January Gardening in Falls County -Part 1

January is a prime month for Falls County, TX, gardeners! The Falls County ground doesn’t freeze solid and gardeners can do during winter what generally can be done any other time. Gardeners, water, plant, and harvest!

January means a daily routine of checking the weather forecast for rain and temperatures. Garden beds need water; water as needed and keep the soil moist. Use frost cloths for sensitive plants. Remember to use purpose-built frost cloth, old sheets, or cardboard structures. Do not allow the cardboard structures to touch plants or become waterlogged.

By now, Falls County, TX, gardeners would have prepared the garden beds, having worked compost into the beds for Spring.

In January in Falls County cool-season vegetables grow outdoors while Spring seedlings are getting started indoors.

Parsley, dill, and chives tolerate frost and can be planted outdoors. Cilantro can also be planted outdoors but might need frost protection.

Start seeds indoors for tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.

In January, plant transplants for asparagus (crowns), bulbing onions (transplants or sets). Also, plant transplants of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Swiss chard, artichokes, collards, Asian greens, spinach and lettuce.

There is more. January is perfect for planting bare-root apple, peach, fig, and pecan trees, berries, and grapes.

For early Spring color flowers, plant pansies, violas, snapdragons, and bluebonnets!

Hardy Texas trees and shrub natives like oak, maple, and magnolia can be planted now, too.

Annual ornamentals such as pansies, calendula, ornamental kale, and larkspur can be planted in Falls County January weather as well. Generally any cold-tolerant perennial can also be planted, as well as groundcovers like frogfruit or liriope, and roses. Evergreens do not go dormant like deciduous plants, but they do slow down, and winter cold is easier to deal with than summer heat!

It is time to prune deciduous trees and shrubs! And, Do you need to move a plant somewhere else or divide a huge stand of irises? Then there is also lawn care, cleaning up houseplants, and pests and wildlife. Now is the time to take care of them all. These procedures require careful study and will be on Part Two of January Gardening in Falls County - Part 2, next week!

With winter greens growing outdoors and spring seedlings started indoors, January is a busy but rewarding time!