Let’s Get Gardening!
I offer my sincere apologies to those waiting patiently for the December newsletter. I kept thinking I would find the time to get it done, but never quite did. December is always a busy month at the store, and this year was even busier than usual! I’m sure the warmer-than-normal temperatures and the lack of any real snow and ice helped spur people to get out and shop in downtown Chelsea this season, for which we are always grateful! Our luck seems to have run out, where the cold and snow is concerned, but it sure is pretty!
The Garden Mill will be closed for the entire month of January, and will reopen on February 1st. While we’re closed, you can still shop our Online Store. It’s not actually that we won’t be at the store for much of the month – we’ll be doing cleanup, inventory, and getting in lots of new products for the new season. We do plan to try to take a little time off later in the month, but we’ll also be happy to make arrangements to meet you curbside with orders placed online, or ship them to you. So, feel free to shop online at any time this month, and then come in and see us in February! And if there’s something you need that you don’t see in our online store, send us a note at customerservice@thegardenmill.com, and we can see if we have it in stock.
Jennifer
In this month’s issue of Let’s Get Gardening
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for seasonal gardening advice and recommendations for your garden, yard, and bird feeding.
In this month’s issue:
January is a great time for catching up on all the things you meant to get to but didn’t – cleaning containers that you want to re-use in the spring, cleaning and sharpening tools that you didn’t get to after your last forays in the garden – and for making plans for the upcoming gardening season.
Indoors:
- Now is the time to make up for any neglect you may have shown your indoor plants while you were busy tending to
the outdoor ones. Make sure they are getting as much sun as possible now. Also, clean off any dust that has accumulated on leaves of your indoor plants so they can take better advantage of what sun they do get. - Give your indoor plants some humidity, too. Indoor air at this time of year is generally very dry, which is hard on plants.
- For most indoor plants, this should be a time when they don’t need fertilizer – or need less. There are some plants, such as African violets, that bloom all year round, so need regular fertilization all year, but for most everything else, it’s best to cut back on fertilizing at this time of year, to let them have a rest from growing and blooming. If you’re not sure what your plant needs, there are a number of good advice websites.
- Winter is also a good time to repot any plants that have outgrown their current pots and are getting root-bound. Root-bound plants dry out faster, and generally don’t do well, looking a bit sickly the longer they are stuck in a too-small pot.
- Take some time to look out into your yard and gardens while you are sitting inside. This time of year is great
for seeing where you have bare spots, and where you might want to add some winter interest. Red twig dogwood, with branch color that stands out against the snow and gray; evergreens that provide color when everything else is brown; or even garden art, such as statuary or furniture can all help liven up the winter garden, and look good the rest of the year, too. - I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite things to do in the depth of winter is to go through all the seed catalogs that come in the mail and start planning what I want to plant in the upcoming season – it’s just a great way to keep the winter blahs at bay, dreaming of all the wonderful vegetables, herbs, and flowers that I’ll be growing this spring and summer! Seeds will begin to be available on the Garden Mill website about mid-January, so be sure to check them out – and order yours early, since it looks like we will still have some of the challenges we experienced last year when it comes to getting in products, including seeds.
- If you bought a poinsettia this season, and you don’t want to just toss it in the trash after the holidays, you can get it to re-bloom next year, with just a little TLC.
- Christmas cactus are even easier to get to bloom again next year, and for years to come – I know many people who have Christmas cactus that are decades old.
- One thing you can do this month, if you really feel the gardening itch, is to pot up some bulbs for forcing.
Forcing bulbs, such as crocus, tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and muscari (grape hyacinths) can be a great way to get a taste of spring a little earlier than spring usually shows itself around here. Most bulbs need a cooling period that mimics winter in order to bloom, so you need to make sure that the bulbs you get have had sufficient cooling to be forced.
Outdoors:
- It looks like we’re in for some of the coldest temperatures of the season to-date over the next couple of weeks, which means the snow we just got likely isn’t going anywhere. The sort-of good thing about the snow sticking around is that it can act as an insulating blanket over the ground. Which means that right now, the ground beneath all that snow is probably not totally frozen yet. If, like me, you didn’t get protective wind barriers up around your evergreens yet, you should be able to do that still, but don’t put it off much more than the next couple of days, since the ground is likely to freeze soon, with the lower temps and lighter snow cover than we were expecting.
- The weather people are saying that we will have above normal temperatures and above normal precipitation
this winter. That means that we are likely to see more snow than we did last year, but it will also likely be the wet, heavy kind. We are also more likely to have ice, as the temperatures hover around the freezing mark. I’m sure that thought thrills you as much as it does me! Heavy, wet snow is very hard on outdoor plants – especially trees and shrubs, and even more so evergreens. So, when we do get the next big snow, take a look at your trees – especially the evergreens – to see if the snow is weighing down branches. If so, it might be a good idea to try to clear the snow from them to prevent damage. - I would still recommend waiting to do any pruning of trees and shrubs, as we really haven’t had much truly cold weather yet. Pruning is best done in the depth of winter, when trees are dormant and insects are long gone.
Birds:
- Did you have a fresh cut Christmas tree this year? If so, when you are ready to take it down, consider putting it to use in your yard, rather than putting it out on the curb for trash pick-up. Here are some great ideas for ways to use your tree to benefit the birds and other wildlife.
- Be sure to keep bird feeders full this winter. Keeping feeders clean and filled can be a time-consuming task, but one that will bring lots of pleasure as you watch your feathered friends show their appreciation for all your hard work. Feeding them throughout the winter also encourages them to stick around in the spring and summer, when they help to keep insects under control.
- Helping to provide fresh water is also important for your birds during the winter. Putting out a heated birdbath or putting a de-icer in your birdbath can be a literal lifesaver for birds during the winter, and watching them in the water is loads of fun, too!
More info on all of these tips can be found in our monthly newsletter: Read the January 2022 issue of Let’s Get Gardening
Happy Gardening!
Chelsea’s 13th Annual Chocolate Extravaganza
Saturday, February 12th
Join us and all the downtown Chelsea Merchants and Restaurants to celebrate all things Chocolate. Festivities will include Chocolate Demonstrations by Michigan chocolate makers, chocolatiers, and bakers, and a Penguin Egg Hunt for the little ones! Merchants will also have great gifts for your favorite valentine, and restaurants and bars are sure to have specials on chocolate treats.
More details to come about the event at shopchelseamich.com