So here we are in the New Year and the month named for Janus, the two-faced Roman god. Like many people my thoughts at this time of year often tend to look at what went well/ badly in the last year and how to build on/ improve into the next year.
Spring can feel some way distant in the cold and the dark, but it will approach with speed and once the garden kicks into life they'll be no holding back. Therefore the weeks of January and February are ones of preparation, getting everything as tidy and into as good a shape as possible in order to be some steps ahead as the garden awakes.
That said, as I write this the winter morning sun is breaking over a very cold and frozen garden landscape. January is very much that slither of time between the two directions of backwards and forwards, a pause and a rest, and something to be enjoyed.
It is in this month that the garden is at its most still as the plants hunker down to see out the cold. It is common through the year to see the different interlocking cycles of death and rebirth as plants come and go, or continually change and adapt to varying conditions. But in the cold of January all plants must find a pathway to the warmth of the spring. This often involves the death of a lot of the top growth as plants retreat below ground or into more insulated trunks. Annual plants take the gamble of transferring all their genetic information into their seeds before themselves succumbing fully to death.
None of the plant material is wasted, death is merely a transformation and in many ways a new beginning. It will feed many organisms, large and microscopic. It will contribute to good soil structure and release nutrients that will in turn help nourish and grow those plants that remain.
By the end of the month a large amount of pruning work will be done in the garden as the worst of the cold and the frosts should have passed. For plants and humans alike, the rest periods are equally as important as the activity periods, and I would therefore encourage you to embrace this short part of the year as it exists at no other point in the gardening calendar. Take the time to enjoy the garden and the cold before moving into the New Year's tasks.
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