Nurturing your garden in February - Our garden tips this month.

It’s amazing to think that only a couple of weeks ago we were enjoying the snow - and now we’re basking in Spring sunshine!

When we pulled back the curtains this morning, it was almost daylight and there are signs of spring appearing in the garden already. Snowdrops are out, daffodil buds are fattening up and there are patches of crocuses tipping their heads to the sunlight on south-facing slopes and in sheltered corners. Wildlife has started to wake up too. The birds are busy socialising and the odd brave insect is finding winter flowering heathers and jasmines to buzz around.

At Loam, we’re currently hard at work clearing, pruning and planting bulbs for our clients, drawing up designs for some of the fabulous new gardens that we’ll be creating in the coming months and building feature pieces to help bring them to life - and we’re definitely relishing the opportunity to take our tea breaks in the sunshine.

With half term ahead, now is the perfect time to grab a few hours in the garden, timed to make the most of the mid day warmth. We’ve gathered some top tips for February so you can start preparing your garden for success, whether you’re hoping for spectacular colour, a good supply of veg or herbs - or just a tidy view!

General garden maintenance.

Prune and cut back late flowering shrubs.

Trim back scraggly shrubs like buddleas and hydrangeas. Be brutal with buddleas and prune hydrangeas back to a pair of buds.

Get your herbaceous beds in order.

Clear debris, trim back dead fronds and make a plan of what you might like to add or remove to improve the display this year.

Cull perennial weeds.

Whilst the ground is fairly clear, track down perennial weeds such as creeping buttercup, docks, dandelions, brambles and ground elder. Dig them out meticulously.

Cut back your climbers.

Late spring or early summer flowering clematis benefit from a light pruning in February. Trim straggling stems and tie robust stems back tidily. If you haven’t pruned your Wisteria yet, now’s a good time. Cut the season’s current shoots back to three buds from the base to encourage more flowers.

Cut back deciduous grasses and remove dead grass from evergreen grasses.

It won’t be long before these start sprouting in earnest so best to tidy them up now.

Trim straggly hedges.

Before the birds start nesting, cut back deciduous hedging so it doesn’t get out of control over the next couple of months.

Planting.

Prepare your borders and beds.

Now is a good time to add organic fertiliser to the garden. Blood, fish & bone or seaweed work well. Or if there’s a local supply of free horse manure, pop round and fill a bin bag or two.

Sow your hardy annuals inside or in the green house.

If you’re looking forward to summer colour, get planting flower seeds now.

Get some SUMMER bulbs in.

Plant forced hyacinths which you’ve had inside. Plant dahlia tubers and lily bulbs and then forget about them ’til they bloom.

Prep your veg patch.

Dig over the earth, add fertiliser and use cloches to warm soil for early vegetable sowings.

Odd garden jobs that are well worth doing now.

Scrub patios and paths to remove slippery mud and moss

Now you’re out and about best to avoid a slip.

Put up some nest boxes.

Or make sure existing boxes are securely positioned). It’s not long now ’til you might get some feathered friends moving in.

Clean out cloches, tubs and planters.

That way they’ll be bug free and ready to use.

Check raised beds.

Make sure they’re not damaged or rotten and then mend or replace before the season gets underway.

Above all, now’s the time to start daydreaming about the perfect garden - and considering how to make it happen!

It may be that you’re quite happy to take it all on yourself, but if creating the ideal space or ensuring all year round fabulous flowers is a bit of a stretch right now then why not get in touch with us? We can help you out with weekly or monthly maintenance, come up with the perfect planting plan for your garden or design you a brand new outside space to blend seamlessly with your home and your lifestyle.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the first glimpses of spring. How about taking part in Hampshire’s Snowdrop Festival or visiting the Orchid Festival at Kew Gardens over the next few weeks? And we’ll be back with some more gardening guidelines next month.