Tips for February
Tips for February
RHS tips for February:
- Prepare vegetable seed beds.
- Chit potato tubers.
- Protect blossom on apricots and peaches.
- Make sure netting covering veg is still intact.
- Prune winter flowering shrubs as soon as flowers fade.
Wenvoe environment group tips:
- Use a hand barrier cream especially at this time of year.
- Ferrous sulphate needs to be applied to lawns to kill off moss.
- Look upon your garden from the comfort of your home and decide on changes.
- Maybe put up a nesting box. Be sure to face the entrance North/East.
- If purchasing a new spade etc, make sure the handle is long enough to ease stress on the back.
Here we go! The days are getting longer – even though on wet days it’s hard to believe. We can all look forward to dirty hands and a stiff back in the name of gardening. Please don’t go at it like a bull at a gate. A little and often is always the best way and hopefully you won’t get disheartened. Weeding is the most tedious; if you start this month, it will stop these devils from spreading as the soil warms up.
Keeping equipment clean is always the right way. That I’m afraid is something I don’t practice as much as I should. Betty James on the other hand is always so good. All her pots cleaned and stored when not in use. Betty’s propagation success is high because of this and her plants are checked daily without fail. It also helps if you love gardening as much as Mrs James does. Bringing on seedlings on a sunny windowsill is a good way of always being able to give them the attention they need.
People fortunate to have Wisteria in their gardens will be cutting side shoots back to three buds, encouraging a profusion of spring flowers. Late flowering Clematis can be cut back to a healthy bud about 30cms from base. Buddleia and elder can be cut down to the ground, keeping the plants to a manageable size in the process. Any deciduous shrubs in the wrong place are best moved now while still dormant.
Wenvoe, along with all parishes in UK, will be celebrating the 75th Anniversary of VE Day in May. If you want to get involved, then a lot of village groups will be organising events. The late 1940s brought a big change to British gardens. People started to grow flowers instead of vegetables in their front gardens. As we are encouraged to plant trees to help the environment, it seems right to plant one this year on this anniversary. Just be careful what tree you plant as this can, in future, cause a dispute with neighbours.
Take care and happy gardening.