Planning and the odd sortie outside…
Here are your February gardening jobs, with added links if I have more information. Don’t worry if you fall behind – you’ll catch up. We’re at the mercy of the weather at this time of year!
Week 1
There is still time to finish planting fruit trees and bushes, especially raspberries and other cane fruits. Prune autumn-fruiting raspberries by cutting back all growth to a 2.5cm-long stub and mulch. To extend the picking season, cut half back and leave half.
It’s also time to prune currants – shorten the side shoots to one bud and remove old stems from the centre of the bushes.
Leeks standing ready in the ground can be dug up and heeled into some dug-over ground if a cold snap is likely. Cover parsnips and swedes with fleece or straw.
Protect bulbs coming up in the alpine/rock garden or in containers from rain and snow. A sheet of Perspex on bricks does the job.
Summer-flowering Dutch iris bulbs can be forced and used as cut flowers.
Sweet peas can be sown under glass or in a cool room indoors. Pot on plants sown in the autumn.
Take root cuttings of Papaver (perennial poppies), Verbascum (mullein), Acanthus (bear’s breeches) and Phlox.
Cut back ornamental grasses and other perennials left for winter interest.
Plant hedging plants, shrubs, trees and climbers. Put in stakes and rabbit guards while planting.
Continue to plant roses. Avoid planting where roses were previously growing to avoid replant diseases.
Winter prune apples and pears, concentrating on removing the overcrowded growth, crossing stems, and dead, damaged, or dying branches. Aim for an open centre to cut the risk of pests and diseases.
Cut deciduous hedges to renovate plants before leaf emergence.
Ornamental vines, ivy, Virginia creeper and Boston ivy can be cut back now – keep them away from windows, doors, gutters and roof tiles.
Don’t leave houseplants on windowsills behind curtains on frosty nights.
Feed greenhouse bulbs that have finished flowering (e.g. freesias and Lachenalia) weekly with a tomato fertiliser to build them up before resting over the summer. Reduce feeding and watering as the foliage starts to die back.
Start Fuchsias into active growth by repotting, increasing watering, feeding (with a slow-release fertiliser such as blood, fish and bone) and putting them in a sunny place.
February gardening jobs – Week 2
Force rhubarb for an early crop. Cover a crown with a bucket or an upturned large pot. Insulate the outside with straw or compost. The stalks will grow in the dark. This takes a lot out of the crown and it won’t recover for a couple of years.
Check on tender plants overwintering outdoors to make sure protective coverings are in place.
Continue to deadhead pansies and other winter bedding. Pansies will bloom into the spring if attended to often.
Cut off old leaves of hellebores that produce flowers from ground level (including Helleborus x hybridus and H. niger) to expose the flowers and remove foliar diseases such as hellebore leaf spot.
Look out for rot (such as crown rot, Sclerotinia, delphinium black blotch, black root rot and Antirrhinum rust) on emerging perennials.
Many summer-flowering deciduous shrubs can be pruned now – those that flower on the current year’s growth, including Buddleja davidii, Ceratostigma, Hydrangea paniculata, Lavatera, Leycesteria, Perovskia, hardy fuchsias, and deciduous Ceanothus.
Prune Wisteria by cutting back the side shoots shortened by summer pruning to two or three buds (2.5-5cm/1-2in). Avoid cutting off flower buds.
One of the big February gardening jobs is digging a new pond. Have a minimum depth of 60cm at the deepest point, to reduce the risk of the pond freezing totally. Create gently sloping contours between shallow and deep areas and the bank to help wildlife.
If you have seedlings and/or cuttings in the greenhouse, make sure they are getting the maximum light, or else they will become weak and leggy. Turn them daily to stop them leaning towards the light, and keep them upright and compact.
Plug plants can be grown on in your greenhouse – a cheap source of large numbers of plants.
Week 3
Dahlia tubers stored over winter (or newly bought) can be started into growth. Place them in a light, warm place to sprout. Mist with a spray bottle to stop them from drying out.
Divide and/or plant bulbs in the green, such as snowdrops (Galanthus) and winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis).
February gardening jobs are all about planning for the future. Prepare beds for new roses when conditions allow. Avoid wet days and frozen ground.
Send soil samples for pH and nutrient testing, or buy a kit from a garden centre. Knowing what type of soil you have means you can buy the right plants for your conditions to fix any nutrient deficiencies.
Clear up weedy beds before mulching. Lighter soils can be mulched now, but leave heavier soils until March when the soil is warmer.
Top dress spring-flowering alpines with grit or gravel to show off the plants and help prevent stem rots. Remove dead leaves from around the base of alpine plants to prevent rotting.
Cut out the top rosette of leaves from leggy stems of Mahonia x media cultivars to encourage branching.
Mulch and feed shrubs, trees, hedges and climbers after pruning, to give them energy for the extra growth they will put on after cutting back.
Plant tender tubers this month – Begonias and Gloxinias hollow side upwards; Achimenes on their sides, in trays if necessary, before potting them up once growth appears.
In cold frames, greenhouses or polytunnels, sow beetroot, broad beans, summer and autumn cabbage, carrots, kale, leeks, lettuce and spring onions. Use trays or plugs and plant out towards the end of March.
Start sowing bedding plants such as Impatiens, Viola and pansies in a heated propagator. Transplant when seedlings have three or four leaves, in four to six weeks.
February gardening jobs – Week 4
Hardy annuals, such as Calendula, can be sown in pots or modules to give early colour.
Plant gladioli corms in trays or boxes in a light, warm (about 10ºC) place to let them sprout for an early display.
Prune pot-grown overwintered Fuchsias and place them in a well-lit, warm place to encourage new growth.
Divide clumps of herbaceous perennials if you want to propagate them or if they’re too large or are flowering poorly.
One of the main February gardening is improving the drainage of heavy soils by working in organic matter and coarse gravel. Mulching with a deep layer of organic matter helps to condition the soil, suppress weed growth, insulate plant roots and conserve soil moisture.
One of the best February gardening jobs to get a start on the growing season is topping up pots with fresh compost. Top dress beds and borders with a balanced fertiliser such as Growmore or blood, fish and bone, to feed perennials.
Protect Lily, Delphinium and Hosta shoots from slugs and snails.
Cut back shrubs such as Buddleja davidii, Salix alba var. Vitellina cultivars and Cornus sanguinea to deepen the stem colour for next winter. Cut back late summer and autumn flowering (Group 3) Clematis to the lowest pair of strong buds. Mulch and feed.
Prune winter-flowering jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) once the flowers have faded. Remove dead or damaged shoots, tie in new ones and shorten laterals coming off the main framework to 5cm, cutting to a bud. This keeps the plant neat and improves flowering. Feed and mulch.
Prune summer-flowering jasmines in sheltered spots. Remove a couple of stems at ground level, and avoid cutting back laterals, as this would damage this year’s flowers.
Trim winter-flowering heathers with shears as the flowers fade to stop the plants from becoming leggy.
Lily of the valley (Convallaria) lifted from the garden for use in the greenhouse can be planted back outside.
This year’s potato bed needs a good application of compost or rotted manure – just fork it in.
Cover soil with dark plastic sheeting, fleece or cloches to warm it up for a couple of weeks before you start to sow and plant.
Plant out Jerusalem artichokes and shallots under a cloche.
Sow summer cabbages such as Greyhound and Primo, turnips and spinach.
Start onions from seed now at 15°C on a windowsill in a cool room, in 3-inch pots. Prick out seedlings into their final positions when large enough, or sow into plugs until planting out.
Sow globe artichokes, celery, celeriac and leeks under heat in large plugs where they can stay until planting out.
For more gardening tasks, see my week-by-week jobs page for March.
