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THE LAZY BERKSHIRE GARDENER: Week of January 23, 2025

Snow, sleet, and rain outdoors are the best encouragements to stay inside and think about more plans and plants for my gardens from March through October.

Welcome to the swinging temperatures of January! Our melting hours of last Saturday reverted to freezing hours on Sunday. Hope you took your walk around the gardens before the snow blew in with force. A solid snowfall of six-plus inches at my house was a relief as it has sealed up the soil for a few days before harsh cold and strong winds took over. Although I prefer a white coating outlining the trees and hiding the brown flowerbeds, I still soak up any blooms I can find. I didn’t force any spring bulbs into early bloom, but others have! Stop into a garden center soon to absorb the color of pretty tulip, hyacinth, or daffodil blooms and warm up your chilly days.

While a thin layer of snow covered the yard last week, I investigated deer tracks. Creatures of habit, deer follow a routine path, and you can expect to see their prints coming and going along the same routes. If you want to direct them away from prized plantings, install obstacles to their usual path. My uncle discovered where deer habitually entered his field, so he left a large brush pile at the “entrance” from the hedgerow—basically installing a detour sign. He greatly reduced the number of deer visits.

These deer prints are heading along the same path in opposite directions, indicating a regular route used by deer.

There are a few more things to consider in your brief visits outside during these brutally cold days:

  • Search for and report masses of spotted lanternfly eggs. Visit this webpage to learn more and report.
  • Tamp snow down around young trees and shrubs to eliminate cover for voles who will scrape the plants’ thin bark layer.
  • Prune broken and dead branches and pile up near your bird feeders. Birds love brush piles and dripping water. A few evergreens give them protection, too. You will see more activity when the birds have a safe hiding place.
A brush pile serves a double purpose of holding your brush for a burn day or future compost while providing cover for small birds as they seek seeds and winter shelter. Not an eyesore but your contribution to your natural environment in a Lazy Berkshire Gardener way!

I haven’t started my seeds for summer vegetables yet, but I have been thinking, thinking hard, about what to plant. We made a great vegetarian three-bean chili in a crock pot this week, and I realized beans for drying are probably the easiest thing to grow. Trained to a pole or trellis, climbing beans don’t take up much space. And bush beans are good for pots. I could have a dozen different colors dried and stored ready to make bean soup all winter. That is a fun idea. I will jot that down for later. Beans are best planted directly in the garden anytime from mid-May to early July so no rush there—except to purchase the seeds early.

I need to consider my tomato choices too. We use tomatoes for months. I like plum tomatoes for sauce and roasting and enjoy cherry tomatoes for salads and snacking. I also need to grow a beefsteak type for BLT or cheese, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches. Usually six to eight plants are enough for our house. If I wanted to dedicate more space, I would grow more plum type for sauce or to can whole for winter recipes.

You don’t have to force me: Snow, sleet, and rain outdoors are the best encouragements to stay inside and think about more plans and plants for my gardens from March through October. I have enough raised beds for now, but if I wanted more or wanted window boxes, I would definitely choose cedar or hemlock wood to make them. These woods are rot resistant and will last longer than less-expensive pine. Worth it!

Raised beds, window boxes, and containers can hold new-to-you annual flowers, perennials you want to try, or edibles of any kind. They make a great test case before you start or take over another garden bed on your property. Add some new containers to your planting mix this year.

And in those containers? Study plant or seed catalogs. Visit your garden center. Just study up on when seeds should be started and what conditions they need until planting time. Also, check hardiness for plants before placing catalog orders. Those catalog photos and descriptions can be enticing!

To enjoy early and long-season blooms, you can start seeds in the next week of geraniums, pansies or begonias indoors. Parsley and other slow-to-germinate herbs can be started now, too. If you have herbs growing in your windows, keep trimming the new growth and adding the fresh herbs to winter meals. Trimming keeps the plants healthy and you enjoy fresh flavors!

Also, for larger bulbs from a summer harvest, start seeds of Spanish onion, bunching onions, or leeks soon. I had great luck with bunching onions last year, so I will have a demonstration of those in the next week or so. In preparation, clean seed-starting containers if you will be reusing yours with a solution of one part bleach to 10 parts water. Also use a sterile germination mix to avoid damping off. Get a heat mat to keep seedling trays warm and set up your table with bright fluorescent lights on a timer. Light from a window will result in leggy seedlings if they are slow to develop. Check out this post on Ward’s Nursery & Garden Center’s website about seed starting to learn more.

I finally repotted my schefflera plants that had roots poking out of the pot bottom. These plants were started from cuttings about 11 months ago! I chose a pot larger by about one inch, and I split the two starter stems so they could have their own pot. Another trick: The potting mix was very dry. I had a smaller, resealable plastic bag of another planting mix and used that to moisten my mix before transplanting. I massaged the water into the mix without getting excess soil everywhere. A great hack for small work spaces and limited sink access! In days past, I have delayed dinner because the kitchen sink was covered in potting soil.

This schefflera houseplant has roots wrapped around the root ball that also emerged from the bottom of the pot. Time to uppot (gardener-speak for transplant into a larger pot with fresh soil)!

And I leave you with more January houseplant tips.

  • Take a shower with your tropicals. But don’t let the water get too hot! They could use the dusting of a good tropical rainstorm.
  • Sudden wilting of houseplants may be from over watering—always use a well-draining potting mix and water plants until they drain, then pour water out of the saucer.
  • Variegated plants need more light than green foliage plants.
  • Some plants prefer that you water the soil, not the leaves. Similar to furry-leafed African violets, Episcias like to have consistently moist soil but no water on the leaf surface. Use a pot that wicks water into the soil as needed. That is another great lazy gardener trick.
Flame violet (Episcia) transplanted into a self-watering container. This will bounce back with orangey red flowers now that the soil stays consistently moist. The outer pot holds the water and the inner clay pot wicks moisture into the soil as the soil dries out.

I call myself the Lazy Berkshire Gardener because I don’t want to work too hard in my gardens. I want to enjoy them. I find it easier to observe my landscape and let the compost happen, the water pool up, or daisies to self-sow. I look for ways to do the minimum task for the biggest impact. For example, mulching is better than spraying and much better than weeding all season. I look for beautiful, low-maintenance plants that thrive in or at least tolerate my garden conditions. Plus, I am willing to live with the consequences if I miss something.

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But Not To Produce.

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THE LAZY BERKSHIRE GARDENER: Week of February 6, 2025

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THE LAZY BERKSHIRE GARDENER: Week of January 30, 2025

Days are getting longer, and houseplants will start to put out fresh growth in the weeks to come. Keep humidity up!

The Edge Is Free To Read.

But Not To Produce.