![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/waterCan-2.jpg?resize=257%2C300\")
<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\nT<\/strong><\/em><\/span>HE VILLAGE GARDENER<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n February tips from Sharon at British Soil.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Advice from Barry Harper of Twyn allotments.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are countless magazines, radio and television programmes offering advice on what we ought to be doing in the garden in any given week. We need to be checking the local weather forecast before we start planting. There can be as much as four weeks between planting times between the southeast of England and the Scottish Highlands. Plants grown under nursery conditions will not take kindly to being put out in cold wet weather. Unless you can take care of the plants you see early in the season looking very inviting in neat rows on the garden centre shelves, please wait until clement weather can give them a good start.<\/p>\n The really warm weather in December has kept the grass growing as well as weeds and has also brought on daffodils early. During January the cyclamen and pansies were being pushed out by overzealous, under planted bulbs and corms. The Autumn sown\u00a0sweet peas have put on a lot of growth and need the tips taken out to promote new side shoots. Repotting will help to give the roots space to grow.<\/p>\n Wisteria should have its Winter prune now to make sure it flowers well. Cut the shoots back to three or four buds but be careful to leave the main frame alone. Mahonia can be cut back now as the flowers fade. If the shrub has a good shape about it just remove the flower spikes. If it\u2019s looking straggly you can prune it hard, and it will come back strongly.<\/p>\n The wet weather in late Winter will make greenhouses damp, the lack of sun to dry the air out can bring about grey mould which can do serious damage to over wintering plants. On milder days open doors and windows, check the leaves of plants and remove damaged ones. If some plants are badly infected remove the whole plant to the outside.<\/p>\n Allotment and veg gardeners have been troubled with potato blight over the last couple of years. It is very difficult to control but there are some preventative measures to take. One thing which can help is to grow early varieties such as Charlotte and Anya. Sarpo potatoes have a good resistance to blight. Experienced gardeners always leave a bigger gap between the tubers when planting as an increased air flow when plants are maturing helps enormously in blight prevention. If you grow potatoes in containers make sure you clean them out and disinfect to stop any infection and change the compost. Those gardeners who planted broad beans in the Autumn have seen a lot of growth due to mild conditions, which means they will need support.<\/p>\n Take care and enjoy your gardening<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE VILLAGE GARDENER Must Do Gardening Tips for December February tips from Sharon at British Soil. Cut down deciduous grasses left standing over Winter. Cut back late flowering clematis. If you need to move deciduous shrubs, then now is the time. Cut back elder and buddleia Give Winter flowering heathers a light trim, being careful not to cut into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s6cWjO-10959","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7126,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=7126","url_meta":{"origin":10959,"position":0},"title":"Tips for February","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd February 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5496,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5496","url_meta":{"origin":10959,"position":1},"title":"Benefits of Gardening and Tips","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st January 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Gardening on times can seem to be hard work and it is easy to stay indoors when it's cold or wet. The garden at this time of year is not at it's best; we are still waiting for most of the bulbs to emerge to cheer us up. The main\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5232,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5232","url_meta":{"origin":10959,"position":2},"title":"Winter Preparations","author":"Alan Williams","date":"22nd December 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"RHS December tips 1. Check that your winter protection is still securely in place. 2. Make sure your greenhouse heaters are working properly. 3. Insulate outdoor taps and prevent ponds from freezing. 4. Prune open grown apple and pear trees, not those grown against a wall. 5. Still take hardwood\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3967,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3967","url_meta":{"origin":10959,"position":3},"title":"Winter Preparations","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th November 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 A huge thank you to everyone who gave to Children in Need through The Village Gardener at the end of October. Some of you may not have realised, but your tips and donations raised \u00a3100. Brilliant. There is an unusual vegetable taking over the garden at Judy Holmes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12615,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12615","url_meta":{"origin":10959,"position":4},"title":"Gardening in December","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th December 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER This month\u2019s tips come from the most popular person on the planet at this time of year - Father Christmas When we get on in years the main gift we want for Christmas is our health. That\u2019s why the other presents dry up. Please send letters to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/waterCan-2-257x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12877,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12877","url_meta":{"origin":10959,"position":5},"title":"Rita and Elizabeth’s Advice","author":"Alan Williams","date":"2nd February 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER This month Rita Edwards and Elizabeth Jones give us the benefit of their gardening knowledge. Rita Separate clumps of snowdrops while in the green as they will naturalise better. Prune hedges before the birds start nesting. Check fences for broken posts and loose panels. Prune wisteria back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10959"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10959"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10962,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10959\/revisions\/10962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Must Do Gardening Tips for December<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n
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