FEARSOME February has a certain reputation for delivering cold snap upon warm spell, offering promise and then snatching it away with a downpour or a gale.
SOIL preparation and sowing seeds and onion sets early will pay dividends later on.
You may have carefully selected your home depending on value, location and convenience, but only avid gardeners will select 'Dunroamin’ on the soil they find in the back garden.
That’s because perfect soil, usually described by experts as "rich, friable loam" is next to impossible to find naturally – it is more often the end result of years of improvement by human hands.
More often soils fall in the categories of clay, chalk or sandy. But don’t despair. All soils can be improved sufficiently so they can grow a wide range of shrubs, flowers, fruit and vegetables.
All soils, other than peat rich swamps, will improve through the addition of organic matter. That means the well-rotted results from the bottom of your compost heap or the matured results from a pile of stable manure. There are now bags of organic matter derived from a combination of sources.
New on the market is Miracle-Gro Soil Improver designed for mixing with existing soil to create enriched beds, borders and vegetable patches.
It’s a mixture of matured bark and aged stable litter so it is rich in nutrients and beneficial micro-organisms. Dug into clay soil it will improve drainage and structure to make digging easier and reduce the splits and cracks which often occur in hot, dry weather.
On sandy and chalk soils, it will increase the water and nutrient-holding capacity and reduce the tendency to dry out.
Any soil improver can also be top-dressed around plants such as roses, shrubs and fruit to reduce evaporation and give the worms a good source of organic material to drag down to root level.
At this time of the year, when the soil dries sufficiently, dig the area where you want to grow vegetables such as brassicas, broad beans, peas and runner beans, adding all the organic matter you have.
If you are blessed with a clay soil then leave the surface rough so frosts can break down clods.
As an extra help you could sprinkle gypsum onto the surface, to act as an extra soil conditioner. This natural material holds the fine particles of clay together so they form larger granules which open up the soil for drainage and air movement. Sandy, stony and chalk soils need all the soil improver you can muster but gypsum is not recommended.
THE ORNAMENTAL GARDEN
SPRING bulbs, such as crocus, winter aconite and snowdrops, should be emerging in protected areas of the garden. The pink propeller blooms of cyclamen coum will also be creating a delightful warm glow to areas, which are sheltered from the cold. They like rich well-drained soil and will easily self-seed if the conditions are just right.
Millions of gardeners realise buying almost fully grown plantlets in early summer, ready to plant out in patio pots, hanging baskets and garden borders, is not the cheapest way of buying plant material.
The trend nowadays is to buy seedlings or plug plants early in the new year and grow them in pots indoors until they are ready to plant out in the garden.
In this way you get a wider choice of colours and various varieties to choose from. Your garden centre will have plenty of these tiny plantlets to choose from in February and March or you can order them from a catalogue or the internet to get an even broader selection.
One such is the wave series of petunias which promise to be full of strong colour throughout the summer. The shock waves family look to provide some great pink and white colourings.
The bi-coloured family of appeal snapdragons is also a hot plant for 2010, including the apricot, yellow and orange shaded cultivar.
Plug plants are supplied growing individually in tiny cells of top-quality compost and just need more room and vital nutrients for roots and stems to get ready to flower in pots and hanging baskets. To get these tiny treasures growing fast, give them extra room and root space in a tip-top compost.
Many kitchen windowsills can provide the necessary conditions if the cook of the house allows the gardener’s intrusion. Look to newer varieties which promise to bloom successfully in the first year and use a quality seed compost.
Cover the seed and place the tray in a propagator or warm place to maintain an optimum temperature of 70-75F (20-25C). Provide a steady soil temperature both day and night for best results.
Outdoors, pots of spring bulbs should be showing emerging foliage and winter pansies should be blooming during mild spells.
Modern hybrids of camellia are very hardy and in most gardens are more free-flowering than older standards. Names to bear in mind include 'donation' a free-flowering open pink and 'Debbie' a dark pink double.
These evergreens appreciate a lightly shaded position in soil which is not chalky.
To keep the leaves dark green, plant in plenty of ericaceous compost and feed with a slow-release food. Hellebores are a very fashionable perennial which bloom at the end of winter. As they produce lush growth early in the year, they are always subject to slug attack.
Slug pellets — or for the organically-minded — seaweed or pulverised eggshells, are deterrents.
TOPICAL TIPS
START begonia corms into growth ready for spectacular blooms in summer. Soak the corm overnight in tepid water and then place concave side up in individual pots of Miracle-Gro All Purpose Growing Compost. Place on a windowsill and fat pink buds will emerge in just a few weeks. If there are no buds on one or two corms turn them over to see if you’ve placed them upside down.
SHRUBS AND TREES
UNWANTED trees and some shrubs are difficult to dig up successfully as any remaining roots are likely to throw up new shoots.
To kill trees and shrubs which have outgrown their position in the garden, treat them with Roundup Tree Stump and Root Killer, during the winter dormant period. Simply make cuts or chips into the trunk and paint on the concentrated liquid.
Leylandii can be killed thus and when they are dead and dried burn well.
THE LAWN
DON'T walk on the grass while it is frozen or frosted. Crushing the frozen blades of grass results in a burn that turns brown and the footsteps will be visible for weeks.
You may want to cut the grass to keep the lawn looking trim, especially if we get mild spells. Don’t be tempted to cut the grass to it’s shortest summer setting but leave it much longer to reduce any harmful effects from subsequent frosts.
THE FRUIT GARDEN
ALTHOUGH we all face some personal hardship, it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good, so the saying goes. So, while the economy fights its way back to positive growth there are rich rewards to be obtained from growing your own fruit and vegetables during this new decade.
Perhaps we should be grateful many more families are now turning their valuable outdoor space into a production area for crops.If you have some soil you have the basis to grow all types of fruit. Even if your dedication to gardening verges on nil, you can still plant some fruit trees, bushes and canes to provide tasty apples, gooseberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, strawberries and raspberries.
If your family don’t appreciate the health-promoting benefits of homegrown fruit, it’s time to educate them.
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN
YOU may find gardening books tell you to sow seeds of parsnip in February because they take a long time to germinate. Only follow this advice if you have cloches to cover the soil at least a fortnight before sowing, which can be left in place until the end of March.
With soil temperatures at their lowest, without cloche protection slow germination is not surprising.
Buy your favourite varieties of seed potato from your local garden centre before they sell out. Set them out in a single layer at the bottom of a seed tray and keep them somewhere in good light, which is cool and frost-free. The potatoes will start to produce sturdy shoots ready for planting out later.
TOPICAL TIP
AT end of the month, enrich the soil and plant out shallots and garlic cloves in a sunny, warm position. Snip off any dead stems close to the onion bulb so birds will find it more difficult to pull them out, thinking they are suitable material for nest building.
PATIO GARDENING
GARDEN centres will have a good display of lilies that need planting up in pots and in the garden ready for summer display.
They appreciate good drainage directly under the bulbs, so plant carefully on a layer of gravel or grit.
Place the bulbs on top of this gravel and fill the container with more compost. Keep dead-heading winter pansies and feed occasionally when the weather is mild.
If you've not studied the rose section in your garden centre recently, you'll be surprised at how many miniature and patio roses have been bred for modern gardens. Many are recommended for growing in pots and tubs as they are small and delicate yet continue to flower through until the winter.
Look out for labels which claim patio rose. Examples include lovely bride, a beautiful formed soft pink, shining light, a dainty golden apricot, sweet dream, a peachy apricot, baby love, a golden yellow or mandarin, with deep pink and orange outer petals opening to show a yellow heart to each bloom.
The bare root ones need to be planted now while they are still dormant.
TOPICAL TIP
Clean up any green mould growth on the patio slabs, brickwork or walls with one simple treatment. There are preparations which should require just one watering or spray-on during a dry spell — the active ingredient works for several weeks to control of mould, lichen and algae.