My February jobs in the garden
February is a big month! Seed sowing begins mid-month. Yes it may be cold, but March and April will be hectic! So it's great to get ahead this month, doing all those jobs we've been putting off.
Welcome to the February edition in my new regular monthly slot, sharing all the gardening jobs that I’ll be undertaking over the next few weeks. I’ll also be making mini “How to…” videos to run alongside on Instagram (most recently a practical guide to pruning shrub roses).
Just remember, these are jobs for my organic, no-dig garden, situated in Central Southern England, USDA Zone 8b maritime equivalent.
Into the potting shed and greenhouse
Time is running out to get into the potting shed (or greenhouse) and give it a damn good clean! I’ll be sowing seeds in a couple of weeks so I need to get a move on. I’ll literally empty the potting shed, clearing the decks, tossing everything outside. Then it’s a good sweep-up and nosey around for overwintering slugs and snails, hiding under pots and work benches, ready to wreak havoc on my new sowings. While I’m there, I’ll give the windows a good clean, inside and out, to let in as much light as possible for seedlings.
On the warmer days, I’ll open-up the windows and doors and my coldframes. It’s great to let in the fresh air and help ventilate, reducing humidity and hopefully any fungal infections lurking in the corners. I’ll open them in the morning, set myself an alarm, then close them again at lunch time - just so there’s a little reheating during the afternoon.
I frequently read recommendations to clean seed trays with disinfectants, such as Citrox, or hot soapy water. I’ve never cleaned my trays. Just a cursory brush down and a rinse under the hose. My seed trays are never left outside and I use (clean) proprietary compost. Never had an issue! This could save you some time too!
For me, it’s (hardy) seed sowing month! I need to order my
sowing calendar - an excellent aid to sowing timings! I’ve ordered all my vegetable seeds and they’ve been arriving this week. I have bags of Pete’s Peat Free compost ready to go and Sylvagrow are sending me their Seed Compost to trial! Really excited for this growing season!If you have enough sunlight, hardy annuals and perennials (ornamentals and veggies) can be sown. Some will require warmth, so germinate them indoors or on a heat-mat, then move them to a sunny window or greenhouse as soon as you see green! I won’t have proper ‘plant growing’ sunlight levels until later in March, so I invested in these LED lights and they worked really well. They’re not funky full-spectrum grow lights, but they’re cheap and they did the job surprisingly well.
If you haven’t sowed sweat peas, now is a great time! They do not require heat, just light for the emerging seedlings. Sow them now, under cover in a greenhouse or coldframe, and you’ll have robust plants flowering earlier than those sown outdoors in spring. Be sure to protect them from hungry mice and voles by covering with a fine metal mesh or a cloche.
I’ll be checking my dahlia tubers for mould and rot. They’ve spent the winter in crates in the garage. I also still have them planted in the raised beds and need to check if they’re ok! Any soft and rotting tubers are simply cut off and discarded. I’ll pot them up next month, to grow undercover until the last frost.
Into the garden
The earliest spring bulbs are popping up everywhere. Snowdrops and Cyclamen coum are now flowering here. Soon to be followed by Iris reticulata, I. histroides, Crocus, together providing that first uplifting cheer, with irises delivering that welcome punch of true blue. I’ll start to move out overwintered bulbs in their various galvanised planters. The early bloomers are placed on tables, in pride of place! They tend to be the smallest so raising them up makes then easier to appreciate.
I’m working my way through the wisterias, giving them a winter prune. It’s one of my favourite jobs and I don’t even know why?! I’ll take back whippy laterals to just a 2-3 buds from their base, to expose the flowering spurs. Or I’ll remove them entirely if they’re in the wrong spot, i.e. wrapped around windows and guttering or winding their way into the loft/attic pace and under roof tiles! New growth, that I wish to keep to extend the framework, is tied in to the wire rope supports. (Speaking of wisterias, have you been to Iford Manor? If you haven’t, you really must!)
I’m working my way through the shrub and climbing roses. This is a good job for February, before the leaf buds really burst. I’ve noticed some of my roses are already on the verge! Personally, I prefer early winter pruning, so there’s less chance of carrying over foliage infected with rust or black spot. Hardwood prunings can be trimmed and potted up as cuttings or heeled in to beds. By autumn they’ll have rooted and you can either pot them up individually or simply transplant them, and voila! Free roses!
Time is running out to order bare-root roses, usually available from November to March. They’re generally much cheaper than container-grown roses. With an open root system they can also establish quicker too. I have my eye on ‘James Galway’ for the Agriframes Gothic Arch and ‘Royal Jubilee’ for the Flower Garden borders.
If you order bare-root roses, but aren’t able to plant them right away, you can either pot them up temporarily, or heel them into a nursery bed/raised bed - so they won’t dry out and can begin growing. Soak them in water for a couple of hours before planting! You need to rehydrate those roots!Hellebore flowers are rising quickly now, if not already in flower. I have a few still to cut back, ensuring those outstanding blooms are taking centre stage and not hidden away. Cutting away old leaves also controls hellebore leaf spot disease. Don’t worry, new leaves will quickly emerge later in spring.
Many deciduous trees and shrubs can be pruned now. While they’re free of leaves, you have a clear view of the branch structure. I’m always looking for the 3Ds, congested and crossing branches. For some of my shrubs, I’ll remove lower branches to lift the crown and allow more light to reach the ground below - then I’ll plant bulbs or cyclamen underneath. Note: Stone-fruit trees like cherries are pruned in summer and it’s now too late to prune some species, like Acers, which bleed heavily. These are best pruned in autumn.
On those rare dry days, I’ve taken to spot weeding. Especially paths and the raised beds in the Kitchen Garden. In the Flower Garden borders, I section-off an area with 4 canes and weed that square. The next time I’m out there, I move the canes along and weed the next square. It’s far easier on the back as it limits your time and stops you from over doing it! As we all do!
The Courtyard Garden bay trees need checking for ‘bay tree suckers’ (Trioza alacris). The tell-tale signs are rolled, blistered leaves with a powdery white substance and sticky honey-dew. No need for chemical warfare. I just snip them off and throw on the compost.
Mulching borders can be very physical and tiring. I combine my winter tidy-up with mulching, sectioning my borders so I can tackle one small area at a time. Divide and conquer! Take an area, tidy any broken or collapsed plants. Spot weed any perennial weeds. Now, with the ground between plants all clear, mulch the area generously.
Into the Kitchen Garden
For the past few years, I have been successfully growing vegetables using a combination of
growing methods (from various books and his YouTube videos) and the GrowVeg Garden Planner. I can plan out beds, and plant spacings with a few clicks and carry it with me on my phone. I’ve just finalised my plan for 2025 and seed-sowing starts min-month, around Valentine’s Day. (More on this in a later post. My seed list is at the bottom)Seed potatoes are now widely available and I’ll pick up a few loose ones for early chitting. I don’t need a 1kg bag! Last year I grew an entire bed of spuds and it’s just too much. I do store the excess but there’s still excessive wastage. This year, I’ll be growing far less, lifting and eating immediately, celebrating the New Potato in its season… smothered in butter!! To chit potatoes, leave in a cool bright (frost free) area to kickstart the emergence of strong green shoots. Do not cover them. Easiest method is to place them in egg cartons with the ‘eyes’ facing upwards.
Gardening for wildlife
Look after your garden birds. Food sources can be limited, particularly at this time of year when wild seeds and berries have been stripped bare. Continue to feed birds and ensure there is clean freshwater available for drinking and bathing. Please clean bird-feeders regularly to prevent the spread of virus and spoiled food. Encouraging birds into the garden can really help with pest control. Blackbirds and thrushes are voracious predators of slugs and snails!
Install a nest box. If you have a suitable wall, tree, or fence, you can help out our feathered friends still further by giving them somewhere to raise their young and/or roost in bad weather. I have three more to put up this year. This BTO page is a great resource with lots of tips for nest boxes.
Some of my fence panels are in serious need of some TLC or replacement. If your fence panels have been damaged by the storms, consider hedging plants as a replacement. Hedges can give you year round interest, reduce air pollution, and provide superb habitat, shelter, and corridors for wildlife. Bare-root hedging plants (whips) are widely available over winter.
On warmer days you may now see queen bumblebees bobbing along, utterly famished after winter hibernation. I provide winter-flowering plants for pollinators: Skimmia, Sarcococca, Winter-flowering Honeysuckle, Snowdrops, Crocus, Hellebores, etc. Mahonia and Daphne are also great options. These early flowers are an essential source of nectar!
Vegetables for 2025
I thought you may find this useful. I have my regular crops but always leave room to try new varieties. ‘Tis the spice of life after all! My regular seed suppliers are: Real Seeds, Vital Seeds, Seeds of Italy (Franchi). This year I have bought a few F1 varieties from Marshalls. Seeds are sorted into sowing months then stored in containers in a cool dark room. (* new varieties growing for the first time)
Tomato: Gardeners Ecstasy*, Honeycomb*, Crimson Crush*
Cucumber: Mini Munch
Sweetcorn: Special Swiss
French Beans: Cobra
Squash: Red Kuri
Courgette: Romanesco
Purple Sprouting Broccoli: Claret*
Kale: Cavolo Nero
Raab: San Marzano Broccoli*
Florence Fennel: Montebianco and Mantovano
Onion: Rosse de Roscoff
Spring onion: Lilla and White Lisbon
Shallot: Zebrune
Beetroot: Boltardy, Pablo, Cheltenham Greentop*
Carrot: Early Nantes and Autumn King
Pea: - Blauwschokker*, Oskar Dwarf Early, Piccolo Provenzale
Broad Bean: Superaguadulce
Leek: Pandora and Giant Winter
Spinach: Matador*
Rocket: Salad Rocket
Rocket: Wasabi
Lettuce: Morton’s Secret, Quattro Stagioni, Misticanza lattughe croccanti
Parsley: Gigante Di Napoli
Coriander: Cruiser
Chervil: Cerfoglio commune
Potato: Charlotte
Coming up…
Something that needs my immediate attention are the Roses! They will be the subject for my next post - “Rose pruning kept simple” More specifically shrub roses. It’s a very simple yet satisfying job, but somehow made to feel overly complicated. I’ll cut right through all that nonsense!