Why Do We Garden?

 

January 2026

Pickaway to Garden

Why Do We Garden?

By Paul Hang

 

Why do we garden? There are lots of reasons. We garden for ourselves, for others; either to give our neighbors pleasure or to “keep up with the Joneses.” We garden for our health, for exercise, for healthy food, peace of mind. Perhaps we garden in memory of those who influenced or taught us to garden, a gardening mentor. There are also other reasons why we garden.

 

No matter the reason, January is the perfect time to plan a garden, whether it’s a new one or an old one we want to change. Lately, in the garden literature, there is emphasis on more ethical reasons for gardening. More and more seed catalogs are offering seed and plant mixes to garden for pollinators, for birds, for butterflies, for native plants, for the ecology. Doug Tallamy, the author of “Bringing Nature Home” and other books on ecology, talks about gardens as “gas stations” for birds and butterflies on migration “road trips.” His latest effort is to encourage us to plant native plants to create a Homegrown National Park of home gardens that would collectively put more land in native plants than all of our National Parks combined. Check out: www.homegrownationalpark.org/keystone-plants.

 

Native plants have developed symbiotic relationships with native wildlife. There are relationships which are so specific that an animal can only rely on a specific plant to survive, e.g. the Monarch butterfly and milkweed. To go one step further, there are certain “Keystone Plants” that are native species that are disproportionately important to local ecosystems. These are plants that are more impactful than others.  Native plants have strong relationships with wildlife formed over thousands of years that provide sources of food, cover and places to raise young. Without these native plants wildlife cannot survive. The National Wildlife Federation on their website (www.nwf.org/keystone plants) has a Keystone Plants by Region where you can find what native plants are best for our region. We are in the Eastern Temperate Forests ecological region.

 

Another informative discussion of Keystone plants is in the current January 5 newsletter, A Way to Garden, “New Rules for the New Year.” by Margaret Roach. In addition to her excellent newsletter, she writes a gardening column for The New York Times. The conversation in the newsletter is with Uli Lorimer, the Director of Horticulture at the Native Plant Trust. “96% of our terrestrial birds rely on insects supported by keystone plants.” Every caterpillar is a future butterfly or moth.

 

A number of Keystone Native Plants for our region are familiar. Just a few are: White Oak, Sugar Maple, River Birch, Northern highbush blueberry, Sunflower, Black eyed susan, aster and goldenrod, and many, many more. When you think about it, planting with more native plants to better our ecosystem is really gardening for us, our neighbors and our planet Earth. What more reasons could we need?

 

 

Things to do in the garden:

 

The list of things to do in the garden has gotten shorter. Things we can do about gardening are: Review last year's garden; draw a map while you can still remember what grew where. Plan your gardens and plantings. One of my favorite guides for this is The Ohio Gardening Guide by Jerry Minnich.

 

Check your supply of old seeds. Are they expired? Do you want to reorder that variety? Read your new seed catalogs. Want more seed catalogs? Go to gardeningplaces.com. Order seeds and plants of new varieties that you want now. They usually sell out quickly. Wood ashes from the fireplace can be spread in the garden but don’t overdo it. Have your soil tested to make sure your soil pH needs to be raised before adding them.

 

By the end of the month, you can begin to grow members of the Allium family (Onions, Leeks, Garlic and Shallots) from seed indoors. Get your seed starting supplies together. Provide plenty of light to new seedlings.

 

Cut back on watering your houseplants and don’t fertilize until March or April when growth begins as the amount of light lengthens, rinse/dust leaves, turn the pots every few days. Repot if needed. Water your poinsettias when the top of the soil gets dry. When they are looking ragged throw them on the compost heap. The same goes for paper whites. In my opinion, it is not worth trying to get them to bloom again. If you like a challenge, go ahead but be prepared for disappointment. Amaryllis and Christmas cactus are exceptions and can be kept for re-blooming. Check the internet for instructions. Check stored bulbs, roots and produce. Remove and throw out damaged materials. Don’t use salt on sidewalks and drives near plants.

 

Establish a new bed by placing black plastic or several layers of newspaper, cardboard or even old carpet down over the area you’ve chosen for the new bed. Weight it down so the wind doesn’t disturb it. By late spring the vegetation under it should be dead and the space ready for planting.

 

Learn to sharpen your tools, trowels, pruners, spades and if you are adventurous, your mower blades. Oil them and use linseed oil on the wooden handles. Getting rid of a cut live Christmas tree? Don’t. Use it to serve as a wind break for evergreens. Cut the branches off and use them as mulch for perennials. Put it near your bird feeders as cover. Decorate it with suet, fruit, seed cakes, as a bird feeder. Chip it for mulch. If you have a pond, sink it for structure cover for fish. The needles can also be mulch and will not make the soil too acidic. If you had a balled live Christmas tree, plant it ASAP.

 

Some gardening resolutions: Rotate vegetable crops; water the base of plants, not from above; weed and mulch; use row covers; water newly planted trees and shrubs and check for injury, protect with collars; visit and scout your garden often. Happy New Year.