Gardening Tasks for February

Gardening Tasks for February

February is a hard month for keen seed growers like myself – because we are itching to get into the greenhouse or garden and start planting, sowing and planning out our kitchen garden for the warmer months – but for so many seeds, it is still just a little bit too early- so self control must be practised! Yes… I’m mostly trying to talk myself out of going crazy with MORE seed purchasing – you’ll have seen on my vlogs and on my Tik Tok that I have been buying a LOT of seeds lately!

However, the temperatures are mild at the moment and we’ve had some glorious sunny days – and luckily there’s still a pretty good selection of seeds that can be sown in February, including Sweet Peas, Broad Beans, Peas, as well as tomatoes, aubergines and other delicious vegetables.

If you don’t have a heated greenhouse – not many of us do! – then panic not, germination of the seeds (which requires warmth, and not so much light) can be done inside your house before you take the seedlings outside into the greenhouse once germination is underway. My windowsills are currently covered in seed trays with sweet peas, beans and other veggie all starting to show through.

A few things you may need to get started….

 

1 – Remove perennial weeds

Dig up any pesky weeds this month to get your garden looking neat, tidy and ready for spring. Be sure to remove the roots to slow down their reappearance. This weed remover is the perfect tool for the job!

2 – Sow early veg

Gather together your tomato seeds, broad bean seeds, and , as these can all be sown in February – as long as they are kept warm in a heated greenhouse or on a warm windowsill to germinate. My greenhouse is unheated; so our pantry is full of seed trays as they germinate! Remember, you need warmth and not light for germination to occur, so you could stack up your seed trays inside until seedlings start to appear.
I use an for seed starting.

As well as the above seeds, you can also start growing a selection of flowers from seeds, and not forgetting sweet peas too! I’ve planted my sweet pea seeds in to minimise disturbance of their long tap roots, and a few other flower seeds in seed trays too.

A tip for growing veg like beans; specifically broad beans, is to save cardboard loo roll and kitchen roll tubes which can be used as plant pots! See my latest Reel for exactly how I do it – and of course the entire loo roll tube can be planted outside once temperatures warm up, because it will simply decompose in your bed!

3 – Top up your bird feeders

Food is still a little hard to come by this month for the Avian residents of your garden, so be sure to top up your feeders and hang out fat balls! If you’re in the market for a new bird feeder, try this one from amazon.

 

 

4 – Prepare your beds

Simply cultivating or turning over the top layer of your soil can bring soil pests to the surface, exposing them to predators & frost, which will be beneficial for the health of your soil. To further improve your soil health, you can use this opportunity to add some organic fertiliser to your soil or do as I do and add home-made ‘supplements’ to your soil in the form of spent coffee grounds. Of course, choose a moment to perform this task when the ground is not frozen solid, and avoid cultivation in wet weather. Also, make sure not to dig too closely to any plants, as you don’t want to damage their roots. After cultivation, it may be sensible to cover up your beds with some fleece or plastic sheeting, to protect them from frost. We like to add a layer of mulch to our beds to add nutrients and protection, and get them ready for the first sowing in a few weeks time.

5 – Divide large clumps of snowdrops

If you’re lucky enough to have any lovey little snowdrops in your garden, you can delicately dig out some plants from larger clumps, and move them to another spot once the flowers fade, allowing the colony to spread across your garden. This needs to be done while the snowdrops are ‘in the green’ so perhaps we are a little speedy recommending this for February; as you only want to do this once the flowers have finished. We usually perform this task around mothers day, and can be repeated every few years to prevent clumps from becoming too congested. If you don’t have any snowdrops in your garden, you can plant some snowdrop bulbs – all you’ll need is a a partly-shaded spot and a trowel!

6 – Trim back climbers

It’s a good idea to keep your eye on fast-growing climbers such as ivy, as they can really take over if you’re not careful, and can even cause damage to building structures. Put aside half a day this month to cut back any climbers including ivy, clematis and Virginia creeper, using some sturdy pruning shears. Some climbers such as honeysuckle may only need a trim!

 

 

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