Make a nursery bed
Make a nursery bed to get your veg seedlings off to a flying start this spring. Putting aside a corner of your plot just for raising seeds is a great investment and helps you get the most from your veg patch. It might seem a long way ahead, but it's actually just the right time to buy in seed for [...]
Get asparagus beds ready
Get asparagus beds ready for the arrival of new asparagus crowns in the garden centre any minute now. Planting asparagus is a real investment in your veg garden, as they're perennial plants, coming back year after year for up to 20 years. Choose from traditional heritage types like the prolific 'Connover's Colossal', or more modern varieties like 'Guelph Millennium', a [...]
Prune clematis
Prune clematis which flower in mid to late summer – both the pretty, small-flowered C. texensis and C. viticella varieties and the larger-flowered, more showy types like violet-blue 'William Kennett' and the lovely pure white 'Marie Boisselot'. All these train beautifully through climbing roses, as both can be pruned at the same time. Start by removing all thin and weak [...]
Give beds a good mulch
Give your beds a good mulch of well-rotted farmyard manure at this time of year and you'll set them up perfectly for the year ahead. Mulching is the gardener's magic wand: at a stroke you can deal with feeding, watering, weeding and soil care, plus a bit of frost protection to boot, with just a few bags of good-quality organic [...]
February’s plant of the month
February's plant of the month is the heather, a plant that's had something of a bad press in recent years. We can't understand why, as there are few plants more versatile and easy-to-please in the garden: have a look at our great selection and try them out for yourself! They have a deservedly good reputation as reliable, evergreen winter-flowering beauties, [...]
Jobs for February
With the garden waking up, we're revving up for the season this month: time to get outside and revel in the beauty of emerging spring bulbs and bright, frosty mornings. Here's what to be getting on with right now: General tasks: Have a last weed through before easily damaged new shoots emerge on shrubs and perennials. Refresh tired containers after [...]