Top Ten February Gardening Tasks

Spring is in the air and we are all holding our breath for the garden to wake up from its slumber! However before we jump straight into the warmer seasons and all the excitement they hold for our outside spaces, we need to prep for their arrival.

February is the month for pruning and establishing the structure for our summer flowering climbers and shrubs, as well as winter flowering specimens that are now finished. With a bit of mulching, chitting and dividing, this month really is where we start to set up for the year ahead. Especially if you have a vegetable garden or want to grow anything from seed, it is time to get the notebook out and make your plan of attack!

Winter pruning of Wisteria

February is the time to give your Wisteria it’s winter prune while it is dormant and leafless, cutting back to 2-3 buds. Long whippy stems that grew after the Summer prune should be cut back to 5 or 6 buds, or trained in if growing over a pergola.

Pruning summer flowering Clematis

Towards the end of the month is the perfect time to prune your Summer flowering clematis while it is still dormant. Cut back to two healthy buds, removing any dead, damaged or weaker stems. You can then give a light prune in early Summer after the first flush of flowers.

Cutting back Cornus and Salix

Cornus and Salix are brilliant plants for bringing colour and vibrancy into your winter garden. Some of my favourite favourites are Cornus sibirica ‘Alba’, Cornus sanguinea ‘Anny’s Winter Orange’ and Salix alba ‘Yelverton’. It is the younger stems on these plants that produce the bright colours, therefore, in order to keep the desired effect they must be cut back each year, removing the older stems. It is important to prune in late February, before the leaves begin to develop, as most of the energy goes into regrowth rather than leaf production. Cut stems back to 2-3 inches each year for vigorous growers or every other year for slower growing varieties. After pruning apply a general purpose fertiliser to encourage new growth.

Cutting back Ornamental Grasses

By cutting back our ornamental grasses, particularly deciduous varieties such as Pennisetum or Miscanthus is essential to ensuring a lush display in the summer of new growth. Grasses such as Stipa tennuissima although evergreen can be treated as deciduous to get new green growth each year, and Stipa gigantea can be given a hard cut back at this time, however this wouldn’t be necessary every year, normally you would just remove the spent flower heads along with any older or unsightly leaves. Smaller grasses can be cut to a few inches from the ground, whereas larger grasses can be domed, curving with the natural shape of the plant to ensure even new growth.

Lifting and Dividing Bulbs

If you want to move bulbs such as snowdrops or create new plants now is the time to do it by lifting and transplanting them in the green. It is also the time to lift and divide bulbs such as Allium’s where they have multiplied and become congested, as you will find they are beginning to emerge and if done now should still flower this year.

Removing Hellebore Leaves

As our Hellebores are springing into life all around us, the full effect of these delicate blooms can be lost amongst their dense evergreen foliage. To allow them to be centre stage and give better access to the light, you can cut back all the leaf stems to within a 2-3cm of the base, this also removes any that are not looking their best.

Chitting your early Potatoes

Start chitting your early potatoes ready for planting by putting them in an egg tray or similar cardboard container in a cool, dry, light place that is frost free. You want the strong green shoots to reach around 3-4 inches, but don’t want white spaghetti like shoots.

Mulching!

Mulching is an essential garden task, not only to act as a weed suppressant, but as a way of feeding the soil and keeping vital nutrients and moisture locked in before the warmer weather comes and they can be leached away. A general purpose mulch is suitable for most beds, with a heavier woodland mulch acting well in particularly weed susceptible areas. A well-rotted manure is good to use on perennial veg crops such as asparagus or artichoke, and for around fruit trees – being careful not to touch the bark with the mulch.

Lawn Edging

One way of making real impact in the garden with a very simple task is by re-edging your lawn. This is the perfect time to do so and to get that crisp line re-established before summer hits the soil becomes dry and crumbly and the beds become full, spilling over the edge of our line. Using a half moon re-cut the edge of the lawn, creating a dip and banking the soil up into the bed – this establishes a true line and stops the bed blending into and ruining the lawn. Trim any excess grass back with edging shears or topiary clippers where necessary.

Sowing Seeds Under Glass

Finally it is time to begin sowing our seeds for this year! With vegetable crops with a long growing season such as tomatoes, peppers and chilies it is better to get them started off early inside. Plants like this generally work better grown inside as they benefit from the warmer conditions. So following the instructions on your chosen varieties packet get sowing and stand back as the magic unfolds.

Top Ten February Gardening Tasks

Winter pruning of Wisteria

Pruning summer flowering Clematis

Cutting back Cornus and Salix

Cutting back Ornamental Grasses

Lifting and Dividing Bulbs

Removing Hellebore Leaves

Chitting your early Potatoes

Mulching!

Lawn Edging

Sowing Seeds Under Glass

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Top Ten February Gardening Tasks

Winter pruning of Wisteria

Pruning summer flowering Clematis

Cutting back Cornus and Salix

Cutting back Ornamental Grasses

Lifting and Dividing Bulbs

Removing Hellebore Leaves

Chitting your early Potatoes

Mulching!

Lawn Edging

Sowing Seeds Under Glass

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