Essential February Gardening Jobs
Now that the first harbingers of spring are in flower and there’s an appreciable difference in the daylight hours, there is a feeling of hope in the air, it’s time to start some February gardening jobs and enjoy the flowers! The sight of snowdrops, aconites, crocus, hellebores, violets, primroses and catkins lift the spirits. The first (and most essential) job to do is admire the plucky little early flowers of spring.
February is the month to take a moment and wander around a garden admiring the young green shoots as they begin to ready themselves for blooming later in the year. A new gardening season is about to start. It’s time to prepare!
1. What are the Best Things to Plant in February?
Top of the list of February gardening jobs is to lift and divide snowdrops. If you want to grow snowdrops in your garden plant them ‘in-the-green’ later this month after they have finished flowering, but before the leaves have died down. This helps them absorb moisture quickly after they have been planted, as dry, rootless snowdrop bulbs do not re-establish well. You can buy them from garden centres, or, if you have a friend with some to spare in their garden, ask for a clump. They won’t take long to establish themselves if you choose the right spot in your garden. Snowdrops enjoy a well-drained spot in light shade, similar to their natural woodland habitat. If you are planting your bulbs in a heavy soil, add a little sharp sand or grit to the planting hole to improve drainage.
I think a great combination in the garden is to plant them under the red barked Dogwood – Cornus alba ‘Sibirica Variegata.’ All snowdrop species are endangered and wild snowdrops are protected under law, which means that they must never be picked or lifted from their wild or existing habitat.
2. What Should I be Doing in my Garden in February?
It’s too early to apply synthetic or chemical fertilisers. These are useful later in the season to act as a quick tonic getting plants off to a quick start, but organic fertilisers release goodness into the soil at a slower rate and now is the perfect time to apply them. Blood, fish and bone, seaweed meals and pelleted chicken manures have some soil conditioning properties and are available to plants over a longer period than chemical products and ensure plants grow steadily and sturdily.
3. February Gardening Jobs for an Overgrown Garden
If your garden has become overgrown, this is the best time of year to clear it, before the birds start nesting. This is the month for pruning hardy shrubs that flower on new wood later in the summer, for example the butterfly bush, Buddlejia davidii, can be cut right down hard to the base. It’s amazing just how well shrubs respond to this, putting on rapid growth over the spring and summer months to flower later on in the year. Just ensure that you leave a few shoots at the base to form the basic structure of the plant.
4. Start Growing Fruit and Vegetables in Raised Beds
If this is the year you’ve resolved to get growing your own tasty fruit and vegetables in your garden, your first requirement will be good soil. Whilst it is true that time spent on preparing the soil prior to planting is never wasted, it can be back-breaking work. Creating raised beds are a glorious solution to this problem that will (literally) elevate your veg-growing game. There’s no need to dig as the soil won’t get compacted and you can fill the bed with the soil/compost mix most appropriate to the crop you wish to grow. There’s less room for weeds to flourish because you’re planting veg close together, and you don’t need to bend over so much to tend them. The soil in raised beds will warm up quicker than your enthusiasm for spring, allowing you to make the most of the growing season. What’s more, they are surprisingly easy to make.
Choose the sunniest location in your garden, as most vegetables need at least 6–8 hours of sunlight daily. The beds can be constructed using a variety of materials, timber sleepers or scaffold boards are perfect but brick, or even recycled plastic can be used. Beds should ideally be no wider than 1.2 meters to allow easy access from both sides. The height can range from 20–40 cm, depending on your soil quality and preferences. Fill your raised bed with a well-draining soil mix. A blend of topsoil, compost, and well-rotted manure ensures nutrient-rich conditions. And off you go on your journey to self-sufficiency. Just don’t get too smug—nature has a way of keeping us gardeners humble!
5. Grow Your Own Asparagus
There is nothing quite like the taste of home grown asparagus, you really can’t buy it the same in the shops. It is very easy to grow, producing tasty new shoots from mid-spring to early summer so if you like asparagus and have the space why not give it a go this year? The only downside is new plants take a couple of years to settle in before you can start harvesting, so patience is required! I’ve managed to grow some from seed, but the easiest way to get them off to a good start is buy year- old crowns and plant next month. They will last for many years so prepare the ground really well now, using lots of organic material and getting rid of the perennial weeds. In summer I use the lovely leaves of asparagus in flower arranging later in the year.
6. Pruning Some Clematis (group 3) in February
An essential February Gardening job is pruning the late flowering Clematis, for example the C. orientalis group or the late flowering C. ‘Jackmanii.’ If you’re not sure what sort of clematis you have check with your local garden centre for advice or take a look at this useful RHS article. This is a February gardening job that is important to get right or you may loose the flowers. They may have already started to produce new shoots, so be a little careful when pulling away the old growth from last year. Apart from this, they are very easy to prune, just cut down all the old growth to about 30cm or a foot from the ground. Cut each stem back to just above a healthy bud and give a little feed with an organic fertiliser.
7. More February Gardening Jobs – Growing Strawberries
If you want an early crop of strawberries cover an area with a cloche to warm up the soil this month. Once they are in flower in spring you will need to remove the cloche or at least open up the sides to allow pollinating insects to do their work. 🍓 🍓 🍓
8. February Gardening Jobs Include Planting up Containers for Summer
Garden centres have a plentiful supply of lily bulbs at the moment. It’s too early to plant them in the ground, unless you have very free draining soil, but they do well in pots and containers. Make sure the pot is well drained and if you have a heavy compost add a little horticultural grit, they don’t like getting too wet. Keep in a sheltered spot until the shoots start to emerge in spring and look forward to a dazzling summer display. I use pots of lilies to fill in gaps in the summer border. ❤️
There are so many plants you can plant in containers at this time of year. Skimmias, flowering now, make a good container plant and Azeleas look great to brighten up a shady spot.
9. Is February too early to Plant Outside?
This is a common question, but not easy to answer because, as with so many things in the garden it all depends on the weather. One crop I have found to be reliable to plant outside in late February are peas. Get your peas off to an early start by choosing an early variety such as ‘Douce Provence’ and sow directly into prepared trenches. This variety needs virtually no support so you don’t need to fiddle around with supports and strings to keep it upright. If a heavy frost is forecast protect the young plants with some horticultural fleece.
10. Prune Autumn Raspberries
I think autumn fruiting raspberries are sweeter and easier to grow than summer fruiting varieties. ‘Autumn bliss’ is a good one to try. They produce fruit on long stems from August onwards. Be very careful NOT to prune summer fruiting raspberries now. If you get it wrong you could lose the crop for this year so check the variety before pruning.
If you need help with maintaining your garden this year and live in Oxfordshire, we’d be pleased to help! Get in touch with us for advice on how we can take care of your February Gardening jobs for you.