Plants in Bloom this month?
INFORMATION COMING SOON!
INFORMATION COMING SOON!
INFORMATION COMING SOON!
INFORMATION COMING SOON!
Late Winter
General Tasks and Maintenance
- Service your mower or have it serviced professionally.
- Clear out gutters of your home and external building which may become clogged with leaves and dirt.
Late Winter
Houseplants
- Prune and repot your house plants and water irregularly.
Late Winter
Gardens and in the Garden
Patio areas
- Plant trees and shrubs in containers during mild weather.
Late Winter
Kitchen Garden
Fruit
- Continue to plant fruit trees when the weather permits. If not, store in a frost-free place until the weather improves.
- Prune newly planted fan trained fruit trees such as peaches, cherries, plums and nectarines.
- Cover strawberries with cloches for early fruiting.
- Prune blackcurrants, gooseberries and raspberries.
- Finish picking late apples.
- Begin with forcing rhubarb.
- Mulch established fruit bushes and trees using manure and garden compost.
- Harvest Rhubarb.
- Sow Melon in a heated propagator.
- Spray peaches and nectarines with a fungicide if you have had previous issues with peach leaf curl.
Vegetables
- Sow early peas and beans.
- Buy potato tubers and sprout in a frost-free shed.
- In the greenhouse – sow carrots in light, fertile soil in a cold frame.
- Sow Broad bean, Carrot, Cabbage, Cauliflower Brussels Sprouts, Onion, Parsnip and early varieties of Turnips and lettuce.
- Plant shallots.
- Order asparagus plants.
- Lift leeks and parsnips as required. If the weather deteriorates, lift leeks in mild weather and heal in so they can be easily lifted.
- Harvest lettuce, radish, mushroom and chicory
- Continue with sowing tomatoes in a cool greenhouse.
- Sow broad beans under cloches.
- Prepare trenches for celery and runner beans.
- Chit ‘seed’ potatoes.
Herbs
- Prepare the herb bed for the Spring. Add compost and peat into the soil if the soil is heavy.
- Sow parsley if the weather is dry and not too cold.
Late Winter
Trees, Shrubs and Hedges
Trees and Shrubs
- When the weather is mild, continue to plant deciduous trees and shrubs—firm soil of any trees/shrubs that have been loosened by the frost.
- Cut back summer flowering varieties of clematis.
In the Greenhouse
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Hedges
- Plant deciduous hedges during the mild weather.
- If the ground isn’t suitable for planting, keep in a frost-free shed until the weather improves.
- Protect roots with straw.
- Cut overgrown hedges at the end of the month.
Late Winter
Flowers and Plants
Hardy Herbaceous Plants
- Clear any dead tops
- Spread garden fertiliser on the beds, working in with the soil as you go.
- A wide range of half-hardy annuals can be sown this time of the year rather than waiting until March. Examples include Antirrhinum, Celosia, Lobelia, Nicotiana and sweet peas.
- Use a propagator to sow Abutilon, Begonia, Schizanthus and Solanum capsicastrum.
- Take cuttings of Carnations, Begonias, Lorraine and Pelargonium.
- Prune Fuschias, Pelargonium and Bougainvillea.
Perennials
Carnations and Pinks
- Test the soil to check the pH levels. If below 6.5, add lime.
- Clear dead leaves and weeds around stems and ensure plants are secured with stakes and ties.
- Order new plants ready for the Spring.
- Prepare beds for the Spring.
- In the greenhouse – for continuously flowering varieties maintain a temperature of around 6 – 9 degrees centigrade. Water irregularly and allow ventilation.
Chrysanthemums
- Drain any stools that are waterlogged.
- Keep beds clear of weeds and put slug pellets around the stools.
- Take cuttings.
- In the greenhouse – propagate decorative greenhouse varieties. Finish potting up varieties for an exhibition—scattering areas with slug bait. Take cuttings.
Dahlias
- Take a look at stored tubers. If any are shrivelled, plunge them into a bucket or container of lukewarm water overnight.
- Cutaway rotted parts of the tubers.
- In the greenhouse – take cuttings.
Gladioli
- Sprout in the greenhouse at 10 degrees centigrade.
Irises
- Order Spring flowering Dutch Iris bulbs.
- To protect the booms from the weather, place cloches over Dutch irises that you wish to cut.
Lilies
- Plant bulbs when the weather is mild.
- When choosing to purchase bulbs, choose plump, healthy bulbs that haven’t dried up.
- When buds are shown, protect using cloches.
- In the greenhouse – sow seeds—plant bulbs of stem-rooting lilies. When buds appear, feed weekly and keep the temperature between 17 to 21 degrees centigrade.
Roses
- If the soil isn’t wet, sticky or any frost cover, continue with the planting of roses.
- If the weather is poor, heel in the roses.
- Support bushes that are being battered by the winter gales/wind. Also, firm the soil around them.
- Roses in the greenhouse – Maintain a temperature of approximately 16 degrees centigrade during the day. Water once a week.
Annuals
Alpines
- Firm any plants that have been loosened by frost.
- To keep weeds down, cover the soil with stone chippings.
- Place slug pellets among the plants when the weather is mild.
- In the greenhouse – propagate alpines by taking root cuttings. Root them in a cold frame using sandy compost. Re-pot when they have produced leaves.
Bulbs
- Bring in bulbs for them to flower indoors.
- Once they have finished flowering, plant outdoors.
- Check bulbs, corms and tubers that you have stored. Destroy any that are diseased.
- In the greenhouse – plant Begonia, Gloriosa, Achimenes and Hippeastrum in a cool greenhouse.
Flowers from Seed
- Plan / design your planting programme for Spring.
- Order seeds ready for the Spring.
- Lightly fork over beds and work in bone meal into the soil.
- In the greenhouse – sow the first of the half-hardy annuals.
Heathers
- Firm newly planted heathers that have been lifted by the frost.
- Plant heathers when the weather is suitable.
Rhododendrons and Azaleas
- Prepare the ground for planting during mild weather.
Sweet peas
- Erect supports for plants.
- Sow seeds outdoors in their flowering positions.
- Pinch out growing tips of autumn-sown sweet peas.
Late Winter
Greenhouse and Cloches
INFORMATION COMING SOON!
- Spray fuchsias, heliotropes and hydrangeas with water to encourage growth.
- Prune greenhouse climbing plants.
- Pick off any dead or dying leaves before they begin to rot.
- Keep watering to a minimum and ventilate the greenhouse during mild days.
- Sow tomato seeds for planting on in April.
- Remove discoloured fronds from ferns and divide/report.
- Clean the glass to allow as much sunlight as possible.
- Sow bedding plant seeds.
Late Winter
Pond, Water plants and Rock Plants
- Continue to protect your pond against the ice.
- Purchase and install a pond heater if thick ice is a problem.
Late Winter
Lawn
INFORMATION COMING SOON!
New Lawn
- Continue with the preparation of the ground, so it’s ready for Spring sowing.
- If the weather is mild, lay a new lawn from turf.
An established lawn
- Well-established lawns – Treat for moss.
Late Winter
Wildlife
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