Your monthly gardening jobs ~ 5 jobs for February

Join me, armed with a cuppa and a notepad for Febuarys garderning jobs with Jenny from The Laundry Garden.

~ Here are your 5 jobs for February ~

~ Make a start on cutting back, dividing and weeding ~

Believe it or not, for such a short month there’s so much to be done in the garden! Getting ahead on things like cutting back and dividing can be such a time saver later on, especially if you want a lazy summer enjoying it. The kind of plants that need cutting back to the ground are some perennials like Asters, Catmint, Phlox, Geraniums and any other flowering plant that has turned brown. After doing this you can make an assessment on what might need dividing, most perennials benefit from this every 3 years, to maintain the plants vigour. For more information click here

You might thing it’s strange, but I find light weeding quite therapeutic. It’s that satisfying feeling when you have a wheelbarrow full of weeds and debris, plus a very tidy looking part of your garden! I think its useful to know and identify what weeds or unwanted thugs that can overrun your garden, look and behave like.

For instance, we have a small common weed that thrives here called ‘Bittercress’ its classed as an annual with explosive seed capsules that can complete its lifecycle in 3-4 weeks. If not kept in check it can quicky take over a wide area.

~ Buy mulch for top dressing ~

On the up-side, pulling them out now, then applying a thick 3 inches of mulch/top dressing, can massively help prevent any more that might appear later on.

You can buy mulch in bags from your local garden centre or if you have a much larger area you can have it delivered by the tonne like we do! (We use Dandy’s topsoil)

Other benefits of using a top dressing is that it helps to lock in moisture while feeding your plants too! To see more about weed identification click here.

~ Prune Roses and Wisteria ~

If you have inherited or planted roses, now is the ideal time to prune them.

I started in January, as I have over 50 here at The Laundry Garden so if you haven’t already started then I highly recommend you do now before the new buds start to form. For the best advice on this click here.

If you have Wisteria, this can also be pruned now and again in July/August. Start by cutting away any thin wispy shoots that have grown from the base (unless you want to use them as new leaders). On the main stem, cut back to one or two buds, this will help it to flower more freely and keep it in check as once mature, they can become quite unruly!

~ Sow sweet peas ~

One of the few things I grow from seed indoors is the Sweet Pea, I love it for its delicate nostalgic flowers in the garden and also in a jam jar inside your home.

They say if sown early in the season, they are stronger for it. I have also grown them later with just as much success, so don’t worry if you don’t have the time to do it now. For more information on how to sow your sweet peas follow this link.

~ Plant Lily bulbs ~

You might prefer a more majestic flower. If so, then the Lily could be for you. Now is the best time to buy their bulbs ready to plant later on this month.

There’s a huge choice of colours and sizes that can be planted in pots or in a border. Ask your local garden centre when they are due to have them in stock, or try peternyssen.com.

See you next month and Happy Gardening!

~ This month’s garden inspiration reading and who to follow on Instagram ~

Read – The Five minute garden by Laetitia Maklouf
Follow @laetitiamaklouf

If you missed Jenny’s January gardening jobs you can catch up on them here.

Huge thanks, yet again to Jenny for putting together another great set of jobs for us to be getting on with in February. Nearly all of the wonderful photos in the blog were taken by Jenny. Do check out her website for more information about her incredible garden The Laundry Garden and The Laundry Retreat Unique holiday accommodation nestled between Denbigh and Ruthin, bordering the village of Llanrhaeadr in North Wales.

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Kirsty

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