February

Garden Tasks for February

• Prune winter flowering shrubs such as winter jasmine and mahonia after they've finished flowering.

• Prune buddleja and elder to the base to stop then getting leggy and to keep a good size.

• Finish other winter pruning jobs if you haven't already (wisteria, rhododendron, roses, apples and pears etc)

• Cut back ornamental grasses so that new growth will show.

• Lift and divide snowdrops still 'in the green'. Some snowdrop experts prefer to divide in the summer, though the bulbs' locations obviously need to be well marked.

• Prepare seed beds. Start to warm up the soil in preparation for sowing using fleece, polythene or cloches.

• Cut back shrubs grown for their colourful winter stems, such as dogwoods (Cornus) and some willows (Salix cultivars). Cut down to their bases to encourage new shoots for next winter.

• Start chitting early potatoes.

• Trim hedges before the birds start nesting.

• Divide congested clumps of herbaceous perennials.

• Sow tender crops such as tomatoes and chillies in a heated propagator if you have one or use a warm windowsill.

• Sow sweet peas in deep pots (ideally root trainers) and put them in a frost-free greenhouse or on a sunny windowsill. Autumn sown plants can be pinched out and potted on.

• Sow summer bedding and tender annuals in pots and trays.