3 Must-do Garden Tasks – January

As January rolls in, so does the peak of summer in Australia. With high temperatures and long days, your garden needs extra care to thrive. Here are three must-do gardening tasks to keep your plants healthy and your garden flourishing this month. 

1 Care for pumpkins and melons 

Pop a small pile of dry sugar cane mulch under your developing pumpkins and melons to keep them off the wet ground. This way, they won’t sit on damp soil and risk rotting.  

2 Strike Summer Cuttings 

Summer is the perfect time to get snipping and expand your plant collection with cuttings. You can easily propagate garden favourites like buxus, fuchsia, camellia, gardenia, lavender, and pelargonium. The best time to take cuttings is early morning when plants are plump with moisture. Snip off 10-15cm of healthy tip growth, strip off most of the leaves (leave a couple at the top), and trim just below a node (that little bump where a leaf was attached – that’s where roots will form). 

Next, prep your pots. Fill them with moistened propagation mix and poke a few holes ready for the cuttings. Dip the cut ends in rooting hormone (you can buy it in powdered or gel form), pop them into the holes, and give them a gentle drink of water. To keep things humid (cuttings love that), cover the pots with a clear plastic bag propped up by a wire frame. Place them in dappled shade, keep the mix moist, and wait. Roots can appear in a few weeks – or sometimes it takes a little longer. Once you see roots, it’s time to gradually introduce your new plants to more sunshine before potting them up individually in larger containers. 

3 Water and mulch 

Summer’s heat can be tough on plants, so make sure you’re watering regularly and keeping the soil mulched to lock in moisture. On those scorching days, keep a close eye on any plants looking a little wilted or stressed – they’ll appreciate a drink and some extra care to get through the heat!