January 2022 Happy New Year! Though our temperatures are not consistently reflective of winter we can still perform some of our winter gardening activities. Continue to plant fruit trees and other hardy woody ornamental shrubs and trees. If you performed a soil test last month, add the lime according to the recommendation now. If you didn’t soil test last month, you can still do it. Start checking your favorite websites and catalogs for new varieties of plants you are generally interested in. You should check the shipping availability of them, some plants that you order now may not ship until April or May. That’s not a bad thing, just make a note on your calendar and plan ahead. The only pruning that should be done at this point is removing damaged limbs. The bulk of our regular pruning will be done mid to late February. So don’t get in too big of a hurry. Pruning too early can result in reduced cold tolerance, possible winter injury, and the plant may attempt to come out of dormancy too early. If you are like me, you still have satsumas on your trees. They are still in good shape and will keep for weeks to come on the tree better and longer than in the house or refrigerator. Once we get into February, you will need to remove all the fruit to give the plant a little time to recuperate and prepare for the next bloom crop. For those interested in vegetables the Alabama Cooperative Extension System has an app for that, “SOW”. It is free and available at the app store. It gives you planting dates and details about any vegetable you are interested in. It will give you a list of vegetables you can plant today or any date you select. Here is a link for more information: https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/products-programs- lawn-garden/sow-planting-companion/ Chill hour numbers as of January 1st Brewton, AL – 262 hours Old Model; 139 hour Modified Model Fairhope, AL – 112 hours Old Model; 71 hour Modified Model Moss Point, MS – 173 hours Old Model; 173 hours Modified Model