February in the Garden

As February blankets the garden in the tender promise of spring, it’s time to embrace the rhythm of nature and nurture our green spaces with love and care. This month, as we celebrate Valentine’s Day, let’s extend our affection to the very earth beneath our feet. From caring for your roses and sowing potatoes, there’s plenty to do to show our garden some love this February.

Start your spring clean

Clean your garden of fallen debris (branches) and add it to the compost heap.  Check your plant ties to make sure they haven’t loosened from the storm winds and check that your plants are protected from wind rocking.

Give your greenhouse, cloches and any other frames a good spring clean so they are ready for the season. On the sunny days ventilate your greenhouse to prevent any fungal problems. Make sure that your pots, containers and gardening tools are clean and ready for planting.

Around the garden, remove weeds before they have time to establish and save a bigger job later on. Moss will start to grow before the grass does so it’s time to spray your lawn with a moss killer like chemical-free MossOff. Don’t be too quick to mow or spray dandelions as they are a vital source of food for our Irish bees as the queens emerge from hibernation in early Spring.

Freshen up your shed or garden furniture with a layer of fresh paint and wood preservative. After the darkness of winter some bright garden colours will cheer up your garden.

Prepare for planting

Start forking your beds. This will prepare your soil for spring and will help you to get rid of the pests by exposing them to the hungry birds. Speaking of hungry birds – make sure that your shrubs are protected by netting. The birds will also soon start to look for a new residences so put up nesting boxes.

Mulching. Start mulching around trees and shrubs. This will help to keep the moist in the soil and will protect the roots from freezing as we might still see some cold weather.

Roses. February is ideal month to think about your roses – your pruning should be done now and you can start feeding once the first few leaves start to appear, with a good granular feed applied once a month until the end of June. Start spraying every 10-14 days with Rose Clear within the next few weeks to prevent blackspot.

Planting. It’s the last call to plant raspberry and blackberry shrubs and hedges. If you don’t do it this month you’ll have to wait until next year.

Sow potatoes. Keep the seed potatoes in a cool, frost-free environment while they are being “chitted”. Remember not to force them – If you want to learn how to prepare your potatoes for planting check out Malachy’s Blog ‘The Perfect Time to Plant Potatoes’.

Time for a Trim

Now is the time to cut back to allow for the growing season, so lots of pruning, cutting and deadheading.

It’s time to prune wisteria and grapevines – if you leave it too late the plants will bleed.

Cut back ornamental grasses left in your garden for winter interest. Prune summer-flowering clematis, cutting above a low pair of green buds. Deadhead Hydrangeas at the end of the month and into March.

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We’re here to help

If you have any questions about looking after your garden talk to any of our horticulturists in store. If you have a specific problem like pest damage on a plant, it’s really helpful to bring us a photo of it. We’d love to help.

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SHOP PRODUCTS

All products mentioned in the above blog can be bought on countrylife.ie or in you local CountryLife branch. To find your nearest store click here.

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