Previous seasonal advice - January
Seasonal jobs for February
Towards the end of the month the earliest bulbs will be in flower. Buds are beginning to swell and some of the early flowering shrubs like Chaenomeles (Japanese quince) will begin to bloom. A few of my flowers are emerging already. There may be some mild days but February often has some of the coldest weather, too.
Snowdrops will be in bloom and after they have flowered is a good time to lift and divide clumps. You should also be able to find snowdrops on sale, in the green, to plant out now. It's supposed to be the best way to establish a clump.
To attract more birds to your garden put up nest boxes now. Remember to continue to regularly put food and water out for the birds. Special bird food containing seed and nut mixtures will be better for them than household scraps. The RSPB website www.rspbshop.co.uk has a good range.
It is an ideal time to plant bare rooted trees and shrubs provided the soil is not too wet or frozen. They will then grow away well when spring arrives. This is also a good time to move shrubs.
Trim winter flowering heathers with shears to prevent them becoming straggly. Late flowering shrubs such as buddleja, lavatera, santolina and ceanothus should also be pruned now. In addition, I will be cutting back my hardy fuschias, dogwoods (Cornus) and my ceratostigma. I will cut these back to within one or two buds of the ground.
Now is also the time to prune late flowering clematis - the ones labelled 'group 3'. These are usually the large flowered late summer flowerers like Clematis 'Jackmannii'. Cut down all the growth close to the ground to a pair of strong buds 15-20cm above soil level. Group 2 clematis need last year's growth so don't go mad with these ones - just trim lightly to a pair of strong buds. Group 1 don't generally need pruning.
The yellow, winter flowering jasmine Jasminum nudiflorum will quickly become untidy unless you prune it. Shorten all the side growths to about 5cm from the main stems. Also, cut back deciduous grasses.
February is a good time to apply an organic fertiliser like blood, fish and bone or pelleted chicken manure around all your plants. These organic fertilisers will release their nutrients slowly as the soil warms up and the plants start to grow. The month has started off with snow but take heart spring is just around the corner!