The 2024 gardening season has begun with the arrival of new seed catalogs!  Mid-winter is the ideal time to take inventory of what happened in 2023, which seeds will be needed and begin preparations for the next gardening season.  It’s also important to take care of indoor plants and get started with early pruning of woody plants when we have an occasional nice winter day.  Here are some details…

Got seeds?  Before ordering new seeds, I like to check my inventory of leftovers that can be used.  Generally, seeds that are 1 or 2 years old will be fine this year so make a written count to know what you have and what you will need to buy.  A simple germination test with 10 seeds on a covered wet paper towel in a dish will tell you which seeds are still usable.  Discard older seeds or ones that don’t germinate.  Next make a list of what you want to plant this year including seeds still on-hand and begin looking over the seed catalogs.  Most seed companies provide on-line ordering to make it easy.  My advice is to order in January as the best varieties run out early.

Indoor pest prevention.  If you brought in your favorite plants indoors, as I did, this is a good time to give them a close health exam to avoid pest problems. Remove any dead or unhealthy parts, clean away dead leaves, and prune overgrown stems.  I sprayed all plants with Insecticidal Soap and then with Neem Oil over a couple weeks before bringing them in.  There still might be a few harmful insects lurking under leaves or in tiny crevices of those plants so give them all a good mid-winter spray (top and bottom of all leaves, stems, and blossoms) with Insecticidal Soap.  Repeat this about every month, or more frequently if you see pests. You can do this without concern for any toxins in your house (it’s just soap) but be careful that the spray doesn’t get onto windows or it’ll leave spots.  Plants that are especially susceptible to indoor pests like aphids, white flies, spider mites include herbs, fuchsia, hibiscus, and petunias.  Geraniums seem the most pest-free of all and tolerate long dry spells (weeks) between watering.

Pruning.  Once woody perennials have gone fully dormant (mid-December) you can start pruning for next spring.  Without their leaves it’s much easier to see the plant structure and problems that need pruning.  Take a careful look and remove all dead, diseased, and damaged branches.  Work on shaping by removing branch growing straight up (suckers) or down.  There are many good references about pruning online, including helpful videos.  

Reflections.  While your memory is fresh, this is an excellent time to note what worked and what didn’t last season.  Make a few written notes to help avoid the same mistakes this year and build on your positive experiences.  For example, which varieties did the best, which flowers were your favorites, which places gave the best plant growth, where did you have poor results, where did excess water cause problems, etc.?  It’s not too early to start planning this year’s garden and last year’s experience is the best place to start.

Keep on composting!