At last the days are getting appreciably longer and the growing season is nearly upon us.
Finish pruning apple , pears and quinces by removing any dead , diseased and crossing branches. Try and open up the middle of the tree to let in more sunshine and cut back new growth to keep the tree to a manageable size. Remember you are going to have to pick the fruit!
Stone bearing fruit trees such as plum , damson and apricot should be pruned in May when the sap is rising to reduce the risk of silver leaf fungal infection.
Prune wisteria back to two to three buds on each spur.
Give lawns a good firm rake to remove dead grass and as much moss as possible.
Continue to remove yellow leaves from brassicas and clear out diseased and rotten stems in the chard.
February can be a very cold month and with the ground saturated from autumn rains planting outside is not a good idea. What is needed is a good propagator and a warm , light conservatory or greenhouse because now is a good time to plant chillies and aubergine seeds. Both require a long growing season so an early start is essential. With chillies find a variety that suits you and save the seed. With aubergine a good standard is money maker. For greenhouse tomatoes now is the time to sow seeds. Shirley is probably the best of the medium sized tomatoes although Alicante and Money Maker are old favourites. For salad tomatoes go for Sungold and Gardeners Delight. The alternative is to buy in plug plants in late March or April if only a few plants are required. There is also the option of grafted plants. These are traditional varieties grafted onto disease resistant and more vigorous root stock. They undoubtedly produce strong vigorous plants and a bigger crop but I do wonder if the taste is compromised by the use of a different root stock.
For beefsteak varieties always buy in. As they can only really be grown in a greenhouse in our climate I tend to only grow one or two standard tomatoes and use the rest of the space for beefsteak types such as Buffalo Steak and Super Steak. After all blight resistant outside tomatoes can make up the bulk of the crop – more next month.
If you have a heated greenhouse it is possible to get an early crop of strawberries by bringing them inside in containers. Strawberries need a cold spell so the end of February is early enough. Remove all the dead leaves and give them a good feed with tomorite.
At the end of the month I have my first sacks of Swift potatoes in the greenhouse alongside onion sets started of in modules. Stick to old varieties such as Sturon , Stuttgarter Giant ( best for keeping) and Red Baron.
Best of all is Douce Provence peas started off in pots.
Is there anything better than fresh peas and new potatoes? Patience!
Our schedules are now available from committee members and The Five Bells. Our Spring Show is on Saturday 23rd March when we will be giving out buckets and seed potatoes for the childrens potatoes in a bucket competition.
Stay warm and optimistic
Good Gardening
Peter Estcourt