What to do in the garden in January
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Zone 1
❄️ Zone 1 · Min −51 °C · Northern Alaska, Yakutsk, Siberian far north. Almost no outdoor growing season.
- ❄️ Soil frozen solid — all work is indoors this month
- 📖 Design summer garden layout; study ultra-short-season varieties
- 📦 Order seeds now — mail delivery is the only option
- 💡 Set up grow lights; test heating mats for germination
Zone 2
🥶 Zone 2 · Min −45 °C · Interior Alaska, Northern Canada, Norilsk.
- ❄️ Deep winter — all activity is indoors
- 📦 Order all seeds now before supplies sell out
- 📖 Plan crop rotations and new bed layouts
- 💡 Test grow lights; replace bulbs if needed
Zone 3
🌨 Zone 3 · Min −40 °C · Winnipeg, Northern Minnesota, Surgut. Very short season (90–120 days).
- 📦 Order seeds; fill gaps in inventory now
- 📖 Plan crop rotations and new guild plantings
- 💡 Set up or service grow lights for February
- 🔧 Oil and store tools; check cold frame glazing
Zone 4
🌧 Zone 4 · Min −34 °C · Minneapolis, Calgary, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg. Season ≈ 140 days.
- 📦 Order seeds; fill all gaps in inventory
- 📖 Plan rotations; design new beds on paper
- 💡 Service grow lights; replace old bulbs
- 🔧 Sharpen and oil tools during winter downtime
Zone 5
🌥 Zone 5 · Min −29 °C · Chicago, Montreal, Moscow, Helsinki. Season ≈ 160 days.
- 📦 Order seeds; review last year's notes
- 📖 Plan crop rotations; design guild plantings
- 💡 Check grow lights; order replacement bulbs
- 🔧 Sharpen tools; order any missing supplies
Zone 6
⛅ Zone 6 · Min −23 °C · Denver, Toronto, Warsaw, Oslo, Kyiv. Season ≈ 180 days.
- 📦 Order seeds; plan spring garden layout
- 📖 Review last season; design improvements
- 🔧 Sharpen tools; inspect cold frames
- 💡 Set up grow lights for February starts
Zone 7
🌤 Zone 7 · Min −18 °C · New York, Berlin, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Seoul. Long season ≈ 200 days.
- 🥬 Direct sow spinach and kale under row cover
- 📦 Order seeds; planning season in full swing
- 🔧 Repair cold frames; prepare seed trays
- 🌿 Sow overwintering cover crops if missed in fall
Zone 8
☀️ Zone 8 · Min −12 °C · Seattle, Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, Amsterdam. Near year-round growing.
- 🥬 Harvest winter greens: kale, spinach, chard
- 🥬 Plant cool-season crops: broccoli, cabbage, lettuce
- 📦 Order seeds; plan spring beds
- 🌿 Sow phacelia and clover as winter cover crop
Zone 9
🌞 Zone 9 · Min −7 °C · London, Bordeaux, Marseille, Nantes, Rome, Madrid. Year-round outdoor growing.
- 🥬 Harvest winter greens: kale, chard, lettuce
- 🥬 Plant cool-season crops: broccoli, peas, spinach
- 🌱 Start tomatoes and peppers indoors for February transplant
- 📦 Order seeds; plan spring and summer layout
Zone 10
🌴 Zone 10 · Min −1 °C · Nice, Lisbon, Athens, Southern California, Southern Florida. Subtropical.
- 🥬 Harvest citrus and winter greens
- 🥬 Plant cool-season crops: broccoli, kale, peas
- 🌱 Start tomatoes, peppers, aubergines indoors
- 📦 Order seeds; plan year-round layout
Zone 11
🌺 Zone 11 · Min +4 °C · Hawaii, Hong Kong, tropical coasts. True tropics, frost-free year-round.
- 🍌 Plant or divide taro, plantain, sweet potato
- 🌿 Sow cowpeas between guilds as nitrogen fixer
- 🌸 Establish perennial polycultures; add guild layers
- 🏆 Harvest continuously from food forest
Make a plan for your own plot
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