How about a few feel-good activities to give you a boost and get your home and garden into shape for the year - a fresh start shall we say!
1. Save those cardboard boxes
When you’re getting rid of all those cardboard boxes from online deliveries, save a few, tear them up and put them in a pile in your shed so that you can add them to your compost heap or bin gradually during the year. Adding ‘brown’ material like cardboard helps to keep your compost aerated and stops all the soft green material from grass and cuttings from turning into mush.
2. Sow some seeds
Planting seeds is a statement of faith in the future, and we can all do with some of that when it’s cold and dark in January. Give yourself a dose of positive thinking by buying a few of your favourite seed packets.
3. Buy a houseplant
There’s any amount of research to demonstrate that being around nature is good for us and when the garden is looking bleak, houseplants are a great solution. Whether you choose orchids for their gorgeous flowers, begonias for their fabulous foliage or peace plants for their indestructibility, having a few houseplants around is sure to boost your mood.
4. Walk locally
Even if it’s just for a few minutes a day, get yourself out into the garden or go for a walk around your neighbourhood and have a look at what’s growing. You’ll be amazed at how much starts appearing, even this early in the year. Daffodils and snowdrops will be popping up, hellebores and cyclamens are flowering and buds are starting to swell even on the barest-looking trees.
5. Plant something scented
This month is a great time to plant trees, provided the ground isn’t actually frozen or waterlogged and it’s also the best time for many winter-scented plants. Witch hazel, viburnum, sarcococca and mahonia are all in flower this month, so if your garden is feeling the winter blues, buy yourself a scented plant. You’ll be reaping the benefits for years to come.
Feel inspired and follow the feel good this January - get that fresh start underway!
