As the new year approaches, it's time for gardeners across the UK to plan ahead. A successful garden requires foresight and timely action. This comprehensive guide outlines the crucial horticultural jobs for each month of 2026, ensuring your outdoor space flourishes through every season.
Winter Vigilance and Spring Preparation
The year begins with protective measures and early sowing. In January, focus on maintenance: check insulation on outside taps and repair any damage to fences, greenhouses, or sheds. Water container plants during dry, windy spells. Prune wisteria while its side shoots are visible and order seeds for the year ahead. If you have a frost-free greenhouse, you can sow early crops like lettuce, radishes, and carrots under glass.
Come February, turn your attention to pruning. Large-flowered clematis (Group 3), which bloom in mid to late summer, should be cut back. This includes popular varieties like 'Perle d'Azur' and 'Ville de Lyon'. Cut back deciduous hedging before birds begin nesting. If the ground is workable, plant summer-flowering bulbs such as lilies and introduce bare-rooted shrubs, including roses and raspberry canes.
March signals a busier period. Start weeding diligently, removing seedlings by hoe and tackling persistent weeds by hand. It's an excellent time to plant pot-grown trees, shrubs, and climbers. Prune shrub roses, Buddleia davidii, and dogwoods with coloured winter stems. Enrich your soil by applying a generous 5cm layer of organic mulch to suppress weeds and retain moisture. You can also lay new turf while the soil is moist but warming.
The Growing Season: Cultivation and Care
As growth accelerates in April, be vigilant against slugs. Protect young plants with beer traps, eggshells, or biological nematode controls. Deadhead daffodils and other spring bulbs to direct energy into next year's flowers. Continue sowing vegetables like broad beans and peas directly into prepared soil and consider cleaning out overcrowded ponds.
By May, after the last frost (which may linger into June in cooler areas), plant summer bedding in borders, containers, and hanging baskets. Prune early-flowering shrubs like forsythia to encourage future blooms. Maintain your lawn with regular mowing and feeding, lowering the blades slightly as growth strengthens. Sow indoor seeds of French beans and sweetcorn on a sunny windowsill for planting out in early June. Don't forget to place straw under strawberry plants to protect the fruit.
June is for planting out tomatoes and feeding them regularly. Fill gaps in borders with summer bedding and prune shrubs like deutzia after they flower. Thin out fruit on apple, pear, and plum trees to prevent branch damage and improve fruit size. Lift spent tulip and hyacinth bulbs for autumn replanting. Maintain a strict regimen of watering and feeding for all containers and hanging baskets, and mow the lawn regularly.
Late Summer Harvest and Autumn Transition
In July, cut lavender for drying and make holiday provisions by grouping pots in shade and arranging for watering. Ensure wildlife has water by topping up bird baths. Prune single-flush roses after blooming and take semi-ripe cuttings from shrubs like ceanothus. Keep tomatoes, aubergines, and peppers well-watered and fed with a high-potash fertiliser.
August is ideal for collecting seeds from sweet peas and poppies. Plant autumn-flowering bulbs such as colchicums. Replace any failed summer bedding with plans for autumn displays. Take cuttings from pelargoniums and remove diseased leaves from beneath roses to prevent blackspot. Remove some tomato leaves to let sun ripen the fruit and top up pond water levels.
As autumn arrives in September, plant spring bulbs and lift and divide overcrowded perennials. Thin aquatic plants and net ponds against falling leaves. Start a new compost heap with autumn garden waste. Rake moss from the lawn and keep harvesting vegetables, planning how to preserve any gluts.
October tasks include raking leaves to make leaf mould, potting herbs like mint for the windowsill, and drying seed heads for decorations. Lift and store summer bulbs like gladioli and reseed bare lawn patches.
Winter Protection and Planning
In November, tidy up but leave some stems and seedheads for wildlife. Plant tulip bulbs in the cooler soil to help prevent tulip fire disease. Protect new shrubs and trees with horticultural fleece and insulate containers. Lift dahlias for storage and check stored produce for disease.
Finally, in December, create winter colour with containers of skimmia and hellebores. Craft a Christmas wreath from garden foliage and berries, and harvest Brussels sprouts, parsnips, and leeks for the festive table. By following this monthly roadmap, your 2026 garden will be a source of joy and productivity all year long.
