February – still cold outside but there are signs of spring coming with spring flowering bulbs emerging and the days gradually getting longer.

This month is an important month for getting things ready and prepared for spring

Our top jobs for the month include…

In the fruit & veg garden

Cover your strawberry plants

Put cloches or fleece over strawberry plants to start them into growth and encourage an early crop.

Prepare your seed potatoes

Chit any first-early potato tubers you have by standing them in trays in a light, frost-free place.

Mulch fruit trees with farmyard manure or garden compost

This helps to conserve moisture ready for summer. It also helps to prevent weeds from growing at the base of your trees. Farmyard manure is a good fertilizer and vital for the healthy growth of fruit trees.

In the flower garden

Prune late-summer flowering clematis

Cut stems back to healthy buds about 30cm from the base.

Maintain your ornamental grasses

Cut down deciduous ornamental grasses left standing over winter, before fresh shoots appear.

Fertilize your roses and shrubs

Sprinkle slow-release fertilizer around the base of roses and other flowering shrubs.

In and around the garden

Maintain your plant supports & covers

Sort out and clean up canes, plant supports and cloches, ready for use in spring.

Attract blue tits in your garden

Put fat balls in your feeders and hang them near roses to attract blue tits. Blue tits like to forage for over wintering pests.

Improve and maintain your garden soil

Improve the soil by spreading garden compost or well-rotted manure over beds and forking it in.

Visit our top picks for this month page