Get Ready for a good ‘Thyme’ in your Garden

February Advice & Gardening Tips

February may not be the most conducive month for gardening but it’s a great time to grab your wheelbarrow and give your garden a tidy up ready for spring to arrive.


You could start by:
• Removing some weeds and installing some fresh landscaping fabric
• Raking the soil ready for some fresh bark or top soil and turf to be laid
• Make some space for some new decorative aggregates
• Trimming hedges, pruning trees and blowing away the leaves
• Putting another round of treatment on your fences and decking, or even giving your garden furniture a fresh lick of paint
• Putting some new felt on your shed roof
• Cleaning, restoring, enhancing, sealing and protecting your patio
• Sowing some vegetable and herb seeds

Of course, the weather has an impact in any garden, but you can find gardening jobs in February no matter where in the country you live. If you reside in the south of England or have a garden which is sheltered, more can be done earlier. Northern gardeners may need to leave things to late February or even early March.^[1]

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Growing your own?

If the ground is not frozen you can plant fruit trees and bushes, but the rest will need to be sown in the greenhouse or under cloches, or inside if you live in a very mild area.^[2]
You can sow some really hardy annual and biennials like chervil, parsley and coriander herb seeds under cover now too.^[3]
Don’t forget to chit seed potatoes by standing them in trays in a light but frost-free position.^[4]

Watch the video below, or take a look at this handy calendar for more information on what to do when growing your own fruit, vegetables and herbs.

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February Pruning Jobs

There’s a host of pruning that can be done in February, and particularly useful for maintaining two tricky climbers, clematis ‘Scartho Gem’ and silky wisteria (wisteria brachybotrys), it is a great way to keep warm in the garden too. Any climbers which flower in late spring and early summer can have a light pruning in February, cutting stems to around 30cm.^[5]

Late-flowering shrubs, such as Hellebore ‘Pretty Ellen White’ (Helleborus x hybridus) and hardy fuchsias can also be pruned in February, but here the more brutal you are (cut down about a metre off the ground) the better.^[6]
It is also a good idea to finish pruning existing fruit trees and bushes.^[7]

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February’s Garden Pests & Problems

It’s never too early to start controlling slugs (in fact, some would say it is a job for all the year round), so start using your favoured method of pest control. Why not rake over the soil and warm yourself while also exposing soil pests to frost and predators such as birds and hedgehogs?^[8]

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Other Jobs in February

February is usually the one of the colder months in the year, so it’s a good idea to take measures to prevent your pond freezing. Keep an eye on the water level and top up if necessary, to ensure that the depth of the pond is the maximum it can be. The deeper water will help prevent the pond from freezing solid.^[9]

There is one warm gardening job in February, and that’s to buy all your seeds from your local garden centre, or you can order them online the comfort of your armchair.^[10]

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References
^[1] https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/in-month/february
^[2] https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/fruit
^[3] https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/herbs
^[4] https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/vegetables
^[5] https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=379
^[6] https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=166
^[7] https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=709
^[8] https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=228
^[9] https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=447
^[10] https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/features/seeds-inside-story