It’s January in the garden.  For those of us in the Midwest, it means it's only the middle of winter and the ground is frozen solid. So, I put together some winter gardening tasks that will help make your winter pass more quickly.  And these tasks will help save you some valuable time this spring.

Peruse Your Favorite Seed Catalogs

One of my favorite winter gardening tasks in January is looking through my favorite seed catalogs.  I like to make an afternoon of it?  I grab myself a cup of my favorite hot herbal tea. And then I sink into my comfy chair with a stack of your seed catalogs next to you.  If I can, I try to do seed catalog perusing when it's snowing outside.  Everything is so quiet and peaceful then.

When you're going through your seed catalogs, be sure to mark the pages of interest with either a sticky note tab or folding over the corner of the page. Here’s a list of 40 free seed catalogs for you to choose from; courtesy of farmer’s Almanac.

Planning Your Midwest Flower Gardens and Beds

Now is the time for planning your Midwest flower gardens.  Whether refining or creating new gardens, take advantage of this winter downtime to plan.  Make a drawing of your garden, either by hand or with your computer.  Then make copies of your garden plan to help you organize your ideas.  It also helps make sure plants will have enough space and like their neighbors.  This is very low tech, but has little to no learning curve compared to using special software.

Planning Your Organic Midwest Vegetable Garden

Planning your organic vegetable garden is an important winder gardening task.  And January is a perfect time to to do it.  Especially since there are so many considerations that all need to be addressed when planning your Midwest Organic Vegetable Garden.  Here are a few:

• Garden design
• Crop rotation
• Companion planting
• Cover Crops

More information and resources on Crop Rotation, Companion Planting and Cover Crops can be found on my early post "Organic Vegetable Gardening - Using the 3 C's."

Attend to Your House Plants

Your house plants will need a little bit more attention during the winter.  It's helpful to increase your watering schedule to twice a week instead of just one.  Trim damaged leaves on your plants.  You can top off the soil of your houseplants. Wait to fertilize in spring.  Fertilizing now, will stress your and damage your plants.

A Better Alternative to Misting House Plants

Misting your houseplants, doesn’t offer any real benefit.  Instead, place a tray underneath with some pebbles at the bottom then add ¼ inch or so of water.

Home humidifiers are great for increasing humidity.  However, take caution when turning up your home’s humidifier.   Avoid allowing condensation to form on windows.  This will cause damage to your paint and wood.  According to HVAC.com recommendations, below are the indoor humidity settings based on outdoor temperatures:

• Outdoor temperature over 50˚F, indoor humidity levels shouldn’t exceed 50%
• Outdoor temperature over 20˚F, indoor humidity levels shouldn’t exceed 40%
• Outdoor temperature between 10˚F and 20˚F, indoor humidity levels shouldn’t exceed 35%
• Outdoor temperature between 0˚F and 10˚F, indoor humidity levels shouldn’t exceed 30%
• Outdoor temperature between -10˚F and 0˚F, indoor humidity levels shouldn’t exceed 25%
• Outdoor temperature between -20˚F and -10˚F, indoor humidity levels shouldn’t exceed 20%
• Outdoor temperature at -20˚F or lower, indoor humidity levels shouldn’t exceed 15%

Check on Bulbs in Storage

If you are storing bulbs, now’s a good time to check on them.  Uncover, the bulbs and inspect for, remove and discard any that have mildew or are shriveled.

Keep Walkways and Driveway Clear

Calcium chloride is recommended rather than salt.  It’s less damaging to plants and concrete.

Evaluate Your January Gardens

Take advantage of a sunny “warmish” day by taking a stroll around your yard and gardens.

• Inspect sensitive plantings – cover with snow, leaves or mulch as needed)
• Check for roof ice damn issues forming – make note for repairs
• Evaluate your landscape for winter interest – Note places in your garden to plant evergreens, shrubs, native grasses or deciduous trees with interesting shape in the spring
• Plan garden structures – Visit my Pinterest Gardening Tips and Ideas board for inspiration.

Don't Forget About Our Little Friends

If you've been feeding the birds since the beginning of winter, you should continue to do so.  Clean and refill bird feeders and suet hangers as needed.  Preferrably on a warmish, sunny day.