Getting your gardening right all through the year is all about getting prepared before the start of the year. Paul Peacock, a gardening author with the Daily Mirror (as Mr. Digwell) and a publisher of over 20 books on food and gardening suggests some tips to get you started on the right track.

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Paul is a regular personality the Gardeners’ Question Time radio show aired on BBC Radio 4. He developed diabetes and even experienced heart failure, but these have not prevented him from doing what he loves, gardening. He studied botany at university and turned what he learned into a career.

1. Sowing Onions

Traditionally, onion sowing is done on Boxing day, but it can just as well be done in January. Make a tray of compost in which to sow the seeds, water them, keep them warm and then move them to the onion bed towards the end of spring.

2. Planting Bare-Rooted Trees

Plant your bare-rooted trees in January. The conventionally way is to dig a hole, pull the paper off the tree’s roots, place it in the hole and hold it in place as you fill the gap. You can make the work easy if you have soft ground. Use a spade to break the ground, wiggling it a bit to make a hole for the tree. You can then pile compost on the tree and you are done.

3. Planting Garlic

When planning to plant garlic, go for the varieties such as Solent Wight or Chesnok Wight, which thrive in the UK climate. Work the ground, prepping it for the sowing, but try to avoid doing this when winter’s grip is still tight. The warmer days are ideal; you can prep the beds and ensure they are raised or even opt to plan the garlic in large pots. When preparing the ground, work the soil chopping it up until it achieves a crumbly cake-like mix.

4. Sowing Lettuce And Cabbage

You can sow lettuce in pots or trays, and the same is possible with cabbages; both of which you can then transplant to ready beds later in the year.

5. Keep Off The Lawn

Winter is unforgiving to most plants especially the lawn. Try your best to stay off the grass during the first three weeks of the new year. If you are to give it a bit of sprucing, edging will be a better option than mowing. It may take a more than ten days to get the job done, but it will not have a negative impact and will give good results.

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