Can I plant a tree in January??

[HotChocolatemarshmallows]

It's for my babies first birthday. What tree can I plant in January?

You can plant anything as long as the ground isn't frozen. It's more important that you don't plant a species that will get enormous and overhang the boundaries...

Any suggestions? Husband is handy with the shears so won't matter if it gets big. We have other trees which he keeps tame 😊

It depends very much on the conditions you have locally, and what you personally like. You can look at what plants are doing well in your neighbours' gardens for suggestions. Perhaps take photos of ones you like? (I do this a lot, and post photos on the Gardening board if I don't know what it is and can't find out.)

What you could do is take a trip to a garden centre and look at the plants they have in stock. One good thing is that the plants which are in flower in winter will be blooming now, or soon, and if you want to mark your baby's birthday by his/her plant being in flower, this is a way to ensure that. If you don't mind when it flowers or prefer something else, you could ask a staff member for recommendations. It helps to know the soil type you have and the kind of conditions the plant will be expected to cope with (like a windy, exposed site, or south facing so very sunny, whether the soil stays wet and soggy when it rains).

Other than that - choose something you like! I've planted rowans recently as I like their long season of interest with spring flowers followed by berries and good autumn colour in the leaves.

That's very helpful thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I'll definitely be going to the garden centre next week. Thank you!

We did in February for our little girls birthday. Trees are shut down mostly for now so as long as you protect it from any crazy cold it should be fine. Most will be growing outside anywhere you buy it from.

January is fine, it’s best to plant when the tree is dormant anyway. Some trees will die if you try to plant them when they’re actively growing.