On milder days, February is a good time to get your garden tidied and organised ready for the growing season ahead. The following gardening jobs will give you a good head start.
- We have our huge, new selection of roses now in stock in the nursery. Whether you are looking for a rambler, climber or shrub rose, now is a good time to plant one. Adding well-rotted manure, or compost, into the planting hole, and adding mycorrhizal fungi to the damp roots of plants will help them to quickly establish. Don’t use fertiliser if you are using this, as it may kill off the beneficial fungi.
- Cut back deciduous grasses such as Miscanthus. Take them back to ground level, being careful not to damage any new growth that is developing at the base.
- Prune group 3 Clematis. Group 3 plants begin active growth in spring, and flower during summer to late autumn. Take back many of the old stems to a pair of healthy buds 20-30cm above the ground. Space any remaining stems evenly and tie in, to prevent the plant from becoming untidy and congested.
- You can begin warming the soil by covering it in fleece or plastic, in preparation for planting in the vegetable garden.
- Start sowing vegetable seeds under frames.
- Now is a good time to begin sowing half-hardy annuals that require a long growing season, such as pelargoniums and begonias.
(Post by Jo Chamberlain)