by Janis on 24th February 2023 / 0 comments
The welcoming sight of Spring flowering bulbs
I know February is a short month, but it appears to have flown by, where have those few weeks gone?
Now, I’m not wishing my life away; however, seeing our Spring flowering bulbs peering through the soil and bursting with colour is such a pleasure. The pots on our patio have so many green shoots standing proud it’s only a matter of time before we’ll have a flurry of dainty little dwarf iris, crocus and hyacinth.
I can’t wait for our hyacinths to bloom; they are so fragrant. I remember when we visited Keukenhof Garden in the Netherlands a few years ago, it was always the hyacinth that you could smell before you actually spotted them.
Pinterest?
Why not Pin it for later?
What we’ve been up to this month
In the garden and on the websiteFebruary is always a bit of a mixed month in the UK; some years, we’ve had snow and others, it’s been beautiful blue skies. I’m pleased to say that this February we’ve had a few lovely sunny days and recently so mild.
So, we’ve managed to make further headway at the rear of the garden and cleared more ivy and overgrown shrubs, which is great as even more light beaming into my potting shed.
Geranium’s taking over
Work in progress
Another job we’ve started to tackle is the weeding of the geraniums in our cottage garden bed. We cleared so many last year; however, I think as we disturbed them, they have germinated even further through the bed. We made good progress this weekend; when we have another bright day, we’ll be on our hands and knees again. It even gave Gary a chance to use his new Kneelo that I bought him for Christmas.
A February day in the garden
This weekend I also gave our lawn its first mow of the year, it was a little muddy in places where the worms had been wriggling through, but it certainly looks better. We purchased a new lawnmower last year, a Flymo EasiStore 340R; this gave me the option of raising the cutting height to up to 6cm if required.
This month we have also pruned our two ‘Margaret Merril’ standard roses and given our contorted hazel a light trim.
Achievements for February
Let’s keep ticking those boxesFebruary has been a quietish month around the garden. Although with the brighter and longer days, it gives you the encouragement to get out and tackle those lingering jobs.
Dwarf Iris
So, let’s see what we’ve managed to tick off for February.
Start to weed the geraniums from the Cottage Garden bed.
Gave the lawn its first cut of the year.
Clear ivy around the back of the potting shed
Prune the ‘Margaret Merril’ standard roses.
Prune the contorted hazel tree.
Clean the bird feeders.
Tidy and clear some pots on the patio.
Lessons learnt & mistakes made
You live and learnNow, I’m not sure if the mix in the temperature of the weather managed to bring on our Snowdrops too early. Then the cold snap in December saw them off, or I planted them too late in the season. However, they are nowhere to be seen, and as I grew around 25 of them, something must have gone wrong; I’m going to blame the squirrel.
Our plans for the coming month
What’s on your to-do list?Continue clearing the weeds and unwanted planting in the Cottage Garden section, especially the geraniums.
Continue to cut back and manage our overgrown and unruly shrubs in the Secret Garden.
Progress with planning the different garden sections and understanding the likes and dislikes of our plants.
Review our seed packets and decide which new plants I want to propagate for the coming year.
Start to sow seeds in the potting shed.
Continue to monitor our garden tasks on the RHS Planner; this online tool is so handy. All you do is enter in your plant, vegetable or tree species, and it will inform you of their yearly maintenance.
Tidy up the front garden.
Please let us know what you have planned in your garden this month; we’d love to know.
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