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Gardening tips for January

Here's a handy checklist of things to do in the garden for the month of January.
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 Add a burst of two-tone warm-weather brilliance with a Salvia ‘Love and Wishes’. This gorgeous plant was bred by retired NSW Department of Primary Industries employee John Fisher in his garden in Orange. Quick-growing, it’s at home in most soil types and at its best from spring to autumn.

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 Celebrate Australia Day on the 26th of January by planting a bright-as-bright flowering gum. One of the best is the small-growing hybrid pink ‘Summer Beauty’, which is tolerant of our humid conditions in the Eastern States.

Summer beauty
Summer beauty (Credit: Getty)

 Aerate lawns to ensure water and fertilisers are getting to where they’re needed. You can simply use a pitchfork to create holes in compacted soil, or buy yourself a pair of spike-bottomed aerator sandals that clip onto your regular shoes.

 Plant a few flowers among your vegies to lure pollinating insects. Good for attracting bees are blue, purple and yellow plants such as borage, sage and sunflower.

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Lure pollinating insects
Lure pollinating insects (Credit: Getty)

• Set aside a moment for a summer evening stroll to check what’s looking good in your neighbours’ gardens, and grow them yourself. The best displays will likely involve crepe myrtles, hibiscus and, a little later on, tibouchinas (once called lasiandra).

Once roses have produced their best blooms, prune them back a little. This causes the plant to bounce back with renewed vigour and also promotes reflowering

roses
Prune roses back a little (Credit: Getty)
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• Keep annuals blooming their heads off right to the end of summer by deadheading and fertilising every few weeks. If they start to look straggly, treat them to a trim.

Divide perennials such as bearded iris and daylilies to increase numbers.

Increase watering of roses and shallow-rooted plants such as lemon trees and camellias, which are prone to becoming thirsty when conditions are dry.

Give your potted plants and hanging baskets a break from blazing summer sun by moving them into more shaded spots. 

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potted colour
Move hanging baskets (Credit: Getty)

• Regularly check citrus trees for the first signs of scale or leaf miner. An immediate spray of a product such as Eco-Oil or PestOil will do the trick.

Add sparkle to summer gardens with splashes of crisp white flowers. Good contenders include Volcano phlox, white cosmos and Queen Anne’s lace.

• Cut back wayward climbers and give fuchsias a light prune.

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fuchsias
Give fuchsias a light prune (Credit: Getty)

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