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YOUR MONTHLY GARDENING DIARY

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YOUR FEBRUARY 2004 GARDENING DIARY

- GARDEN - PATIO GARDENING - FRUIT & VEG - GREENHOUSE - LAWN -

The weather promises a mixed bag of rain, frost and milder spells that will provide challenging conditions for you to progress your chosen gardening jobs. Remember that time outside when the ground is free of frost will provide a window to complete the digging of beds, borders and the area for this year's vegetables.

THE GARDEN

It is too early in most parts of the country for pruning bush roses, unless you live in frost-free areas close to the sea. Simply gather up all fallen leaves and any other foliage that show the dark brown patches of rose blackspot disease. By removing foliage that was infected last year you will reduce the carry over of the disease to next season's growth. Remember to start spraying your rose bushes with RoseClear 3 or RoseClear Gun! when buds burst in March so that they have a clean start to the season. If blackspot was a problem last year regular spraying every fortnight is the only solution.

Few greenhouses can be kept consistently warm enough to successfully germinate geraniums from seed. But many kitchen windowsills can provide the necessary heat and light if the cook of the house allows the gardeners intrusion. Look to newer varieties that promise to bloom successfully in the first year and use a quality seed compost such as Levington Seed & Cutting Compost for maximum germination of these relatively expensive seed. Cover the seed and place the tray in a propagator or warm place to maintain an optimum temperature of 70-75F (20-25C). Provide a steady soil temperature both day and night for best results.

Pots of spring bulbs should be showing emerging foliage and winter pansies should be blooming during mild spells.

Modern hybrids of Camellia williamsii are very hardy and in most gardens are more free flowering than older standards. Names to bear in mind include 'Bow Bells' a free-flowering open pink and 'Debbie' a dark pink double. These evergreens appreciate a lightly shaded position in soil that is not chalky. To keep the leaves dark green, plant in plenty of Levington Ericaceous Compost and feed from March until July with Miracle-Gro Ericaceous Plant Food.

Hellebores are a very fashionable perennial, especially the red flowered ones. As they produce lush growth early in the year, they are always subject to slug attack. You are advised to sprinkle evenly some SlugClear Advanced Pellets around the emerging flower heads to protect them from attack.

topical tip
Overgrown hedges can be cut back severely in February, giving good time for new shoots to appear in spring. Cut the top about 30cm (1ft) below the intended height, so that new growth hides the skeleton base.

ON THE PATIO

Garden centres will have a good display of lilies that need planting up in pots and in the garden ready for summer display. They appreciate good drainage directly under the bulbs so plant carefully. Put a layer of Levington Multi-Purpose Compost in the bottom of the container and then a layer of gravel or sharp grit. Place the bulbs on top of this gravel and fill the container with more compost.

Keep dead-heading winter pansies and feed occasionally with Miracle-Gro Plant Food when the weather is mild.

If you've not studied the rose section in your garden centre recently, you'll be surprised at how many miniature and patio roses have been bred for modern gardens. Many are recommended for growing in pots and tubs as they are small and delicate yet continue to flower through until the winter. Look out for labels that claim 'Patio Rose'. Examples include Angela Rippon, a strong salmon pink, Crystal Palace, a dainty creamy peach, Queen Mother a soft pink semi-double, Baby Love a golden yellow or Mandarin with deep pink and orange outer petals opening to show a yellow heart to each bloom.

The bare root ones need to be planted now while they are still dormant, so get planting. Use a quality compost such as Levington Potting Compost so that watering will be easy and add Miracle-Gro Controlled Release Plant Food Tablets to the compost after six weeks so that the plants are fed throughout the growing season.

FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

vegetables

You may find that gardening books tell you to sow seeds of parsnip in February because they take a long time to germinate. Only follow this advice if you have cloches to cover the soil at least a fortnight before sowing and can be left in place until the end of March. With soil temperatures at their lowest without cloche protection slow germination is not surprising. Rake Levington Soil Improver and Mulch into the rows to break down the soil and provide a good seed bed for sowing at the end of March.

Buy your favourite varieties of seed potato from your local garden centre before they sell out. Set them out in a single layer at the bottom of a seed tray and keep them somewhere in good light that is cool and frost-free. The potatoes will start to produce sturdy shoots ready for planting out later.

topical tip
At the end of the month enrich the soil with Miracle-Gro Controlled Release Plant Food and plant out shallots and garlic cloves in a sunny warm position. Snip off any dead stems close to the onion bulb so that birds will find it more difficult to pull them out thinking they are suitable sticks for nest building.
fruit
Feed fruit trees and fruit bushes with Miracle-Gro Controlled Release Plant Food. This once-a-season plant food releases nutrients as soon as the soil warms up and the plants are actively growing. The granules have an organic covering that allows a small amount of plant food to be released every day for at least six months. Just sprinkle the odour-free granules around the root area and work into the soil. You then need to do no more work this year to ensure these trees and bushes are correctly fed all season.

Peach leaf curl is an unsightly and disfiguring disease. It affects both ornamental and culinary peaches, plus almonds too. The blistered and twisted leaves soon drop off and weaken the plant so that few fruits ripen. Once you see the red blister symptoms pick off affected leaves and burn them. To help prevent the disease in the first place spray peach trees in the middle of February with Murphy Traditional Copper Fungicide and repeat again in the autumn.

IN THE GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY

Start begonia corms into growth ready for spectacular blooms in summer. Soak the corm overnight in tepid water and then place concave side up in individual pots of Levington Multi-Purpose Compost. Place in a warm spot in the greenhouse or on a windowsill and you will see fat pink buds emerge in just a few weeks. If there are no buds on one or two corms turn them over to see if you've placed them upside down.

Bring pot-grown strawberry plants into the greenhouse for early fruiting. Feed the plants with half strength Miracle-Gro Plant Food and water sparingly until new growth starts. Feeding every couple of weeks with Tomorite or Miracle-Gro General Purpose Plant Food will ensure a good and tasty crop.
topical tip
Sow seed of broad beans, lettuce and onions now for early seedlings to be planted out under cloches at the end of March
THE LAWN

The unusual dry weather of summer and autumn last year may have left you with a grass area that needs renovation this spring. If the lawn is thin all over, then over-seeding next month is probably the best course of action.

To provide a surface in which grass seed can germinate easily, it's time to get out the rake and loosen the surface of the soil over the complete area of the lawn. Breaking the surface will allow air and moisture to penetrate and give the opportunity for new grass roots to establish.

After thorough raking simply scatter a quality grass seed over the surface at the light rate of 25 grammes per sq. metre (1oz per sq. yard). If the area is for a hard-wearing general lawn then use EverGreen Multi Purpose Grass Seed. If it's in shade use an EverGreen Grass Seed for Shady Lawns and if you want an ornamental lawn rich in fescues and bents use EverGreen Fine Grass seed.
topical tip
Don't walk on the grass while it is frozen or frosted. Crushing the frozen blades of grass results in a burn that turns brown and the footsteps will be visible for weeks.

ALWAYS READ THE LABEL. USE PESTICIDES SAFELY
BugClear™ and BugClear Gun!™ contain bifenthrin. FungusClear™ and FungusClear Gun!™ contain penconazole. RoundupGC, Roundup Ultra 3000, Roundup Tough Weedkiller Ready to Use and Tumbleweed Original Extra Strong Gel contain glyphosate. Roseclear® 2 contains bupirimate, pirimicarb and triforine. RoseClear® Gun!™ contains bifenthrin and flutriafol. SlugClear™ Mini Pellets contain metaldehyde. Spotless® contains carbendazim. Verdone® Extra contains fluroxypyr, clopyralid and MCPA. Weedol® contains diquat and paraquat. Weedol® Gun!™ contains diquat.

®, ™, Miracle-Gro, and Scotts are trade marks of The Scotts Company or its affiliates. Roundup is the registered Trade Mark of Monsanto Company.

GARDENING INFORMATION FROM The Scotts Company (UK) Limited

WRITTEN BY JOHN CLOWES
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GETTING THE SOIL IN SHAPE

The amount of attention needed to turn nature's soil into a gardener's best friend depends on what you start with. But all soils can be improved so they are easily tended and provide great conditions for a wide range of plants. Adding organic matter to clay, sandy, stony and chalky soils is the key to success. Not just this autumn, but in spring too and repeated year after year. It sounds like hard work but it is extremely rewarding.

You need a compost heap to turn all the organic waste that comes from the garden and the kitchen into rich, friable organic compost that will improve all soils. I know that home recycling is the Government's latest pet project, but most serious gardeners have been doing this since the disappearance of pig bins.

Just make it easy for the cook to leave vegetable peelings, uncooked fruit, wilted cut flowers and egg shells in a special container by the kitchen door. This should be added each week to the compost heap and mixed in with grass clippings and soft green plant waste. A sprinkling of soil every 10cm (6in) will provide all the microbes necessary to keep the composting process in action.

Clay soil is wet, sticky and hard to cultivate. But it is rich in nutrients and when drainage is improved is very fertile. Each winter dig in all the garden compost that is ready for use and buy in bags of other material if this is insufficient. Bags of Levington Soil Conditioner and Mulch are excellent. They contain ground bark that has been composted to a dark, rich texture that opens up the structure of clay soils and improves the water holding capacity of sandy ones.

Whatever the state of your soil add either garden compost or Levington Soil Conditioner and Mulch every time you dig an area. At this time of the year dig the area that is to grow vegetables such as brassicas, broad beans, French and runner beans, leaving the surface rough so that frosts can break down clay clods. As an extra help you could sprinkle gypsum onto the surface to act as an extra soil conditioner. This natural material holds the fine particles of clay together so they form larger granules that open up the soil for drainage and air movement. Sandy, stony and chalk soils need all the garden compost you can muster, but gypsum is not recommended.

If you are new at soil improvement don't try to get the first lot of compost or Levington Soil Conditioner and Mulch too deep into the ground. Forget double digging - that's only for masochists. Instead, just work the compost into the top fork depth of 20cm (8 in). Gradually over the years your soil will show noticeable improvements and you can gradually dig deeper so that you build on last year's success.

Plants such as runner beans and sweet peas grow much better if they have a deep, moist root run. That's why they are best grown in rows where a trench has been taken out to a depth of 60cm (2ft) and plenty of organic matter dug into the bottom of the trench.

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