Jobs to do in the garden this month.

This month-by-month calendar is packed with practical seasonal advice to help you get the most from your garden. These time-sensitive reminders will make sure you sow, grow, prune and feed your plants at exactly the right time to keep everything in peak condition. Whether you’re sowing vegetable seeds, ordering your favourite bedding plants, pruning fruit trees, lifting and dividing perennials, or improving the quality of your lawn, here’s a handy list of jobs to tackle each month.

Keep your garden ticking over through February using our handy checklist. Get started in the potting shed by making early sowing of flower seeds, and jump start the vegetable patch by sowing vegetable seeds on a sunny windowsill or in the propagator.

As winter draws to a close, there’s still time to find something to fill your beds, borders and pots this coming spring.

Flowering plants in February.

• Prune wisteria this month to tidy your plants up before spring growth starts. Cut back the leafless whippy growth to leave two or three buds on the stem.
• Divide snowdrops this month. Place the new plantlets in beds, containers, or out ‘in the green’.
• Use a propagator, a heated greenhouse, or a windowsill (at a temperature of approximately 21ºC (70ºF)) to sow summer bedding plants like geranium, petunia, impatiens (busy lizzie) and nicotiana. Sow thinly and don’t over-water to avoid damping off.
• Take cuttings from your overwintered chrysanthemums now.
• Remember to regularly deadhead pansies and other winter bedding plants to prevent seed setting and prolong flowering.
• Relocate overgrown shrubs during this month.
• Prune back hardy summer-flowering clematis to allow rapid new growth during spring for new flowers later in the year.

• Soak anemone bulbs overnight to hydrate them before planting in pots indoors. Alternatively, wait until March or early April plant your anemones outside.
• Maintain a minimum temperature of 4ºC (40ºF) for overwintering tender perennials like fuchsias and pelargoniums. Check over plants at least once a week, removing any dead leaves or flowers. Trim any diseased material back to healthy growth. Keep compost almost dry and ensure good air circulation – a fan may help here.

Vegetables in February.

• Start chitting first early potatoes, by laying them out in trays until they show signs of sprouting. Keep them in a cool, light, frost-free place ready for planting towards the end of the month.
• Make indoor sowings of seeds like cabbage (summer/autumn maturing), celery, herbs, sweet and spicy peppers, tomato, leek, onion and shallots this month.

• Sow early varieties of carrot like ‘ Amsterdam Forcing’ outdoors under cloches or in a cold frame. You can also sow parsnip seeds outdoors this month.
• Order asparagus crowns now for late March/early April delivery. Prepare the ground for planting your asparagus crowns in advance, ensuring the soil is well-dug and free of weeds.