In your ornamental garden in February 2012

Colour, and scent, in the winter garden

Easy perennials, bulbs and shrubs for February
Colour
Hedge & Lawn care
The Ornamental greenhouse
Pond care
What to plant in February
Make new plants
Pest & disease watch
Houseplant care

General tasks

• Should we have snow, brush or shake it off evergreen shrubs and conifers to prevent damage to branches.
• While plants are dormant and leafless, you can get at wooden structures such as fences and pergolas. Treat wooden structures with an environmentally friendly product. Or you could even paint with one of the lovely garden paints now available.
• See The Organic Gardening Catalogue for suitable wood treatments.
  Hoe off early sprouting and seeding weeds such as chickweed and shepherd’s purse.
• Dead head winter pansies to prolong their display.
• Make sure pots and tubs don’t dry out. This can happen even in winter during dry spells. Bamboo in pots, for example, really hates dry roots at any time of year. Water in the morning but not if frost is forecast as the water may freeze and damage the plants’ roots. If the compost is very dry, plunge the pot into a bucket or tub of water if practical and leave it to soak for an hour or two.
• If you collected and bagged up leaves last autumn, turn them out now on some hard standing, and water well before piling back into the bags. This will encourage their decomposition. You could also turn your compost heap! It’s a great job for letting off steam after the Christmas lethargy.
• Bag up any ready compost and store it under cover, ready for spreading in a few weeks.
• Check your potting compost. Last year’s product shouldn’t be used to pot plants this year as it deteriorates over winter. It can safely be spread over the soil - it will help both clay and sandy soils. Re-stock with fresh peat free compost from your preferred supplier.
• To clear a weedy plot for a new border, cover the soil with a light excluding mulch now. Cover the mulch with bark chips to improve the appearance. These can be swept up when the cover is eventually removed, and used on paths. Leave the mulch in situ for the whole growing season to get rid of weeds. You can still have an attractive plot. Make small holes through the cover and plant through into the soil beneath. You can plant small shrubs, or clumps of annuals, or even let a climber ramble over the surface. Try an ornamental gourd, or nasturtiums. They will cover beautifully. Your weed-free plot will be ready for permanent planting in the autumn.
• 
  DON’T prune Buddleja globosa
  until after it has flowered
  
  
  Viburnum tinus
  DO prune summer-flowering shrubs now. Buddleja davidii, Spiraea japonica, and hardy fuchsia should be cut down hard in mid/late February. Take them down to about 12-10cm (6-4in), just above a shoot. If your garden is prone to late frosts, then cover the cut stems to protect new shoots.
• DON'T prune spring flowering shrubs and climbers now. Typical examples include forsythia, Clematis montana, Spiraea x arguta, Buddleja globosa, Viburnum tinus and Ceanothus burkwoodii. These plants flower on stems produced and ripened after last spring's flowering. They should be pruned only after flowering.
• Prune wisteria now. Cut back to two or three buds from the base of last year’s growth.
• Prune out old stems of mahonia. To encourage bushy growth in young plants, after flowering, prune out the top rosette of leaves to just above the second rosette.
• In mid February, cut back ornamental grasses, taking care not to damage any fresh new growth that may have started to emerge.
• Cut back stems of perennials, such as echinacea and phlomis.
• Remove shoots on variegated plants that have reverted to plain green. They are stronger than the others and if not removed, the whole plant can eventually lose its variegation. Eleagnus, euonymus and holly often start to revert.
• Prune all ‘Group 3’ clematis that flower in mid/late summer, such as Clematis viticella. Cut them down to about 30cm (12in) above ground level, at a pair of buds.
• Deciduous berberis and contoneaster can be reduced in size if required. Cut back one third of the oldest stems to just above ground level.
• Pyracantha grown as a wall-hugging plant can be trimmed hard back now.
  If in doubt about any pruning and cutting back, check a good reference book before you start .RHS Pruning and Training by Christopher Brickell/David Joyce is one of the best.

Hedge & Lawn care

• Hedges can still be cut back now, before birds start nesting. But do check before you start cutting. If birds have already started to make their nests, leave well alone until the chicks have fledged. It is an offence under Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 intentionally to take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built.
• 
  A flat-topped 'A' is the
  best shape for a hedge
  A flat-topped 'A' is the best shape for a hedge. This enables light, air and water to reach the base of the hedge and encourage growth even at ground level. A top-heavy hedge will nearly always have a bare straggly base.
• Cut pyracantha hedges back to a clean line. Use loppers and secateurs on thicker branches then finish off with shears.
• Laurel hedges are best trimmed with secateurs. Shears cut into leaves, which then turn brown with die-back. Trimming with secateurs allows you to take shoots back to a leaf joint, although it is more time-consuming.
• Lawns can put on quite a lot of growth this month, if the weather is mild. Mow in dry weather, but don’t let mowings lie on the grass. They won’t rot down rapidly as the weather is still not warm enough. Rake them up and stir them into the leafmould bin or bags. They add a useful bit of nitrogen that will help the leaves decompose more rapidly.
• If you do get a chance to mow, set the blades higher than usual, so the grass ends up about 3.5 - 5.0cm (1- 2 in) high.
• In frosty or snowy weather, keep off the grass. It can cause significant damage and lead to disease later in the year.
• If areas of the lawn tend to hold puddles, spike with a garden fork to the total depth of the tines. Wiggle the fork about a bit to make the holes bigger. Repeat this all over the wet area and a little around it. This will help water drain away much more quickly.
• If the lawnmower hasn’t yet been serviced and sharpened, now is definitely the time to do it.
• If the weather permits, towards the end of the month, aerate the lawn. Machines can be hired for this job. Brush garden compost or leafmould into the holes left by the aerating machine. Use an organic lawn fertilizer to give the grass a good start to the season.
  Chase Lawn Fertiliser (spring treatment) is available from The Organic Gardening Catalogue

Greenhouse

In the heated greenhouse

• Pot up winter stored dahlia tubers; they will soon produce shoots for cuttings.
• Start off bedding begonia corms. Take care; overwatering can lead to rotting corms.
• Tender pot plants overwintered in the greenhouse are likely to have started into growth. Scrape off the top surface of potting compost as far down as the root layer. Top-dress with a layer of garden compost mixed with mature leafmould, if you have any. Finish off with a layer of horticultural grit to improve appearance, and retain moisture in summer. If you have neither compost nor leafmould, then use one of the organic fertilizers available from The Organic Gardening Catalogue. Plants that flower should have a potash- rich fertilizer, while leafy plants should have a nitrogen- rich mixture.
• Seeds of pelargonium (summer flowering geranium) and impatiens (busy Lizzie) can be sown now, if you have the right temperature to germinate these fussy plants. Impatiens downy mildew has wiped out busy lizzies for the last couple of years. Last year was particularly bad and most commercial stock has now been contaminated. If you want impatiens this summer, then growing from seed at home is probably the most likely way to get some clean plants. Unfortunately, it is also possible that downy mildew spores will blow into gardens from surrounding areas! 
• Pest populations may start to increase dramatically towards the end of the month. Be vigilant and deal with any pests promptly. This will help any serious infestations building up. It’s still a little early for biological control, so handpicking and insecticidal soap are the weapons to use for now.
• Remove all mouldy-looking and dead leaves from plants to keep diseases such as mildews and botrytis taking hold.

In the unheated greenhouse

• Repot bedding fuchsias and pelargoniums (geraniums)in fresh compost. Pelargoniums enjoy a well-drained mix, so add some grit, about 1 part grit to 4 parts compost. Cut back any leggy growth, and keep moist, but not overwatered. If the weather turns very cold, protect plants from frost.
• If the weather is mild, divide half-hardy and tender perennials such as hedychium, musa, aspidistra, agave and aloe. Keep them well watered for a few weeks until you see active new growth.
  
• Start sweet peas in pots. They do best in deep root trainers, grow tubes or home made paper pots. Or sow several seeds in a large deep pot. If you choose the latter, insert a florist stick alongside each seed. As the plants grow, tie them to their sticks to avoid a tangle of plants at planting out time.
• It’s also time to wash the outside of the greenhouse – again! It really does get grubby over winter. And pots and trays also need a good wash. Use Citrox for all cleaning needs.
• Sow trays of hardy annuals. They will germinate easily in a cold greenhouse, whereas if they are sown direct, they are at the mercy of heavy rain, cats and slugs. Choose varieties that are wildlife-beneficial. The Organic Gardening Catalogue notes which varieties are good for supporting wildlife , Sow seed fairly thinly in trays. Don’t bother to prick out. At planting time, just chop up the tray of seedlings into small blocks, and plant out. You’ll get a wonderful mixture of plants, and a garden full of colour and interest attracting a huge range of wildlife. All for the price of a few packets of seeds and some compost. It’s a breeze!
•  ‘Tot’ plants, tiny plug plants, are available now from mail order suppliers and garden centres. They are a relatively inexpensive way of obtaining a large number of plants that can sometimes be tricky for ordinary gardeners to germinate. Pot them up in 9cm (4in) pots and let them settle in. Hardy plants can be planted out in late March, once they have put on plenty of growth. Half-hardy plants need to be protected from cold weather, and should not be planted out until the end of May. They will need to be potted on once they’ve filled their first pot.
  Root trainers, grow tubes, Citrox and hardy annual seeds are all available from The Organic Gardening Catalogue.

Ponds

• If you haven't done so yet, remove your pump and clean the filter. Wash your hands and arms thoroughly afterwards.
• Now is a good time to create a pond. You’ll have it ready for the frogs when they start looking for water next month for their spawn. Use a pre-formed liner, or create your own size and shape using butyl liner. The deepest area should be at least 60cm (2 ft).
  See Garden Organic’s factsheet ‘Setting up a Garden Pond’
• Towards the end of the month, with great care, clear out any leaves and debris that have fallen in over the winter. There will still be creatures half hibernating at the bottom of the pond, so don’t use an implement, use your hands to remove debris. Leave this material at the side of the pond to allow any creatures time to climb back in. After a couple of days it can all go onto your compost heap, where it will rot down quickly.
• Trim back overgrown marginal plants.
• Keep an eye out for the arrival of duckweed. Remove on sight to avoid a build up of this invasive plant.

What to plant in February

• 
  Willow arch
• Most plants can be planted now, as long as the soil is neither waterlogged nor frozen.
• February is ideal for planting willow 'fedges' and other features such as arches and bowers. Willow can be bought in or cut from existing plants. Simply make holes in the ground, about 60cm deep, and insert your willow rods. Then weave the rods into the desired shapes. If the ground is very hard and dry, you may have to make initial holes with a metal spike. Plant through a membrane to prevent weeds growing up around the base of the willow rods.
  Garden Organic members can see our Living Willow Structures for more information.
• When planting alongside a fence or wall, dig the planting hole 30cm (12in) away from the fence/wall. This takes the plant outside the ‘rain shadow’ cast by the upright structure, and helps the plants’ roots get enough moisture. Mildew, often found on climbers planted against walls, is largely caused by lack of moisture around the roots.
• This is still a good time to plant bare-rooted trees,> before growth really starts in March.
• 
  Helebores are easy to find
  at the garden centre
  Position your trees with care. Check that you won’t cause an unwanted shadow over a sunny seating area. If planting in a small garden, always check tree height. The distance from the house should be the same as the tree’s final height.
  Our Information sheet on tree planting offers useful planting hints and tips. ….
• If your garden is devoid of colour at the moment, why not buy a couple of flowering plants from a garden centre? Hellebores and primula/polyanthus should be on sale now. Buying a couple of plants will give you a bit of colour, and then you have the rest of the year to organize more plants for this time next year.

Make new plants

• 
  Divide snowdrops after flowering. Dig up whole clumps, split into smaller clumps and spread around the garden. They look beautiful under trees where, if allowed, they will spread ever wider. Opinion is still divided about whether it is better to plant ‘in the green’, or whether to plant dried bulbs in autumn. It seems that both methods have advantages and disadvantages. If you lift snowdrops now, try to leave plenty of soil around the roots of the clumps to avoid transplant shock as much as possible. If kind friends give you snowdrop clumps, make sure they aren’t hiding perennial weeds in the attached soil. Tendrils of ground elder can easily be transferred from one garden to another via kind donation of plants!
• Most hardy perennials can be lifted and divided now. Cut the tops back to 2.5-5 cm (1-2in) and lift the whole plant out with a fork. Look for a natural line across the plant and cut it with a sharp knife right through, continue this until you have divided the plant up to suit your needs. Replant the pieces or pot up immediately and water well.

• 
  Vines are easy to propagate
  so give them a go
• It's not too late to take cuttings of vines and other climbers. Take a length of stem and cut pieces 2.5-3.5cm either side of a node (shoot), wound the cutting (scrape off a small amount of bark on the underside of the node) and press it into some compost. Place the cuttings in a protective environment and in a few weeks they will be ready to pot up.

Easy perennials, bulbs and shrubs for February

Colour

February can be a rather dull month in the ornamental garden. Here is a selection of plants that look good now, are easy to grow and fairly free of pest and disease. They also provide nectar to early flying bees and insects, bringing predators into the garden early in the season. These characteristics make them a good bet for an organic garden.

• Primula vulgaris* or the primrose is a beautiful and easy plant to grow. It likes grassy banks and woodland edges and it is easy to find a spot in any garden that will suit it. There is a really lovely pink sub-species called Primula vulgaris ssp. sibthorpii* that is equally easy and just as useful for encouraging early beneficial insects. Primula veris* or cowslip is another good native Primula and happy in the border, with its pretty yellow flowers held high on a stem it is well worth having. Primula elatior* or oxlip is, in a way, the best of both worlds of native Primula, as it has the tall stem of P. veris and the large pale yellow flowers of P. vulgaris.
  * recipient of the RHS Award of Garden Merit
• Anemone blanda blooms soon after the foliage appears. These plants tolerate sun or light shade and naturalise quite happily as long as the soil is reasonably well-drained. After flowering is finished, the plant dies back into the soil, leaving no trace of dead or dying foliage. Try ‘White Splendour’ or ‘Blue Shades’. A. nemorosa, the woodland anemone does well in damp shade.
• Crocus tommasinianus can flower as early as January in mild winters. Colours are white or purple. Try ‘Ruby Giant’ or Whitewell Purple’. Crocuses do very well in pots, and can be underplanted with snow drops and hostas to provide an extended season. The hosta starts to take over as the bulbs die down. Growing hostas in pots also helps keep slugs at bay.
• Iris histriodes and I. reticulata will give early colour. Purple-blue flowers marked with black white and yellow make a real show.
• Helleborus niger, the traditional Christmas Rose, flowers between the end of December until March. They like soils with plenty of organic material, and they don’t seem to do as well on acidic soils. Some sun is preferred. Try ‘Potter’s Wheel’ for large flowers.
  
• The number of flowering shrubs at this time of year is considerable. Mahonia, Viburnum bodnantense, Garrya elliptica, Clematis cirrhosa, Erica carnea, Daphne bholua, will all add a welcome splash of colour (and, in some cases, scent)  to the February garden. All of these are easy to grow, and as well as adding colour, will provide interesting shapes year-round. Some, such as Viburnum, provide a useful upright structure through which you can grow a non-vigorous clematis. Erica carnea makes wonderful mats of green along the front of a border. And the dark, rich green of Garrya elliptica is a fantastic backdrop for pale flowers later in the year.

Pest & disease watch

• Damping off’ disease can wipe out trays of seedlings overnight. The fungus causes stems to collapse and seedlings to fall over. Prevention is the key to success.

• Seed trays and pots should be clean.
• Potting compost should be fresh.
• Watering should be from below, and be clean tap water.
• Keep watering to a minimum.
• Seedlings must have plenty of light and ventilation, and not be too sown too thickly.
• Sow in module trays if you have any. They seem to be less susceptible to this disease.

It is better to have a tray of fewer, healthy plants than to lose everything to this disease. If damping off starts in a tray, get rid of the whole thing outside as fast as possible, away from other seedlings. It’s quite safe to dump it onto open soil.

• Aphid populations will increase as temperatures rise. It’s still probably too early for biological controls, (except in heated conservatories), so use products such as insecticidal soap to keep pest populations under control for the time being. A range of products is available from the Organic Gardening Catalogue.
• Keep houseplants and greenhouse plants picked clean of dead and dying leaves. Botrytis (grey mould) will attack any dead plant material. Once established, it will quickly move onto living plants and cause extensive damage, sometimes even plant death.
• Check houseplants regularly for scale insects and mealy bug. If house temperatures are warm enough, biological controls can keep these pests under control. Group infected plants together before releasing predators, so that they can move easily from plant to plant. Biological controls are completely safe for use indoors and will not harm people or pets.
• Hellebores can get hellebore leaf spot, giving rise to unsightly blotches on leaves. Remove affected leaves and dispose of in the green waste bin.

Houseplant care

• Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) growing indoors will require watering once or twice a week. Do not over water as the roots may rot. If the plant becomes top-heavy, stake to prevent flopping. Once flowering is over, cut back the foliage and flower stems. Leave the bulb in its compost and pot and allow to dry out naturally. Store everything in a cool, dry, well-ventilated spot until next autumn, when it can be re-potted and brought back into growth in time for Christmas.
• By the end of the month, houseplants can be watered more, and feeding can be started. This includes succulents and cacti.
• Feed houseplants with fertiliser sticks, or Chase Organic SM3 Seaweed Extract. Flowering houseplants can also be fed with Organic Tomato Feed. All these products are available from The Organic Gardening Catalogue.
• If you were given a poinsettia for Christmas, and want to keep it going, there are a few important points to remember. Keep it out of draughts – these plants hate cold. Water from below and only when dry. Wait until April before feeding, and prune in spring. They can go out in summer, once all frost has finished. If you want to try to get a repeat of red bracts for next winter, then from mid October, for about 6 – 8 weeks, they require 12 hours of TOTAL DARKNESS every day. No peeking! This replicates their natural growing conditions. These plants grow naturally in the Canary Islands, much closer to the equator, hence the hours of total darkness required.

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