This February may still be cold, but take a look around for those sure-fire signs your garden is quietly waking up. This is a crucial time to prepare for the growing season ahead. Whether you’re pruning trees, tidying up beds and borders, or getting an early start on fruit and veg, the gardening you do in February will pay off in spades come spring and summer.
Even if your garden still looks a little sleepy, there’s plenty to be getting on with. Flowering plants need a little TLC – February is the time to prune, deadhead, and give perennials a boost to ensure a spectacular display later in the year. If you grow fruit, now is the time to plant new raspberry canes, ensuring a bumper harvest of juicy, homegrown berries by summer. And of course, it’s vital to refresh your beds and borders, getting rid of debris and enriching the soil so it’s in prime condition for new plantings.
February is a month of anticipation and preparation. Every bit of work you do now – whether it’s feeding, mulching, pruning, or planting – will help set the stage for a garden bursting with life and colour in the months ahead. So, wrap up warm, grab your gloves, and let’s get to it!
Let’s Start With Flowers And Trees
- Dogwoods should be cut back to within one or two buds of last year’s growth, leaving just a stubby framework.
- A light trim will keep any summer or autumn flowering heathers compact and bushy.
- Remove old flower heads from mophead and lacecap hydrangeas. Cut back to a pair of healthy buds, then trim out any dead, diseased or spindly stems.
- Prune buddleia to encourage a great floral display this summer. Cut back the stems to within 10cm of the permanent low framework.
If Nothing Else… Plant Raspberries!
Raspberries are a delightful garden treat that really is a reward for our efforts outside.
Now is the perfect time for planting bare root raspberry canes. Plant in a sunny or partly shaded spot with well-drained soil. Most may take a couple of seasons to begin establishing before they bear fruit, but long-cane raspberries will reward you with plenty of large, bright red fruit this summer.
Plant against a wall, fence or support wires attached to stakes. Dig a 30cm wide by 8cm deep hole, and spread out the roots. Cover and water well. Space raspberry canes 60cm apart. Alternatively, plant several canes in a large pot and draw the tops together with twine to form a wigwam shape.
Plan Now To Grow Something Tasty!
- Now is the ideal time to get a head start on this year’s vegetable growth. Use a windowsill propagator kit to sow seeds of tomatoes, chilli peppers, sweet peppers and aubergines.
- Plant shallots in sheltered gardens – space sets roughly 15cm apart, leaving a gap of 30cm between each row.
- Pea seeds can be sown 5cm deep in a sheltered spot outdoors and cover with a cloche to protect from frost.
And Don’t Forget This…
Dandelions and other weeds with long roots can be levered from lawns using a weeding tool.
Avoid the risk of slugs and snails chomping at new emerging perennial shoots by thinly scattering slug pellets around individual plants.
Freshen up soil compacted by winter wet. Fork over the soil, then spread some Fish, Blood & Bone fertiliser to replace nutrients washed away by rain.
Remember, the world is your oyster at this time of the year in the garden, and our suggestions are only that. So get out there!
Slug problem. I think that have found a way of keeping slugs down by FEEDING them.I put left over salad leaves and other chopped used vegetables around my perenial plants. Slugs think they have gone to heaven, but they dont see the pelets hiden by the veg.By covering the pelets with leaves and other chopped veg it keeps the rain off the pelets and stops birds eating them. I have done this for the last two years and it has kept the slugs at bay.
Sluggs. I may have found a way to keep these pests down by FEEDING them. On a dry day,I scatter slugg pelets around my perenial and newly planted plants, I then cover them with saved, removed salad leaves and other used / unwanted chopped vegetables.This keep the pelets dry and prevents birds eating them.Worms also love this because they also eat the left overs. What hasn’t been eaten can then be gently pushed into the soil by your hoe. I continue to repeat this throughout the summer and I have found that both sluggs and snails haven’t been much of a problem. It’s worth a try, and if you are a green gardener,just leave off using the pelets, the pests will still prefer the food because it is easier than having to climb plants.