It’s January again, time to kickstart the New Year. Are you ready to begin the New Year with a fresh start for your home and garden? Banish the winter blues with a few feel-good activities that will boost your mood and get your house and garden into shape for the year.
1. Recycle your Christmas tree
If you bought a real Christmas tree, don’t forget to leave it out for your local council to collect and recycle. Or if it’s small enough and you have your own garden shredder, shred it yourself and use it as mulch around shrubs and trees.
2. Save those cardboard boxes
When you’re getting rid of all those cardboard boxes from online deliveries, save a few, tear them up and put them in a pile in your shed so that you can add them to your compost heap or bin gradually during the year. Adding ‘brown’ material like cardboard helps to keep your compost aerated and stops all the soft green material from grass and cuttings from turning into mush.
3. Sow some seeds
Planting seeds is a statement of faith in the future, and we can all do with some of that when it’s cold and dark in January. Give yourself a dose of positive thinking by buying a few of your favourite seed packets.
4. Buy a houseplant
There’s any amount of research to demonstrate that being around nature is good for us, reducing stress and improving our mood. And when the garden is looking bleak, houseplants are a great solution. Whether you choose orchids for their gorgeous flowers, begonias for their fabulous foliage or peace plants for their indestructibility, having a few houseplants around is sure to boost your mood.
5. Get outside
Even if it’s just for ten minutes a day, get out into the garden or go for a walk around your neighbourhood and have a look at what’s growing. You’ll be amazed at how much start appearing, even this early in the year. Daffodils and snowdrops will be popping up, hellebores and cyclamens are flowering, and buds are starting to swell even on the barest-looking trees.
6. Plant something scented
January’s a great time to plant trees, provided the ground isn’t actually frozen or waterlogged, and it’s also the best month for many winter-scented plants. Witch hazel, viburnum, sarcococca and mahonia are all in flower this month, so if your garden is feeling the winter blues, pop out to your garden centre and buy yourself a scented plant. You’ll be reaping the benefits for years to come.
7. Visit a winter garden
Gardens planted especially with winter in mind are a tonic at this time of year, alight with colour from colourful stems and bark and bursting with winter-flowering plants. You’re sure to come away feeling better and filled with inspiration. Search online to find your nearest winter garden.
Need some ideas for your home and garden this year? Come and see our exciting ranges of plants and homeware in the centre.