Get inspired – Here are your 5 gardening jobs for February, get your seeds organised with a Seed Box & learn how to achieve blooms all year round.

I don’t know whats happening in your garden but mine is certainly bursting into life with bulbs shooting up all over the place which is so exciting. I planted so many I’m hoping my garden will be so colourful. The nights are pulling out and we are getting some lovely sunny days.  It really does lift your mood. (but we still have to watch out for that frost.)

1.Gardening jobs for February – sowing the vegetable seeds that you decided you wanted to grow.

Hopefully last month you started to plan ahead, to discover what crops you wanted to sow, the quantities you wanted to achieve of each and therefore when you need to sow them to avoid having gluts of vegetables and then running low.  If you haven’t already done this, now is the time.  Decide what you really like, what grows well in your garden or allotment, think back to last year and what you had too much of and why, was it because you sowed your seeds all at once, or was it because you discovered your family wasn’t too keen on it.

Now is the time to start sowing seeds under cover for Kale, Tomatoes, lettuce & cucumber. You can sow in smaller batches at intervals to prolong your harvest. Get your seeds organized by sowing month, so that it’s easier to remember to sow them on time. You can use our seed organised cards to help do this.

Need a Seed Box to help you get organised – we have one of the best Seed Boxes on the market.

You can get your seed collection organised using our award winning Seed box which can be purchased here and starts at £65. With options of personalisation and also gift sets that contain our  divider cards and seed harvest envelopes. I must say I  am so proud of my award winning seed box which has been featured in Forbes magazine and Gardeners world amongst other places, with gorgeous leather handles, brass fixtures and all wrapped up in lovely packaging.

Sort your seeds into date order using your seed Divider Cards. You can purchase some here for only £7 of a set of 3 that fit perfectly into a Chester & Cooke seed box.

2. Gardening jobs for February  – Get pruning.

After winter flowering scrubs have finished with their blooms now is the time to prune them to keep them neat, scrubs such as Mahonia and Viburnum x bodnantense, prune Rose bushes while dormant, and other plants such as fuchsia and buddleia, and now is a good time to prune climbers such as wisteria.

Want more help with pruning – the RHS is a create resource, you can check out their guide her.  https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/beginners-guide/pruning-plants

 

 

 

3. Start digging over your vegetable patches and decide what compost to use.

We recommend peat free compost. check out my blog. Why Should I Use Peat Free Compost? to find out why and to discover a few different types of peat free alternatives. When I did may research on Peat and why it is so bad to use it in the garden, I was really shocked at the impact harvesting it has on the environment and I am so disappointed that garden centres are still allowed to sell it. I know it is wonderful stuff and it is great to work with but it really isn’t worth the environmental cost for using it.  I am hoping the law on this will change soon.

 

Peat free alternatives Coco & Coir compost – you can find this in my Herb Planter Kit

 

One of my favourites is coco coir compost. I use this in my Herb Planter kit. It contain everything to start your own window sill herb garden. You even have the option to personalise the box.  You can purchase your’s here.

 

 

4. Your 4th gardening job for February is to protect your crops.

Although hardy, fruit trees, like apricots, once they spring to life the buds and flowers can be vulnerable to frosts.  So use fleece to protect them from the cold until they are safe.

This is the time to also think about netting for your vegetables and crops to stop them being eaten by birds.  Pigeons will have a field day on your crops if they can access them. I have already seen them starting on the farmers fields and they are loving it.

If you do decide to net down make sure it is tight to the ground, so small animals cant get trapped or birds can get in.  Netting with holes smaller than a finger is best.

Check out Monty Dons unique way to support netting here rather than go to the expense of a frame.

You may want to consider smaller netting,  If you have had problems with bugs and pests eating your crops.  Look out for netting that can be recycled such as veggimesh rather than alternatives that would have to go to landfill.  If you are looking for netting to be used as support for say runner beans consider using jute which will be able to go on your compost pile after use.

5. Gardening job for February – complete your garden planner and learn How to achieve Blooms all year round.

You can find your own FREE copy of my garden planner here. It is a great way to help achieve Blooms all year round.

Take a walk around the garden and make a note of anything in bloom, where you have foliage and where you have gaps. Making notes on your garden planner, taking photos is also really useful.

Now it’s time to do some research, of what plants will be suitable for February and for the areas that you are in need of plants. Are they in shade, do they get any of the sun when if makes an appearance? Is it an exposed position or sheltered? What is the type of soil?

Obviously if you are planting now you won’t see the blooms till next year. So if you are using my planner try to plan ahead to establish what you can sow or plant earlier to enjoy later in the year. This time next year hopefully you would have worked out a plan and been planting throughout the year.  You will then gradually create your garden to have some element of blooms all year round.

 

Daffodils (the February Gold varieties) & Sweet violets both bloom in February giving you a wonderful splash of colour.

I find these websites really helpful to help you understand what plants will be suitable.

https://hub.suttons.co.uk/gardening-advice/perennial-plants-flowering-times-guide

https://www.fantasticgardeners.co.uk/window-boxes/flower-planting-calendar-uk/

Complete the final part of the chart with the decision on what seeds to add to your shopping list. Depending on the sowing time, you can purchase these now and store them in your Seed Box ready.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about the gardening jobs for February & learning how to achieve blooms all year round.  I hope you enjoy doing your jobs and look forward to seeing you in March for our next months jobs. You can purchase any of our Seed Boxes, divider cards and other gardening products in our shop here.

Thanks for reading.

Liz