Here comes 2012 – a brand new year of gardening and enjoying the great outdoors.  Happy New Year!

We all have great ideas for our gardens this year with Karl, our bedding expert, planning a Jubilee garden of red, white and blue and Roland adding a rockery filled with alpines.

So what are your plans?  A completely new look or more colour, or even a larger space for growing your own?  Whatever you plan to do, we can inspire you to make the most of your outdoor space.

The weather may not be kind to us in January but you can still enjoy the fresh air by plotting your new schemes.  If you want a change in certain areas, now is the time to identify where you would like to improve your borders, for example, or choose which vegetables you want to grow.  That’s an easy one – start with your favourites!

So, for vibrant colour in your flower borders, why not plan your display now?  With seeds and bulbs to choose from, you can begin to prepare now.  What could be more satisfying than nurturing your seeds to established planted groups of colour?  Choose a mixture of colours and heights for the best displays.  Did you try any of our new varieties of plants last year?  If so, we would love to hear from you – how did you get on?  We introduced Petunia Phantom which proved very popular and this year we are going to add to our range with Starflame Primroses available from mid February and a new range of Nemesia Michelle Pink and Myrtle Blue from April.

Sweet Peas are an old favourite of Roland here at Grosvenor.  He says you can’t beat the colours or fragrance of the Sweet Pea.  Try ‘Prima Ballerina’ for gentle shades of pink, mauve and cream with each stem producing an average of four blooms so perfect for cutting and bringing indoors.

Sweet Pea Prima Ballerina

Watch out for our new seedlings which will arrive at the Garden Centre from mid February so if you want to cut out the first stage of encouraging seedlings from seeds, this is the option for you.  Make sure you use a recommended compost from our growing area which will give your seedlings the best start possible.

Don’t forget to protect your pots and containers for another couple of months by placing them close to the house or a sheltered wall.  And that all important fleece will still come in handy so make sure you have plenty ready for those frosty nights.

As you know, your lawn is the pinnacle of a beautiful garden and to ensure it stays in peak condition through the colder, slow growing months, you should have given it a good autumn feed.  Add a reminder to your 2012 calendar now that your lawn will need a feed in March to give it a boost before spring arrives.

Easy to grow tomatoes are a favourite with many beginner gardeners as they really are an easy starting point to a productive edible garden.  All you need to get started is a planter and seeds in your chosen variety – we have plenty to choose from!

Seeds of large onions should be sown in January to give them a long period of growth.

We would suggest that you start a gardening diary now so that you can keep notes throughout the year and monitor your successes and thoughts for improvements for 2013.

Indoors, your Christmas poinsettias should continue to thrive over the coming weeks but keep all houseplants away from heat and droughts.

And finally, encourage more birds to your garden by keeping your bird feeding station kits, feeders, trays and bird baths topped up with fresh food and water.  Make sure the water does not freeze over!