Recommended Tasks and Hints for February 2022

• Prune late flowering shrubs - buddleja, caryopteris, ceamothus, hardy fuchsias, santolina, and leycesteria. These shrubs flower best on growth made since the spring. You can be quite brutal with them.

• Top dress pot grown shrubs. Scrape away about an inch of old compost and replenish with multipurpose with some slow release fertilizer added.

• Start dahlia tubers. Fill a shallow tray with compost and set the tubers on top.Place in good light and spray with clear water every now and then to encourage buds to form. Keep frost free!

• Sow peas - ideally in a piece of guttering filled with peat free compost. Sow seeds in 2 rows 1 or 2 inches apart and one inch deep and water. Keep on a windowsill or in a greenhouse - it doesn’t need to be heated.

• Plant shallots

• Lime brassica bed if needed. Check soil acidity first. Brassicas like alkaline soil.

• Pot up mint cuttings. Dig up a section of the old plant and separate the healthiest looking parts. Pot up in multipurpose compost and water regularly

• Keep an eye on your roses and make sure you do any pruning before the buds start to open. This only needs to be done once and aim to do so by March so they’re ready for the year ahead.