter guards. If you have bird baths, ponds, or water features you’re trying to keep deiced, then check deicers to make sure they are functioning properly. If smaller plants have heaved, restore them to their original depth by gently pressing the root ball back into the ground with your hands. If you have a cut Christmas tree, trim off all the branches and use them as a layer of mulch in garden beds. Evergreen mulches like Christmas tree branches allow light and water to reach the soil surface but also insulate roots from freezes.

5. Protect Young Trees & Shrubs

If you have young trees or shrubs, it’s important to protect their trunk from garden pests like rabbits and deer. Use a tree bark protector or wire mesh that’s around 48 inches tall to help prevent damage to the tree. Wind can also damage young trees and shrubs. Protect plants using tree stakes or by constructing a wind break. Learn more about how to protect your plants and trees from rabbits and deer.

6. Clean and Refill Bird Feeders

It’s important to clean bird feeders regularly (around once per month) in order to prevent diseases. To clean bird feeders, remove any excess bird seed then clean the feeder with soapy water and dunk it in a diluted bleach-water solution (you can also use vinegar) to disinfect the feeder. Let the feeder dry, refill it with seed, and put it back in its location. It’s also important to clean around feeders if bird droppings are accumulating; this is especially true if it’s in a location near a walkway or anywhere there’s human foot traffic. If you need a bird feeder or want to expand your collection, the Audubon Society has information on 5 different types of feeders and the types of birds they attract.

7. Spread Wood Ash on Garden Beds

Since a cord of wood can produce around 25 pounds of ashes, it’s important to find a suitable way to dispose of wood ash. Wood ash from a wood burning stove or fireplace can be scattered on garden beds. The wood ash contains potassium that’s beneficial to plants and helps them regulate water balance. One caveat though, is that wood ash can raise the pH of your soil, so don’t continue adding ashes to your soil without testing the soil first. Excess wood ash that’s not spread directly on garden beds can be added to compost piles.

8. Read Up on Kitchen Gardening

The garden blog and podcast A Way to Garden has a nearly endless supply of garden knowledge. Spend some time this month learning about growing or improve how you grow vegetables, fruits, herbs, and more in preparation for the coming season.

9. Take a Gardening Class

The Chicago Botanic Garden has a number of classes throughout the year for gardeners interested in learning more about various topics. January is a good time of year to spend time indoors learning new techniques. Classes at this time of year can often range from topics such as bonsai to garden design, garden photography to forcing bulbs, and more. Check out the adult education classes at the garden.

10. Inventory Garden Tools & Order New Ones

Inventory your garden tools in preparation for the coming season. If you need to replace shovels, hoes, rakes, or other tools, ordering now will ensure you have them when it’s time to start planting. There are also a number of tools that make gardening easier such as:

• An ergonomically designed shovel
• A Hori-Hori knife for easy weeding or slicing
• A variety of long-handled tools to save your back
• A gardener's tool belt or carrier to keep tools handy

Learn more about how to properly care for your garden tools.