February
Things to do in February
Make sure garden birds have enough food and water
Apply organic fertilizers
Check plant supports are sound before they are concealed by new seasonÂ’s growth
Continue planting trees, shrubs, fruit trees, and bushes
Repot or top-dress shrubs in containers
Prune winter flowering shrubs, including winter heathers, when the flowers have faded, and summer-flowering shrubs that flower on new wood
Prepare seed beds for vegetables, lime vegetable plots if necessary
Feed and mulch fruit trees
Prick out or pot up seedlings sown last month
Protect gooseberry bushes from birds
Cut back overgrown shrubs and hedges before the nesting season starts
Finish pruning fruit
From “Gardening Through the Year” by Ian Spence
Vegetables and Herbs
Start preparing seedbeds and cover them with cloches
Finish preparing deep beds by digging and top-dressing
Continue to harvest winter crops
Keep on sowing early crops indoors and take care of those sown earlier
Sow peas in guttering; when the seedlings have sprouted a few leaves they can be planted out under cloches
If the soil has warmed up slightly, sow seeds under cloches including lettuce, radish, salad onions, peas, broad beans, beetroot, summer cabbage, and spinach
Plant shallots
Plant Jerusalem artichokes
Prepare a bed for planting asparagus later in the year
Prepare trenches for runner beans
Feed spring cabbages
Cover parsley and other overwintering herbs with fleece or cloches
Top-dress shrubby herbs in pots with fertilizer
From “Gardening Through the Year” by Ian Spence