February has arrived, and spring is right on the doorstep!
By Alicia Paaso - Gardenscape Sales Team/RHS Level 3 Horticulturalist
February has arrived, and spring is right on the doorstep! Spring bulbs are beginning to flower, and daffodil shoots are appearing in every corner. While the evenings are slowly getting lighter and frosty mornings are becoming fewer, the weather remains unpredictable. We’ve had plenty of rain this past week, but also some much-needed sunshine in between. Now is the time to get ready so you can carry out this month’s tasks once the perfect conditions arrive. Read on to discover what you can do in your garden this month!
Vegetable planting will pick up next month, so now is the perfect time to prepare your beds for the growing season. All beds will benefit from a generous layer of compost mulch to improve soil structure and boost nutrients. Applying the mulch a few weeks before planting allows soil organisms time to incorporate it into the soil and release vital nutrients. As a quick guide to compost mulches, Mushroom Compost is ideal for brassicas, thanks to its slightly alkaline pH, which helps prevent club root disease. Manure is the perfect nutrient-rich, bulky soil improver. Just remember to let it sit for a couple of weeks to avoid scorching stems. If you are planting sooner, Peat-Free Compost is a great all-rounder with balanced nutrients that can be planted into straight away.
Now is the ideal time to prepare trees and shrubs for the growing season. Coppicing, which is hard pruning down to ground level, encourages young stem growth. Willows and dogwood both benefit from coppicing, and coppicing hazel can even encourage larger leaves! Shrub roses should be pruned now before the leaves start to unfurl. Start by removing any dead or damaged wood, then prune stems which are overcrowding the centre, or that are too thin to support heavy flowers. Additionally, cut back last year’s wisteria shoots, leaving 3-4 buds on each. Once you’re finished, you can fill a bulk bag with the green waste and use our waste bag collection service for easy removal.
Spring bulbs are the highlight of February, bringing some needed colour into gardens. You can help your daffodils flower for longer by applying a high potassium feed, such as Sulphate of Potash, as soon as shoots appear. Flowering shrubs and fruit trees will also benefit from a sprinkle of potassium fertiliser around the base. Snowdrops are one of the first signs of spring. When their flowers start to fade, you can carefully divide them by separating the individual bulbs from the clumps. After separating, re-plant them at the same depth, and they’ll be ready to flower again next year.
Finally, it’s time to start sowing tomatoes and summer cabbage. Tomatoes need heat to germinate, so they should therefore be sown in a heated greenhouse or on a sunny windowsill. Cabbage seeds grow well in modular trays placed indoors in a sunny spot. Tomato and cabbage seeds should be sown in a fine-textured compost, such as our Seed and Cutting Compost.
Enjoy your early spring gardening!