FEBRUARY

This is the month to PLANT, PRUNE and RE-POT and to begin Spring sowing.
CHECKLIST OF KEY TASKS FOR FEBRUARY:
PATIOS & BORDERS
Re-pot perennials and shrubs that are growing in pots.
Use a good compost and add slow release fertiliser to the mix.
This will feed the plants for most of the year. If you can't move up a pot size, remove the top couple of inches of compost and replace it with fresh.
Sow geraniums, fibrous rooted begonias, antirrhinum, lobelia, petunias and impatiens.
Sow sweet peas in long tube pots.
Buy pots of pre-germinated bedding plants. These can even be grown on the windowsill for a while.
TREES & SHRUBS
Check that climbers are securely tied to their supports and check that old ties are not constricting older thicker stems.
It is a good time to take a look at tree ties and loosen them a little so that they are not beginning to strangle swelling trunks.
Prevent them slipping down both the tree and the stake by nailing the tie to the stake.
Prune clematis this month. Those that flower after mid summer should be cut back hard (they only flower on newly grown shoots)
but those that flower before should be more lightly pruned to about 75cm.
Put plenty of well-rotted manure around your roses. Give them a liberal dressing of fertilizer.
Delphiniums, gypsophila, hostas, lupins, and clematis are prone to slugs so if you use slug killer liquid on the soil, this can be effective now.
PLANTING & PRUNING
Trees that have lost their leaves can be pruned now. Cut out dead, diseased and damaged wood.
Thin out over crowded areas but avoid removing too much in one year.
It is better to spread heavy pruning over several years and limit the amount of wood you remove at any one time to no more than a third of the total.
Plant new roses and fruit trees now.
It is the traditional time to plant and they will be partly established when spring arrives.
Cut last year's new wood on Wisteria shoots back now to 3-4 inches.
BULBS
Forced hyacinth bulbs can be planted out in the garden where they will thrive and flower for many years to come.
Lily, Nerine and other summer flowering bulbs may be potted ready to plant into gaps in the border after the risk of frost is over.
Spring flowering bulbs such as snowdrops and bluebells will establish well now.
FRUIT GARDEN
Spray peaches, apricots and nectarines against peach leaf curl disease and cherries against bacterial canker.
Apply sulphate of potash to fruit to encourage good fruit growth.
If your fruit trees are growing amongst grass, apply sulphate of ammonia too.
VEGETABLE GARDEN
Prepare runner bean and sweet pea trenches. Sow early peas, broad beans, early carrots, parsnips and onions.
Finish planting garlic and asparagus.
Top dress rhubarb and spring cabbage with sulphate of ammonia.
LAWNS, HEDGES & PATHS
As long as the ground is not very wet and the grass is not frozen there is no reason why you should not continue to mow the lawn.
Trim lawn edges with a sharp edging iron.
New hedges can still be planted now, especially those we sell as bareroot plants like beech, hawthorn and laurel.
THE GREENHOUSE
Sow early lettuce seed under protection.
Plant out later for really early crops.
INDOOR PLANTS
Re-pot your houseplants, if they need it, into a pot one size larger using good multi-purpose compost.
Use mosspoles to support taller plants.
SOIL
Now is the time to get rid of celandines if you need to.
Add organic matter to heavy soils to improve the structure.
PONDS
Keep the pond clear of ice and debris.
WILDLIFE
Hang a nest boxes up in your garden to help birds breed successfully.
GENERAL CHORES
CHECKLIST OF KEY TASKS FOR FEBRUARY:
- Re-pot shrubs and perennials.
- Sow bedding plants.
- Repair lawn edges.
- Prune dead wood from trees and shrubs.
- Prune clematis.
- Secure climbing plants.
- Start forcing rhubarb
- Plant news roses and fruit trees.
- Hang bird nest-boxes
- Keep putting out food and water for the birds
PATIOS & BORDERS
Re-pot perennials and shrubs that are growing in pots.
Use a good compost and add slow release fertiliser to the mix.
This will feed the plants for most of the year. If you can't move up a pot size, remove the top couple of inches of compost and replace it with fresh.
Sow geraniums, fibrous rooted begonias, antirrhinum, lobelia, petunias and impatiens.
Sow sweet peas in long tube pots.
Buy pots of pre-germinated bedding plants. These can even be grown on the windowsill for a while.
TREES & SHRUBS
Check that climbers are securely tied to their supports and check that old ties are not constricting older thicker stems.
It is a good time to take a look at tree ties and loosen them a little so that they are not beginning to strangle swelling trunks.
Prevent them slipping down both the tree and the stake by nailing the tie to the stake.
Prune clematis this month. Those that flower after mid summer should be cut back hard (they only flower on newly grown shoots)
but those that flower before should be more lightly pruned to about 75cm.
Put plenty of well-rotted manure around your roses. Give them a liberal dressing of fertilizer.
Delphiniums, gypsophila, hostas, lupins, and clematis are prone to slugs so if you use slug killer liquid on the soil, this can be effective now.
PLANTING & PRUNING
Trees that have lost their leaves can be pruned now. Cut out dead, diseased and damaged wood.
Thin out over crowded areas but avoid removing too much in one year.
It is better to spread heavy pruning over several years and limit the amount of wood you remove at any one time to no more than a third of the total.
Plant new roses and fruit trees now.
It is the traditional time to plant and they will be partly established when spring arrives.
Cut last year's new wood on Wisteria shoots back now to 3-4 inches.
BULBS
Forced hyacinth bulbs can be planted out in the garden where they will thrive and flower for many years to come.
Lily, Nerine and other summer flowering bulbs may be potted ready to plant into gaps in the border after the risk of frost is over.
Spring flowering bulbs such as snowdrops and bluebells will establish well now.
FRUIT GARDEN
Spray peaches, apricots and nectarines against peach leaf curl disease and cherries against bacterial canker.
Apply sulphate of potash to fruit to encourage good fruit growth.
If your fruit trees are growing amongst grass, apply sulphate of ammonia too.
VEGETABLE GARDEN
Prepare runner bean and sweet pea trenches. Sow early peas, broad beans, early carrots, parsnips and onions.
Finish planting garlic and asparagus.
Top dress rhubarb and spring cabbage with sulphate of ammonia.
LAWNS, HEDGES & PATHS
As long as the ground is not very wet and the grass is not frozen there is no reason why you should not continue to mow the lawn.
Trim lawn edges with a sharp edging iron.
New hedges can still be planted now, especially those we sell as bareroot plants like beech, hawthorn and laurel.
THE GREENHOUSE
Sow early lettuce seed under protection.
Plant out later for really early crops.
INDOOR PLANTS
Re-pot your houseplants, if they need it, into a pot one size larger using good multi-purpose compost.
Use mosspoles to support taller plants.
SOIL
Now is the time to get rid of celandines if you need to.
Add organic matter to heavy soils to improve the structure.
PONDS
Keep the pond clear of ice and debris.
WILDLIFE
Hang a nest boxes up in your garden to help birds breed successfully.
GENERAL CHORES
- Before the usual spring rush, paint fences and sheds and get other general maintenance jobs done.
- If plants are trained onto fences to be painted make certain that the paint you use is plant-safe.
- Check variegated plants for shoots that have reverted to all green; remove these by trimming them back to the point where the leaves are uniformly variegated.