Gardening Jobs for February

This month there are signs of the approaching spring, with bulbs appearing and wildlife waking up as light levels and temperatures increase. There’s plenty to do indoors this month to prepare for the season ahead. Outdoors, as the garden comes to life again, it’s time to prune shrubs and climbers, such as Wisteria as well as evergreen hedges.

Prepare vegetable seed beds, and sow some vegetables under cover

Knowing which vegetables to sow where, when and how means you can maintain constant supplies throughout the season.

Chit potato tubers

It’s important with earlies, and a good idea with maincrops, to ‘chit’ the seed potatoes before planting. This means allowing them to start sprouting shoots.

Re-cut lawn edges using a half-moon edging iron or flatbladed spade, to neaten up the appearance of the garden and save work next season. Also maintain a 7.5cm (3in) ‘gutter’ around the lawn edges to prevent grass spreading into your borders.

Avoid walking on a frosty lawn, as this can damage the blades of grass, which go brittle in the cold.

Cut back deciduous grasses left uncut over the winter, remove dead grass from evergreen grasses

Houseplants

Cacti and Clivia houseplants should still be kept dormant until March. Very little water (barely moist) and no feeding is advised until then. Clivia will additionally benefit from lower light levels (e.g. a back room where the lights are rarely turned on and there is not too much natural light) - this will improve flowering for the following season.

General greenhouse tasks

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Lawn Maintenance

Mow if the weather is warm – grass will start to grow at temperatures above 5°C (41°F) – but set the cutting height to its maximum, and only mow when the grass is dry.

If you have bulbs planted in your lawn, such as snowdrops and crocuses, they may be starting to come up now, so avoid mowing or walking on those areas.

Repair bare patches, especially around lawn edges, using turf cut from other areas of the garden.

Maintain a minimum of 5°C (42°F) to prevent Fuchsia, Pelargonium and other tender plants being killed by the cold. Higher temperatures (at least 12°C/54°F) will be needed for tropical plants.

Check that glasshouse heaters are functioning properly, by investing in a maximum-minimum thermometer to enable accurate monitoring of your greenhouse temperature.

Check your glasshouse insulation is still secure for the remainder of the cold weather.

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