By Dan Weintritt and Friends
Adapted from Month-by-Month Gardening in Louisiana by Dan Gill
General Guidelines and Goals
• Choose plant species and ecotypes native to your ecoregion of Louisiana. Ask your nursery where their plants are grown. Do not buy or share plants that are invasive.
• Go for diversity. Include diverse bloom and fruit times, plants that are attractive in different seasons, and those that occupy different layers of your garden.
• Reduce the size of your lawn to only what you use, as the lawn has very little ecological value.
• What falls in the yard stays in the yard: consider keeping a brush pile of your cuttings and limbs. This is a great habitat and a reservoir of insects that other wildlife depends on.
• Minimize chemical use. Native gardens don’t need fertilizer (which only gives weeds a leg up), and a well-established habitat controls nuisance insects naturally. Use herbicide sparingly and according to instructions and on plants they work on.
• Comply with all local ordinances regarding yard maintenance. Be active with your Homeowners Association and communicate with your neighbors about your motivations and plans.
• Consider documenting and sharing your garden’s evolution over time to inspire others.
January - To Do
Add/Change/Improve
• This is the time to plant trees and shrubs! Obtain them as bare root seedlings, seeds, or containerized plants. Many are available inexpensively or free from state and federal agencies like the Soil and Water Conservation Districts.
• Transplant cold-hardy trees and shrubs. If transplanting from one place to another in the garden, ensure that a majority of the rootball is lifted intact with the soil undisturbed around the roots to prevent transplant shock.
• Look for areas where winter interest can be improved, using grasses, palmetto, and evergreen shrubs or berry producing plants. These are visually appealing but also provide wildlife with food and shelter for Winter.
Maintain
• Prune woody trees and shrubs now, while they are dormant, and risk of injury is low. Native plant gardeners will typically allow for a more natural appearance, but we should still watch for weak or crossed branches, etc., on trees that may lead to injury and decline in the future, or that may cause damage to structures and powerlines.
• Tidy the garden of weeds, but avoid raking leaves and cutting back the dry hollow stems of herbaceous plants; they host overwintering insects such as fireflies. Stems can be trimmed to a uniform appearance of 18-30" for a neat appearance. Seedheads that are trimmed can be bundled and placed out in the garden as food for birds and mammals.
• Manage invasive species. After the first frost, evergreen invasives such as Chinese Privet Ligustrum sinense, Japanese Honeysuckle Lonicera japonica, and Hen’s Eyes Ardisia crenata stand out against the leaf litter and dormant vegetation. Uproot and remove these plants following rains.
• Provide wildlife with a winter home in the form of a log and stick pile, or a rock pile, sometimes called a rockery or stumpery.
Propagate
• Divide and transplant cold-hardy perennials, including bulbs, corms, tubers, and rhizomes (excluding Louisiana Iris - divide irises in late Summer).
• Start seeds in trays indoors, or at least that can be brought indoors on cold nights. If sowing annual species, plant a third of seed, now, with a third more saved for February and March.
• Take hardwood cuttings, especially using those stems removed from pruning. Use 6-8" pieces, pencil thin. Remove about two inches of bark from the thick end of the stem, while leaving the green cambium layer intact. (or scratch or score bark if it does not peel away easily). Dip in rooting powder if desired, and insert into clean, sterile potting mix. Keep soil and stem just moist, but not drenched enough to wash away the rooting hormone. Some people "tent" or bag their cuttings to save humidity.
Protect
• Unplug pumps on water features on freezing nights.
• Protect young plants and trees from harsh freezes. No need to protect established native plants from freezing nights.
Enjoy/Harvest
• Dried grasses make beautiful arrangements for your vases
• Harvest any dried seed on brown stems. Store in paper envelopes or bags, label with scientific and common names, date, and where collected.
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