February is usually a cold month of frosts, some snow and cloud, but days are gradually getting longer. Outdoors small daffodils, snowdrops and crocus will be providing early colour. Indoors its time for seed sowing and preparation for the growing season ahead.
FLOWER BORDERS
Hellebores are a very fashionable perennial, producing white, pink or even red flower heads very early in the year. To protect the flower heads from rain and mud splashing fix a sheet of plastic over the plants at least 20cm (12in) above ground level. As these plants produce lush growth early in the year, they are very often subject to slug and snail attack. Scatter some SlugClear Advanced Pellets around the emerging flower heads to protect them from attack.
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. If your soil is not naturally acid plant camellias in pots of Levington Ericaceous Compost or Miracle-Gro Ericaceous Compost and feed from March until July with Miracle-Gro Ericaceous Plant Food.
FLOWERING BEDDING
Many traditional gardeners grow hundreds of new plants every year from seed. Germination on a warm windowsill or in a heated propagator is important as most seeds of tender bedding plants need a temperature between 18-21C (65 - 70F) to germinate. February is a good time to get started with the plants that need several months to develop from seedlings to flowering plants. These include antirrhinums, gazanias, geum, asters, geraniums, sweet williams and salvias. Seed of a new Geum called Cooky (Dobies) will
flower in first year if sown early. This new selection of popular perennial has bright luminous orange flowers and shiny leaves on upright stems. Fast-growing plants such as alyssum, cosmos and dahlias can be left for another month.
For maximum germination buy a compost designed specifically for the job. Instead of plumping for Multi-Purpose Compost select Levington Seed & Cutting Compost or Levington John Innes Seed Compost instead and then keep this bag indoors for a couple of days before sowing the seed thinly in pots, trays or half trays.
To avoid the high temperatures needed for quality seed germination, the trend nowadays is to buy seedlings or plug plants early in February and March and grow these plants on until they are ready to plant out. In this way you get a wider choice of colours and various varieties to choose from. Your garden centre will have plenty of these tiny plantlets to choose from in February and March or you can order them from a catalogue or the internet to get an even broader selection.
These plug plants are supplied growing individually in tiny cells of top quality compost and just need more room and vital nutrients for roots and stems to grow into large plants ready to flower in pots and hanging baskets. Levington have recognised the public demand for these plantlets and have developed a new growing media that will encourage strong, healthy growth in young plants. Called Levington Plug & Gro this open texture growing medium is a unique mix of peat and perlite to provide a light-weight porous structure that encourages good aeration and vigorous root development. This is also the compost to use for potting on rooted cuttings of geraniums and pots of seedlings that are also on display at gardening retailers at this time of the year.
Tuberous begonias really put on a magnificent show each year providing large, bright blooms without effort. Only roses can match them for continuous flowering throughout the summer and autumn. If you sow seeds now of F1 Hybrids such as Begonia 'NonStop' (Suttons) you will have colour in your garden this year and resulting tubers that can be stored through winter and started into growth in early spring.
For convenience, however, you can buy tubers that are ready to plant in pots. Fill a 9cm (3in) pot with Levington Multi-Purpose Compost or Levington John Innes No. 1 and push the tuber into the surface of the moist compost. The top of the tuber where the shoots will emerge is usually concave and the bottom where the roots grow is rounded (convex). If you are not sure you can place the tubers into a clear polythene bag with some moist compost for a couple of weeks indoors and then check to see where the new pink shoots are coming from.
FENCES, TRELLIS, WALLS AND POTS
Ten years ago painting a fence blue was a wild whim of hippies and eccentrics. Nowadays your garden is rather dull unless it can boast some colour impact provided by trellis, bench or ceramic spheres. Even the pergolas at the RHS gardens at Wisley have had a coat of blue.
Garden centres now provide a myriad of different shades of paint for wood and brickwork, and car care shops will have scores of cans of metallic paint to match most flower colours. Cuprinol and Sadolin have extensive ranges of paints for garden wood that are safe for use with plants. Cuprinol's Garden Wall Shades are multi-purpose as they can be used on terracotta pots, stone and decorative brick work. If you are a novice at colouring it is wise to stick to soft pastel shades for your first venture into the unknown.
Think about the colours available and how they are perceived. Blue is for boys, but it is also a calming colour, pink is for our feminine side and obviously reminds us of soft and delicate skin. Red is an exciting in your face splash that demands instant attention and green is relaxing as it will merge with the foliage of your plants and any expanse of lawn. The warm hues of yellow remind us of the optimism of spring and orange and brown have an earthy passion that has fiery overtones.
See that the material you want to paint is clean, dry and free from algae. Move adjacent plants away from fences, especially evergreens that will carry the colour for some time. And above all, enjoy the results.
PATIO POTS
It's time to start planting patio pots that will flower this spring and summer. Lilies do remarkably well in containers and will reward you with spectacular flowers and a delicious fragrance. Last year I grew several varieties from the Wilford Bulb Company, a specialist supplier and medal-winning exhibitor at Chelsea Flower Show, Gardeners World Live and shows around their Loughborough base. The results were great and I have set up a trial to see how regular feeding with and without Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Plant Food affects the long term growth when different varieties are grown on in the same compost for several years. The perfumed Oriental and colourful Asiatic Hybrids are good for pots and will give excellent results with very little attention.
For best results grow three bulbs of the same variety in a 12in pot. Some gravel or crocks in the bottom of the container will ensure good drainage and using Levington Potting Compost or Miracle-Gro Plant & Gro Compost will provide plenty of energy for strong growth and good colour. Plant the lilies towards the bottom of the pot as they need a good depth of compost. Cover the bulbs and then decide if you want to add other material to give a longer flowering season. At the next layer you could add a few roots of spring flowering Lily of the Valley and the pot could be topped off with some freesia bulbs to give colour from the same container in September and October. The planted container can be kept outside in a sheltered spot as all the plants are hardy.
On the other hand if you want to grow something really exotic and have growing space indoors or in a heated greenhouse, then now's the time to plant up rhizomes of canna lilies. These tropical plants have large banana like leaves that can be green, burgundy or striped. Their flowers range from yellow to rich orange and bright red depending on the variety you choose. You can buy plants in June that are already flowering but they will cost 10 times as much as a dried rhizome that you can buy and plant now. Plant the rhizome on its side 10cm (4in) deep in a pot of Levington Potting Compost or Miracle-Gro Plant & Gro. Keep this well watered and pot on into a larger container as the plant develops. Harden off in May and plant out in rich garden soil when all frosts have finished. These tropical plants need a sunny spot and plenty of water and regular feeding. Water every week, even if it has rained and add Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Plant Food each time. You can do this job much easier with the new Miracle-Gro Feeder. The new design launched this year has a new control switch so that you can change from water only to watering and feeding in a second.
FRUIT
Cover gooseberry plants with netting to deter the activity of bull finches that delight in eating the fresh green fruit buds.
Before fruit trees and bushes burst into flower, dress the soil around the roots with Miracle-Gro Controlled Release Plant Food or Osmocote granules. Just a few handfuls to cover the area of the spreading branches is sufficient to feed these plants for the rest of the season. After application, dig the plant food into the top few centimetres of soil and then mulch the area with Levington Soil Improver and Mulch, Levington Farmyard Manure or Levington Cocoa Shells. This will retain moisture in the soil and if a sufficient depth is achieved will also help to suppress weed growth. Just remember that application of a mulch to any part of the garden will do more than improve the texture, drainage and water-holding capacity of your soil. The extra organic matter will provide home for millions more beneficial micro-organisms and help increase the availability of vital nutrients.
VEGETABLES
If you are going to grow potatoes in your veg patch this year it is useless thinking you can plant vegetables bought from your local supermarket to grow on. Instead you need to buy seed potatoes from your local garden centre or seed supplier that are certified as virus and disease-free.
Many gardeners would like to grow some early potatoes even though they do not have space in the garden. In this case you need to select a variety that will produce a useful crop when grown in pots or larger containers. Most early varieties such as 'Winston' or 'Lady Christl' are suitable. For even more flavour, waxy salad varieties such as 'Charlotte', 'Anya' or 'Mimi' (Dobies) are recommended for growing in containers.
Buy your seed potatoes now and store in a light but frost free place until they can be planted in April. To encourage strong shots store each potato in a cell of an egg container with the 'rose' end uppermost.
If you are growing potatoes in containers, place two tubers on a layer of Levington Potting Compost or Miracle-Gro Plant & Gro in the bottom of a 20 litre pot. If you have a half barrel then you can plant half a dozen or more tubers. Keep the compost moist at all times and start to feed the plants with Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Plant Food six weeks after planting giving these hungry plants a dose every week.
If you are going to grow tomatoes in the greenhouse or on the patio in Levington Gro-Bags its time to get sowing seeds of your chosen variety. Small cherry tomatoes are very popular as they produce a good consistent crop and all of them have a good flavour. Favourite varieties include 'Gardener's Delight', 'Sungold' and 'Cherry Belle' which should be sown in February in trays of Levington John Innes Seed or Levington Seed & Cutting Compost. For a standard red greenhouse crop then the variety 'Shirley' is hard to beat.
Tomato seedlings can often be a victim of damping off disease, a fungus that causes wilting and eventual death of the growing plant. To protect your seedling from this disease spray liberally to drench the compost after sowing the seeds with a solution of Murphy Traditional Copper Fungicide. This acts as a great preventative.
WHAT'S NEW
Levington have introduced a full range of five John Innes Composts. Based on the traditional mixture of loam, peat and sand or grit these growing media provide excellent results at each stage of the growing cycle. Levington John Innes Seed is for sowing seeds and rooting cuttings. The free-draining, open texture of this compost coupled with a specially balanced nutrient level is ideal for maximum germination of seeds and subsequent root growth. When pricking out seedlings or potting-up young plants the John Innes No1 is the right choice. It has a special balanced nutrient mix ideally matched to the needs of developing seedlings, plug plants and newly rooted cuttings. As plants get bigger they need more room and a richer compost. That comes when potting on small plants into John Innes No.2. It is ideal for the needs of plants being potted on into medium sized containers and for re-potting established houseplants and vegetables. The richest compost in the standard range is Levington John Innes No.3. This is for the final potting into outdoor containers or pots and is suitable for tomatoes, other vegetables and for final potting of mature plants and patio planters. Last product in the range is Levington John Innes Ericaceous which is designed for potting rhododendrons, azaleas, heathers and other lime-hating plants.
ALWAYS READ THE LABEL. USE PESTICIDES SAFELY
Murphy® Traditional Copper Fungicide contains copper oxychloride. Weedol® contains diquat and paraquat. Weedol Gun!™ contains diquat.® ™ and Miracle-Gro, Osmocote, Murphy, Plus, Levington and Scotts are Trade Marks of The Scotts Company or its affiliates.
GARDENING INFORMATION FROM The Scotts Company (UK) Limited
WRITTEN BY JOHN CLOWES
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