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25/01/2012
Dennis with Debs and the new delivery of Mr Fothergill's seeds
"February is as month when the weather can go both ways. If it is frozen, then forget it basically. You can do more harm than good by walking on frosted grass and cutting plants down and removing their protective coverings.
On the other hand if it is mild you can prune your shrubs and especially your roses .Older type hybrid tea and floribunda roses can be pruned down to about an inch from ground level. Climbers are pruned with care only removing last years flower spurs or very old stems. Modern roses such as the David Austin English roses need very little pruning. Just dead wood and crossing branches are removed. Always cut stems down to an outward facing bud. This will produce a cup shaped bush with an open centre where light and air can get in.
On the veg side , you can plant garlic cloves this time of year. Put rhubarb forcers over crowns and put in onion sets.
In your greenhouse, if you have the luxury of heat, sow tomatoes and peppers, chillies and onion seeds. Buy your seed potatoes and asparagus crowns this month.
Don’t be too eager to plant things out early as the weather can still turn nasty and late freeze ups will put you back to square one.
In the garden centres there will be begonia tubers beginning to appear, together with lily bulbs, summer bulbs ,gladioli and dahlias. You can buy early but hang fire for a month or so before planting out, especially the tender things like dahlias and begonias." Dennis
Seeds have very kindly been donated by 'Mr Fothergill's' to support our Horticultural Healing Project. We are very grateful.
