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Ground covers such as Lambs’ ears, valerian (Kentranthus rubra) and oregano are all the better for it. All revive quickly in early autumn, and in the meantime weeding and watering are that much easier.
January is the month for pruning French lavender (L. dentata), the pale mauve lavender with the little tufty flowers that has been in flower since October or November. It makes a beautifully dense, knee-high hedge, is drought hardy and long flowering and only needs trimming once a year. You can take cuttings while you’re about it, though I’ve found that lavender roots more quickly from early autumn cuttings. Other cuttings can be taken now though, including soft tip cuttings of shrubs: these soon make roots in warm weather in well-drained cutting compost (half-and-half compost and grit). Keep damp under clear plastic but check every day for the dreaded damping off caused by microscopic fungi.
And lastly, please, don’t forget slip, slop, slap. Cumulative exposure to sun and the occasional severe burn are potentially and equally deadly. If you can’t garden at dawn or dusk, eleven to three under a tree is the safest alternative.
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January is often a quiet month in the garden. Growth retreats in the heat, even the lawn slows down: no more mowing twice a week. This year though, thanks to a late spring, the garden is burgeoning with life and at every corner I’m confronted with an urgent task, or at least a humungous thistle.
I can’t decide if I prefer gardening at early dawn or early evening. By nature I’m an evening person and this fits my winter routine, but there’s no doubt that in summer the garden is a special place at first light.
It has a lovely damp, pearly, dewy quality that is quite magical. Even the sound of Wombat diligently attempting to buryan oversized bone in a small pot can’t disturb my equilibrium . High on my January list of things to do is seed collecting. I’m keener than ever on doing this since the drought became so severe, because I’ve found it pays to sow seed in early autumn rather than spring. Numerous tough, beautiful annuals can be sown straight into the ground and even simple flowers like shirley poppies, forget-me-nots and the little wild pansy (Viola tricolour) will produce a far better display if they’ve had all winter to settle down.
I put seed pods into brown paper bags to dry for a week or so, and then shake the seeds free or sieve them, depending on size. The main things to remember when storing seed are that it needs to be bone dry (plastic bags are a big no-no), and free of insects and extraneous bits of plant.
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When collecting seed you can also remove all the decaying leaves and browned off stalks of annuals which are occupying much-needed space. All can safely be composted, unless you’re trying to get rid of a particularly invasive euphorbia, say, or a bright orange Californian poppy that always comes up exactly where you don’t want it.
While in chopping down mode, you can cut down early-flowering perennials like catmint and campanulas to encourage them to flower again before autumn. During a year of severe drought - as opposed to one that’s merely dry - I’m ruthless in January, and chop as much as possible.
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