February is now upon us and as we bid farewell to the depths of winter, the first signs of spring are starting to appear in our walled, Renaissance garden at Rothe House.
This month will start to breathe fresh life into bare branches, while delicate snowdrops and vibrant winter aconites have already been braving the frosty weather.
Before long, many more of our beautiful plants will begin to blossom, as our stone walls offer shelter, nurturing a microclimate where life persists.
The hellebores are also in full show at the moment. They bloom all winter, typically starting at the end of November and continuing to shine until the end of April.
Despite temperatures remaining quite cool, preparation for the season ahead is well underway and there are still plenty of jobs that can be done this month!
Here are some of the gardening tasks I will be undertaking during February and which you can too:
- Finish off the winter digging
- Order the plug plants
- Top dress the borders which have been cleaned
- Sow any early vegetables and perennials – all under cover (i.e. on windowsills or in greenhouses)
- Chit your potatoes (place seed potatoes in a light, frost-free spot to encourage sprouting)
- Sow sweet pea
- Finish any winter pruning
- Treat moss in the lawns
For this final point, my own personal preference is to use any product with a granular application. Most of them will contain bacteria that eats moss and then secretion-feeds the lawn. It doesn’t require any scarifying.
And that brings me to my final piece of advice for this month: stay off your grass as much as you can! Apart from treating it for moss, let your lawn grow and replenish itself.
