FEBRUARY is rolling along and there is a whole garden year rushing towards us.
There’s plenty of time to get everything done, but there is no harm in doing a bit of early planning.
Decide what you want to grow and where you will put it.
If you are growing vegetables you will change planting locations around in a three or four year rotation, to reduce disease and pest problems, so you may as well be systematic from the beginning.
Grow similar things in the same bed – root vegetables can go together, although you may want to give potatoes a bed of their own.
All types of peas and beans go in another bed, or area of the garden.
Then there are brassicas – cabbages, sprouts, broccoli, kale and so on. Onions leeks and garlic may take up another area.
Do a neat plan and you will know what fits where before you get around to sowing and planting.
Start some early sowings
We are still very early in the year and there is plenty of time to get things into the ground so don’t rush anything.
Having said that, if you want to grow peppers, tomatoes and aubergines from seed, then it’s a good idea to start them as soon as you can.
It’s only worth doing this if you can provide the constant heat needed for propagation and then the follow on heat to keep them growing until the weather is warm enough to support them.
Don’t worry! You can buy plants later on if you don’t have the time or propagation facilities.
I sow several seeds of each variety in an 8cm pot.
The seedlings need thinning into individual pots as soon as they are big enough to handle.
In the meantime the pots take up less room in propagators and you can see exactly how many seedlings succeed and how many you want to grow on before you move them to individual pots.
Use good quality, fine compost for propagation.
Moisture runs through coarse compost and emerging roots won’t grow in large air pockets.
Make sure to label each pot with details of the seed you are growing – seedlings and small plants can look very similar.
Set the propagator at 20C and remove the cover on any days that the temperature rises above that.
Propagators heat, and can aim for a thermostatically controlled temperature, but they have no automatic way of cooling.
Avoid bright sun until seedlings are up.
Seedlings ready to be moved into individual pots.
Peas and broad beans
These can also be sown now if you provide some protection.
You can sow direct in the ground in a polytunnel or greenhouse, although you should cover rows with some horticultural fleece if the weather is cold.
Sow a few extra plants at the end of each row so you have spares to fill any gaps.
Outdoor sowings always do better in March – they get away faster and can soon catch up with earlier chilled plants.
Another trick is to start seed in pots in the greenhouse, or polytunnel, and plant them outdoors under a cloche when seedlings are well grown and outdoor soil is warm enough.
Worst weeds
It’s a good idea to take a look around the garden while beds are relatively empty.
Look for the deep rooted weeds that will come back over and over again unless you remove them.
Annual weeds can easily be hoed off in dry weather, but deep-rooted perennial ones need a more permanent treatment.
Leaves may be small at this stage, although you should see which plants are docks and which are thistles for example.
Use a tool with a long blade to dig down as deep as you can.
There are special tools for removing deep rooted weeds, but a fork or spade will work just as well provided you keep digging and loosening the soil until all roots lift cleanly without breaking.
A bit of work now will help you remove, or at least reduce, weed problems before plants start growing and seeding.
Check stored fruit and vegetables
Use what you can before the quality deteriorates. Potatoes pumpkins apples and onions don’t keep for ever!
Some crops may rot in store and this can spread to affect others.
Keep a good eye on things and remove any softened, discoloured, sprouting, or mouldy specimens.
Always try to use up stored crops before the new ones start to come in.
Snowdrops bring a lift to the heart. (Photo: Ben Russell
Snowdrops
Large gardens often have blanket displays of snowdrops.
These come in a range of varieties but, even for the uninitiated, there is something heart lifting about these little white flowers.
You don’t have to carpet your garden – a clump under a tree, or in a pot, can stir the same feelings.
For best propagation results, divide clumps while they still have green leaves and after they finish flowering.
