February in your garden…

Slowly but surely, we’re moving towards the end of Winter, and the signs of Spring have begun to appear. Here’s some jobs you can do in your garden this February!

• Prepare your vegetable seed beds, you can start some vegetables of under cover like lettuce, radish and carrots.
• Chit your potato tubers use an old egg box these work very well for this as they will help support your potatoes.
• If you have any Apricot, Nectarine or Peach trees, protect the blossom by covering them with fleece.
• Prune winter flowering shrubs that have finished flowering.
• Prune Autumn Raspberries (like Autumn bliss just chop down all last years growth to ground level as the fruit will grow on this years canes)
• Divide bulbs such as Snowdrops.
• Prune your Wisteria, shorten summer pruned shoots further by cutting them back to within 2.5-5cm (1-2 inches) of older wood or 2to 3 buds.
• Prune hardy Evergreen hedges and renovate overgrown Deciduous hedges by cutting them back and removing any dead or diseased branches.
• Cut back Deciduous grasses left uncut over winter and remove dead grass from Evergreen grasses.
• If you’re looking at putting a pond in the garden this is a good time to do it as the spring rains will help fill it. Minimum depth for a pond is 2ft at its deepest to reduce the chance of it totally freezing especially if you want fish.

Lawns

• If the weather gets warm you may need to start mowing. Set your mower on its maximum cutting height and only mow if the grass is dry. It is also A good time to lay turf, providing the soil is not too wet or frosty – work from a plank to prevent compaction of the soil.
• Check tree ties and stakes, replace tighten or slacken where necessary, also remove weeds from around the bases of young trees.

Flower sowing and Planting

• Lily bulbs can be planted in pots for summer flowering, start them off in a cool greenhouse.
• Dahlia tubers stored over winter or bought this year can be started into growth by placing them in alight warm place .
• Gladiola corms can be placed in seed trays or boxes, place somewhere light and warm around 10 degrees C or (50 degrees F} to encourage them to sprout before planting this will ensure an earlier display