Gardening in February

Sweet peas are one of the nation’s favourite climbing plants and a cottage garden classic. They’re easy to grow, available in an array of colours, ideal for cut flowers and many are deliciously fragrant. 

Sow seed now, indoors or in a heated greenhouse. To encourage seeds to germinate, soak them the night before planting, placing seeds in a saucer of tepid water. Fill deep pots, root trainers or cardboard toilet rolls with a quality ‘seed and cuttings compost’ and plant each seed about half an inch (1.5cm) deep, covering with compost after sowing. Water lightly and place in a propagator in a bright spot at 15ºC (59ºF). Seedlings can become leggy (tall and lanky), so I pinch out growing tips once two pairs of leaves have formed, as it encourages bushy growth.

Gardeners will often see snowdrops for sale ‘in the green’ – and are advised to lift and divide bulbs while ‘in the green’ but what does this mean? To put it simply, snowdrops establish better if bulbs are planted just after flowering, while still in growth. Whether you’re lifting and dividing clumps or planting new bulbs in leaf, plant in moist soil at the same depth as the rootball, before backfilling with soil and firming-in.

If you plan to grow your own food, warming the soil ahead of sowing can get crops off to a flying start. Garden centres sell cloches – low plastic tunnels that can be placed over soil and delicate plants to raise the temperature of the soil and provide protection. Single cloches, often called bell cloches, are ideal for placing over individual plants. If your budget is tight, the ground can also be warmed by placing plastic sheeting over soil, weighed down by stones or bricks.

Dahlias are hugely popular, producing masses of big, colourful blooms from mid-summer into autumn. They’re grown from tubers, on sale at garden centres now, and are best started in pots indoors (or in a heated greenhouse). Choose the biggest, fattest tubers you can find, then part fill a pot with multi-purpose compost. Planting depths vary by variety (check the packet) but as a general rule, plant tubers several inches below the compost surface, top-up with compost, water lightly and place on a windowsill.

Home-grown onions taste more flavoursome than shop-bought produce, and are easiest when grown from sets (small, immature onions held in an arrested stage of growth). Whether you prefer mild or strong onions, buy sets now, while supplies are plentiful, checking that bulbs are firm and free from rot. Store in a cool, frost-free place until it’s time to plant (usually from mid-March onwards). Soil should be improved with the addition of well-rotted manure a couple of months prior to planting onion sets. Never plant into freshly manured soil, or onions will be at increased risk of rotting.

Autumn-fruiting raspberries (known as primocane) need to have all their canes cut to ground level in February, so give them a chop now, as they’ll flower and fruit on new growth. Never prune summer-fruiting (floricane) raspberries in late-winter, as they fruit on canes produced the previous season, so should be cut back hard to ground level after harvesting in summer.

Central heating creates a dry atmosphere in our homes over winter, which houseplants dislike. Misting plants using a hand sprayer filled with tepid tap water can help to raise humidity and keep foliage healthy. Or, to create a humid microclimate immediately around a houseplant, stand plants in saucers filled with gravel. After watering, water will slowly evaporate from the gravel and moisten the surrounding air. Stressed houseplants are prone to aphid infestations, so check plants regularly and treat with an indoor bug killer as soon as problems arise.

February is a perfect month for boosting your garden’s water reserves, in case we have a dry summer. Consider fitting water butts to downpipes on your house, garage, shed and greenhouse. Rainwater diverter kits (available at DIY stores and garden centres) channel water from downpipes into butts, then redirect the flow back into the pipe once butts are brimming. You can also fit guttering to your shed for this purpose too. Kits are readily available that link butts together, too, allowing gardeners to build up a big reserve of water in time for summer – a handy way to cut water bills if you’re on a metered supply.

Wisteria is one of the most beautiful climbers that can adorn your home or scramble over a pergola, with plants smothered in white, blue or pink flowers between April and June. To ensure a spectacular display, prune mature wisteria plants now, while they’re dormant, cutting back summer growth to two or three buds. Wisteria should be pruned twice a year, ideally in February then again in July or August.  Use sharp secateurs to make clean cuts, helping the plant to heal quickly and encouraging healthy new growth.

If your wooden garden table and chairs are looking tatty and weathered, now is a perfect time to restore them before the weather warms up, as long as you have a garage or conservatory where you can work protected from the elements.

Before bringing furniture under cover, thoroughly clean it with a brush to remove algae and moss – or use a pressure washer if necessary (don’t hold the jet too close or it can damage the wood). Once clean and allowed to dry, timber that has previously been painted or stained will need to be sanded back to bare wood. It can then be treated with a wood preserver, if necessary, to prevent rot, before fresh woodstain or teak oil can be applied. Always observe the drying times between treatments, and note that several coats may be necessary to fully protect the wood and obtain a perfect finish.

You can pick up a pot of snowdrops in leaf in a garden centre for less than a fiver, and although snowdrops may appear delicate, they’re actually as tough as they come.

Perhaps the best known is the common snowdrop flower, Galanthus nivalis, which looks fabulous planted in drifts in semi-shaded or woodland areas, where it delights in late winter with its fragrant white flowers. Other favourites are Galanthus ‘S. Arnott’, Galanthus ‘Atkinsii’ and Galanthus nivalis f. pleniflorus ‘Flore Pleno’.

Gardeners are advised to plant snowdrops ‘in the green’ which means that snowdrops, sold growing in pots or bundles, are best planted while they are still in leaf, immediately after flowering in late winter or early spring. Snowdrop bulbs are available at garden centres in the autumn, but they are prone to drying out and can be tricky to establish, so planting ‘in the green’ is the preferred option. 

For best results, choose an area of partial or dappled shade and plant in naturalistic drifts to create a river of dainty blooms. Sites beneath trees and deciduous shrubs, where the soil is moist but drainage is good, will work wonders. Incorporating well-rotted garden compost or leafmould prior to planting can help, as it’s vital that soil is not allowed to dry out in summer. Tip the clump of snowdrops out of their pot, with the soil intact, and plant at the same depth as they were growing. Keep these winter gems watered while they establish and they’ll reward you with a springtime spectacle in future years.

Whether you buy tinned or frozen peas, neither come close to the intense flavour and freshness of home-grown peas. Start planning a crop now and you’re in for a truly mouth-watering treat. You won’t be able to resist feasting on peas fresh from the pods while harvesting!

Pea ‘Kelvedon Wonder’ is a fantastic early variety with an RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM) that reliably yields brilliant crops of super-sweet peas from May onwards, with good resistance to the problems of pea wilt and powdery mildew. Or choose Pea ‘Early Onward’ which has an enviable reputation for flavour and packed pods, with the first crops ready to harvest from 12 weeks after sowing.

Traditional advice dictates that you should wait until March before sowing early peas (when the soil may need to be warmed using cloches to bring it up to 10C for sowing), but there is a clever trick to get your crop under way now.

Simply sow your peas into a length of guttering – nothing fancy, just a stretch of standard house guttering, which can easily be cut with a hacksaw to a manageable size. Tape up the gutter ends and part-fill with seed compost, sowing pea seeds 4-5cm apart. Top-up with more compost to cover the seeds then pat it down and water. Place guttering in a greenhouse, conservatory or on a window sill while seeds germinate.

Now here’s the clever part. Next month, when seedlings are 5-10cm tall, use a hoe to draw back a row of soil (or a spare piece of guttering to make a run of the exact size) and simply slide out your pre-germinated row of pea plants into the space. Firm down, water and leave to settle in. As peas grow you’ll need to use twiggy sticks or netting to provide support.

Sow a gutter length of peas every fortnight and you’ll have a wonderful succession of early crops to enjoy from late spring onwards.

There are few spectacles as hauntingly beautiful in late winter as the ghostly white trunks and branches of west Himalayan birch (Betula utilis var. jacquemontii). Its elegant chalk-white peeling bark is unbeatable for creating a dramatic focal point in the garden at a time when much of the landscape remains deep in slumber. However, this tree isn’t a one-trick pony: its yellow-brown catkins herald the arrival of spring in style, while leaves turn a dazzling yellow in autumn. To create a breath-taking display, grow as a specimen tree in lawns, or establish small groups in woodland areas, planting into moist but well-drained soil. Trees can reach a height of more than 12 metres at maturity, so allow plenty of space.