Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:47 — 11.7MB)
January – MrT’s Gardening Year 2026 – Episode 01
January, the first month of the year when many retreat to the fireside and look at seed catalogues or binge watch Gardener’s World. Although it is a month with less garden activity than many others there is still a great deal to do.
Please click on a thumbnail to see the photographs that go with the podcast:
A cold start to the month:
Some cold weather in the first couple of weeks of the month. The fountain in the pond stops it from freezing over which is good for the fish.
The fountain not only oxygenates the water but, by stopping the pond freezing over, stops a build up of any harmful gases coming off the decaying vegetation.
This part of west Surrey is lucky to escape three storms during the month – Goretti, Ingrid and Chandra.
A few sunny days but mostly rain. The South-east is washed with 192% of the Long term Average rainfall during the month.
In bloom:
The pale blue, white and yellow flowers of the Iris unguicularis brighten the bed by the pond. Then there are the pale blue flowers on the Rosemary and the pink flowers of our large camellia. The hellebores are in bud and will be in full flower in a few weeks.
Vegetables:
Carrots go mushy if they freeze through so they went into the greenhouse during the cold weather. The perpetual spinach/leaf beet froze and will take a few weeks to recover before we can crop it again. The garlic, planted in November, is making good progress. A cold spell always persuades the garlic cloves to start growing.
Listen to the podcast to hear all about my gardening month.
This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Podchaser, Spotify, YouTube and others.
Music:
AKM Music licenses Horticulture for use in this podcast.
