JANUARY is tidy-up time in our garden. Things have usually been left to themselves in December and, by the time the New Year dawns, the dried flower-heads and stems that looked so interesting at Christmas now irritate me.

So a mild day in mid-January sees me secateurs in hand and ready to do battle in the beds and borders.

Late-flowering sedums and Michaelmas daisies all face the January chop, as does bronze fennel.

This latter plant should really have been done much earlier, preferably at the end of the summer since it self-seeds with abandon. The job was forgotten and we are now likely to be overrun with tiny plantlets throughout the garden in spring. It is a blessing the dark, feathery leaves are easy to spot and pull up.

The stems and seed-heads can be left for a few more weeks, but I like to clear away last year's growth and welcome the start of the new gardening year as soon as I can.

The garden can feel bare for a while, at least as far as height is concerned, although closer inspection at soil level will reveal clusters of new leaves already appearing.

Sedum spectabile is a good example, since tiny tightly packed rosettes appear at the base of the plant almost as soon as the previous summer's foliage has dies back.

They look very attractive as they develop; pale green fleshy leaves nestling in the dark earth catching droplets of rain that glitter in winter sunshine.

Potted snowdrops and other early-flowering bulbs will soon be appearing in nurseries and garden centres. Although more expensive than planting bulbs in autumn, they are very useful when the odd bare patch in the garden needs to be filled.

Snowdrops, in particular, benefit from such planting since they tend to have a poor success rate when grown from dry bulbs. Put them in reasonably deep - birds have an annoying tendency of pulling them up when their new shoots emerge and shallow-planted bulbs fall victim very quickly.

Soil improvement can be carried out this month and is especially useful in a new garden or where an established plot needs to be completely renovated.

Soil preparation done now will make the garden ready for spring planting and although an established looking area will not be achieved straight away, there should be some colour this summer.

The area needs to be dug over to at least the depth of a spade, some gardeners prefer to go down further.

Remove any large stones, half bricks, broken concrete and so on as well as weeds. Add plenty of well-rotted garden compost, manure or spent mushroom compost. This bulky, fibrous materiel will improve the texture of clay soils and give body to sandy soils.

Clay soils will also benefit from the addition of coarse grit to improve the drainage. Slow- release fertiliser can also be added to the mix to give extra nutrients.

If the weather is too bad to get outside jobs done, the tidying can extend to the shed. Plant pots, seed trays and containers for summer bedding can be scrubbed with mild detergent and rinsed ready for planting up in spring. A little household bleach can also be added to the water, this will help to get rid of any lingering problems a previous occupant of the pot may have had. Make a stash of new labels for strips cut from empty margarine or ice cream tubs. Make them wide enough to write on and cut one end into a point to make it easier to push into the soil.

Garden forks, spades and other tools can also be cleaned, oiled and sharpened where appropriate. Service the lawnmower, the handbook should detail the jobs that need to be done annually.

Alternatively, book it in for a service with a local professional before they get busy at the beginning of spring.

Once this is done, dig out all the seed catalogues that arrived last autumn and settle down to make final decisions and send off last-minute orders.

It can sometimes be hard to make choices when the books first arrive, but when we need cheering up on a gloomy winter's day there is nothing nicer than flicking through a catalogue filled with summer colour.

Weekend catch-up

JANUARY is a good time to mend broken or damaged fences and trellis as plants are still dormant, or only just starting to grow and less likely to get in the way. Make sure there is going to be at least a couple of hours of dry weather if fences need painting and check the tin for drying times. Some outdoor paint or preservative dries surprisingly quickly, especially if water based.

Gardening TV and radio

Tomorrow

8am, Radio Humberside, Gardening Phone-in. Telephone number 01482 225959.

9am, Radio Leeds, Gardening with Tim Crowther and Joe Maiden.

2pm, R4, Gardeners' Question Time. From Surrey where Anne Swithinbank, Bunny Guinness, Bob Flowerdew and chairman Eric Robson are guests of Kingston Horticultural Society. In the gardening fundamentals series Bob Flowerdew and Pippa Greenwood look at how to get the best fruit crops and the gardening weather forecast is at 2.25pm.

Monday

1.30pm, R4, The Garden Quiz. Anna fords continues the search for Britain's best amateur gardener with contestants answering questions on garden history, design and science.