Welcome to a brand new year! While some are setting dramatic New Year’s resolutions, it’s okay to take it slow this month. January offers the perfect vantage point for gardeners to relax, reflect, and plot ahead. After a long year of gardening and a busy holiday season, this time of year carries a profound stillness. It can be all too easy to mistake quiet for absence, but a walk through the winter garden tells a completely different story — this is a season full of life.
As the birds flit about the landscape in search of food, the golden light of the winter sun glitters through bare branches. Take a moment to admire frost-kissed leaves in the bare skeleton of the landscape — a glass half-full and bursting with potential, if you ask us. Winter exposes hidden details: a mossy concrete statue shining with chartreuse signs of life or a tree that stuns with its beautiful branching structure and vibrant bark. The shape of the earth itself becomes evident as shed deciduous leaves decompose back into rich soil. It’s still warm below the ground, so many plants take advantage of winter to invest in growing robust root systems that support their new spring growth. The next cycle is already beginning: on magnolias, azaleas, and countless other plants all over town, plump buds are gathering energy for their springtime awakening.
There’s lots to look forward to come spring, but solely looking ahead ignores the wealth of winter plants that really come into their own this time of year. Fragrant daphne is already emerging, followed by its ethereal and equally aromatic cousin, the Chinese paper bush (Edgeworthia sp.). Camellia sasanqua blooms are beginning to fade, yet Camellia japonica is already gearing up to carry the torch. Graceful hellebores are starting to pop and the witchazel (Hamamelis sp.) branches are loaded with buds, ready to unfold into sunny ribbons. Even conifers — the reliable sentries that give our landscapes structure and privacy — start to shine, uniquely robust and often beginning to form attractive cones in the winter.
January grants us a few necessary moments of rest to set intentions for the year ahead but also to ground ourselves in the moment. This article will lead you through a checklist of tasks and projects, but the most valuable thing you can do this month is to slow down, look closely, and take notice of the wonderful world of winter.
Gardening is all about imagining — and reimagining — possibilities. Our landscapes are a collaboration with the chaos of nature and, though many of us wish it could be spring or summer all year long, these cycles are part of what makes the vibrant growing season possible. We can take advantage of this restful time of year to reflect on the highs and lows so that our gardening skills can grow alongside our plants.
Is there anything that didn’t really fit during the last year, that you didn’t enjoy, or that you’d like to take out for some other reason? Maybe there is a plant that would like to be moved for different light exposure. Are there any big projects you’d like to take on in the coming year? There is no end of questions you could ask yourself about your garden, but your answers will determine how you move forward.
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Now that the leaves have fallen and many perennials have died back for the year, you might feel like your garden is a mess. You can use this time to tidy up, but it’s always a matter of perspective — studies have shown that undisturbed leaf litter and plant material greatly increases the amount of overwintering invertebrates that emerge in the spring, including loads of beneficial insects. On the other hand, winter weather can wreak havoc on our landscapes, so keep an eye on the weather and take a peek at our guide on garden triage after a major weather event. The important thing to do is not to panic! Snapped limbs can always be pruned out, burned foliage will eventually be replaced with new growth once spring arrives, and losing a plant isn’t the end of the world. This is the time of year to re-evaluate your garden, anyway.
If you feel the urge to tidy, good news: it’s pruning season! Winter is the best time to prune fruit trees, roses, maples, and other dormant plants that have not yet set their buds for the coming growing season. Every plant is different and it’s worth doing some research before you prune — for example, you can inadvertently trim all the flower buds off of your azaleas and rhododendrons if you prune this time of year. For the right plants, this is an excellent time of year to shape their growth and give a haircut to encourage healthy growth.
Winter is made for birdwatching and our avian friends always appreciate a well-placed feeder. Offering birdseed helps our local wildlife survive the winter and draws delightful visitors to your garden at a time when it may feel like little else is happening. Even better, add a plant just for the birds to enjoy year after year — PNW native snowberries are an excellent addition with pearly white berries that remain on the bare branches to feed hungry beaks.
It’s too early to start most seeds in the Pacific Northwest, but it’s certainly seed-buying season! We have an excellent selection of freshly-packed seeds this time of year, so pawing through the packets can be a fun way to start planning out the spring garden early. To help you prep, you can always revisit our more in-depth blog post on starting seeds.
A dedicated garden journal is a great place to keep track of your observations and reflections — if you don’t have one yet, the New Year is the perfect time to start.
What do you want to grow this year? January is a great time to make a wish list! Jot down what you already know you want and seek out inspiration to broaden your horizons. Start with a simple plant list, then look into optimal planting times and ideal conditions for each plant. Suddenly, you’ll find that your wish list has become the start of a plan.
Your garden is a blank slate this time of year. If you find that the ‘garden’ part of the garden has vanished now that winter has arrived, this is a great opportunity to evaluate and add “anchor plants” — evergreens shrubs, conifers, even sculptural deciduous trees and shrubs. You may want to move existing plants into better spots or remove them altogether. Think to yourself: what do you want next winter’s garden to look like?
Once you know what you want to plant, it’s never too early to sketch out what this year’s garden will look like. Even a simple list or drawing can start to spark your creativity and help you decide what projects you need to work on before spring arrives. Maybe your vision requires new raised beds or hardscaping to create the perfect landscape. There’s no need to commit yet, so let yourself dream big!
Container gardening can be a year-round affair in the Pacific Northwest. Dress up your entryway with cheery violas and pansies, graceful hellebores, and trailing evergreen groundcover. We love embracing hardy succulents this time of year. Even small conifers or evergreen bloomers like camellias can add a ton of winter interest to your porch or balcony.
It’s not all about planning ahead! If the ground’s not frozen (and it rarely is, in Portland), you can plant all winter long. Don’t hesitate to add a little winter beauty where you need it — showy camellias and fragrant daphne to frame your doorway, cheery heather and hellebores in those empty beds, or a stunning conifer to act as a backyard centerpiece. Cornell Farm is bursting with wonderful plants this time of year, so there’s no need to stop gardening if you’re itching to get your hands dirty this winter.
As individual gardeners, we may only be the stewards of small plots of earth, but together, we can make a significant positive impact on the environment. As you take a look at your garden this month, consider planet-friendly measures you can implement in the year ahead. Perhaps you want to use fewer chemical interventions like pesticides and fertilizers, or maybe you want to be more water-conscious or incorporate more native plants into your garden design. Whatever the case, it’s never too late to make even a few small changes; they have a way of adding up. Consider the following projects as a jumping-off point for your own research:
If your holiday celebrations in the last month have involved a freshly cut Christmas Tree, an easy way to start your year off on a planet-friendly foot is by recycling your tree rather than sending it to a landfill. There are several options available in most communities. Cornell Farm is proud to partner with the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge to restore historical salmon habitat using our recycled trees.
When the days outside are short and wet, gardeners in the Pacific Northwest often find themselves with a bit more time on their hands — and much of that is spent indoors. Thankfully, there’s plenty of gardening territory to conquer inside, too! Whether you already have an extensive houseplant collection or have stuck strictly to outdoor gardening in the past, investing some time into a houseplant hobby this month is a natural way to channel some of your gardening energy. It’s Houseplant Month, after all!
This is a good month to tackle some of the maintenance you may have been putting off, whether that’s trimming off spent leaves or shining healthy ones with a microfiber cloth and diluted Neem oil solution. If you have a plant that’s in dire need of repotting, you can go ahead and do so now, but in general, it’s best to wait until spring when the days begin to lengthen and plants enter their active growth period before repotting houseplants. If you don't often go through your entire houseplant collection, you might consider doing a thorough check for pests like fungus gnats, mealy bugs, or scale to address the first signs of any issues that might have gone unnoticed. If your collection has expanded beyond your windowsill since last winter, it is also a good idea to provide some supplemental lighting to help your plants get through the remainder of the dark winter — especially here in Portland.
If you’re looking to soak in the indoor greenery, there’s no time like the present; we get in multiple large shipments of houseplants this month! Plus, we host hands-on houseplant workshops and our Winter Houseplant Swap every January to help refresh your collection. If you ask us, a cozy nest full of houseplants is the surest way to keep the winter blues at bay, so take advantage of the season to embrace your indoor jungle.
Whether you crave snow or grumble every year when our temperatures drop into the 30s and 40s, we encourage you to take a closer look at the magic of the winter landscape. It’s often more alive than we imagine and all of that wonder is just waiting for us to pay closer attention. That’s part of what makes gardening so special, after all — the art of caring for plants asks that we take notice of the meticulous mystery of the natural world. Just like the sleeping landscape, you have permission to rest and reset this time of year. Ground yourself in the moment but also let yourself dream of spring. There’s lots to look forward to in the months ahead, and we’re excited to help make your garden dreams come true this year.
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