February
In The Vegetable Garden This February
Start chitting early potatoes – stand them on end in a module tray or egg box and place them in a bright, cool, frost-free place.
Build rasied beds now, before the growing season gets underway. Rasied beds allow you to make an early start in the garden, the soil warms up faster and raised beds drain quickly too, so they’re a great way to deal with clay soils.
Mulch perennial vegetables such as asparagus and articokes with well-rotted manure or garden compost.
Remove yellowing leaves from brassicas, including brussels sprouts, to prevent brassica downy mildew and grey mould from spreading.
Continue controlling against slugs.
Rake lime into acid soils.
Tidy up vegetable plots, removing any remaining plant debris.
Top Tip:
Prepare vegetable seed beds by removing all weeds and forking in plenty of compost. Cover prepared soil with sheets of black plastic to keep it drier and warmer in preparatiuon for spring planting.
This Month's Key Tips
- Prepare vegetable seed beds and sow some vegetables under cover.
- Net fruit and vegetable crops to keep birds away.
- Prune winter-flowering shrubs if they have finished flowering.
- Prune wisteria and hardy evergreen hedges.
- Cut back deciduous grasses left uncut over winter.
