With Spring just around the corner, February is a good month for early preparation both inside and out and on frost free days it pays to work the soil and lay out your garden plots.
Soil
If the weather permits, any section of ground not worked over in the autumn can be done now. Loosen up clods with a garden fork to a good depth and remove weeds and work in well rotted manure.
The ground should be broken down to a fine surface – choose a day when the surface is fairly dry. Lawn sites that are to be sown or turfed later should also be prepared now.
When creating new beds, dig down to at least 2 spade depths and keep the top and lower layers separate.
It is a good idea to place protective covering over soil in areas where you are going to plant or sow seeds as this will keep the earth warmer and enable earlier sowing.
Be aware of the type of soil in your garden as this will dictate the best types of plant to grow.
Check if yours is alkaline (lime) or acidic (lime free) as certain plants have preferences for one or the other (e.g. rhododendrons prefer acidic) but most plants prefer a neutral soil - ph value 7.0.
High alkaline soils (about ph 8.0) point to a lack of nutrients such as iron and magnesium.
Vegetables and fruit trees prefer a slightly acidic soil – ph value 6.5 -7.0
To lower the ph value of your soil, add large quantities of leaf litter and well rotted compost or to increase it, add garden lime – if you have sandy soil, you will need to add lime more often.
Vegetables
Outside
You can continue to prepare your vegetable beds having divided them up as described in January. They should be in a position that is protected from the wind and avoid them being in shadow. Towards the end of the month vegetables can start to be planted in the open.
Plant Jerusalem artichokes – they are hardy vegetables and will grow almost anywhere. Plant the tubers 400mm apart in rows about 750mm apart and cover with 75mm soil.
If you have a sheltered garden, you can make an outside sowing of peas on a border with a southerly aspect. Choose a hardy variety such as Foremost or Meteor.
Continue to protect cauliflowers as the curds are still liable to be damaged by frost and must be protected as they form.
Parsnips that have been left in the ground all winter will soon be starting to grow again – lift and store in a cold place.
Plant chives – existing plants can be split.
Plant shallots and plant out autumn sown onions as soon as the soil is in good condition - i.e. you can walk on it without it sticking to your boots.
Plant potatoes in a sheltered location
Make a first sowing of turnips in a warm sheltered place – sow a few now and continue with a few every fortnight until the end of July.
In the Greenhouse
If you don’t have a greenhouse, you can raise seedlings in an indoor room kept at a constant temperature or a conservatory. Be careful not to overheat.
Seedlings that you started to grow in January such as leeks and onions should now be appearing – water them if the soil is dry.
February is a good month to sow small salads such as mustard cress and radishes.
Sow broad beans – set them at regular intervals 50mm apart and cover with about 20mm of soil.
If you want an early outdoor supply of lettuces make a small sowing of a cabbage variety in seed boxes and place in a warm greenhouse to germinate. The same applies to peas and cauliflowers.
Prick off lettuce and cauliflower seedlings that were sown last month.
Seedlings from January sowings of begonias, tomatoes, leeks and onions should now be appearing – give water if soil is dry
You can also sow early celery, french beans for succession, cucumbers and melons.
Make sure that any vegetables grown in a greenhouse are ventilated on sunny days.
Fruit and Berries
Spray peaches and nectarines with lime sulphur wash to control peach curl.
September fruiting raspberries must be cut right back to with 150mm of the ground. They will fruit on the young growth produced after pruning.
Fruit trees can be continued to be pruned.
In the Greenhouse
If vines or fruit trees are grown in a greenhouse make sure they are ventilated on sunny days.
Flowers and Shrubs
As well as snowdrops, you may see some other early plants such as early crocuses - most crocuses flower in March and April but a few appear in early February such as Golden Bunch.
You may also see blue dwarf iris and yellow Pheasants Eye (Adonis vernalis).
Lilies can be planted outdoors or moved from one part of the garden to another. Lift carefully with a good ball of soil.
Roses can be pruned towards the end of the month.
Deciduous ornamental trees and shrubs can be planted but the earlier in February provided that soil conditions are good.
Cut back any clematis that blooms between late June and late August to the lowest sprouting buds to encourage lots of flowers on vigorous new growth.
Prune winter Jasmine as soon as the flowers fade.
Winter and spring bedding plants need to be dead-headed to encourage a long flowering period with many more blooms.
Prune flowering shrubs.
In the Greenhouse
February is a month when the gardener can start propagating annuals such as beardlip, snapdragon, lobelia, petunias and asters.
Several well known greenhouse plants require pruning now. Bougainvilleas should have last year's growth cut hard back. Bouvarias, gardenias, fuchsias, zonal and ivy-leaved pelargoniums should be cut sufficiently to give them a solid foundations for the coming season's growth.
Start dahlias in boxes that are deep enough.
Some seeds only germinate in the dark such as delphiniums, petunias and pansies so they need to be covered over.
Others need light and will only grow without being covered such as carrots and lettuce. You can use protective sheeting and fleece to help. Many options are available for this so choose the right one for you.
Throughout the month you must keep an eye on chrysanthemum and perpetual-flowering carnation cuttings and pot them singly as soon as they start to grow freely.
February can also be a good time to sow a number of half-hardy annuals and greenhouse plants. Half=hardy annuals are principally used for summer bedding but may come in useful for potting later on. These include ageratum, amaranthus, anagallis, antirrhinum, marigolds, petunias and dahlias. Use a peat based seed compost.
Building
Make sure you are collecting rainwater as this is excellent for use in the garden.
As with January, in dry spells, you can treat timber structures, including garden furniture with wood preservative and stain. It is also a good time to check and repair pergolas and arches.
Make sure paths and patios are cleaned or algae and lichen to avoid them being slippery.
Other Jobs
Don’t forget to continue to put out food and water for hungry birds.