Tips of the month – February

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February is the month when dark days depart and when there are signs that spring is on its way. As the days get longer we are desperate to get out into the garden for some tidying and planting.

But as February is usually the coldest month of the year, hold off with any jobs involving plants that can be susceptible to the cold and wet. Focus on maintenance jobs and give borders a health check to ensure that they are tidy and healthy so plants are ready to spring into life come springtime. 

Also clean paths and patios, keeping them algae free to reduce slip hazard.

Bulbs

  • Lillies bulbs can be planted out towards the end of this month in pots or directly in the ground.
  • It is not too late to plant alliums, that will flower later than those planted last autumn. 
  • Summer bulbs: Order bulbs now to plant them when all risk of frost has passed, 

Lift Snowdrops

It is the right time to lift and divide congested populations of snowdrops, replanting smaller clumps at the same depth as they were before.  

Cutting back and pruning

  • Clear away old stems and seed-heads of perennials left to stand over winter, making space for new growth. 
  • Prune summer flowering shrubs 
  • Lavender: trim back the old flower stalks 
  • Sedums: cut the brown stems down to ground level
  • Ornamental grasses: cut deciduous grasses down to the ground before new growth starts to emerge.
  • Shrub roses: remove dead or diseased stems and cut back repeat-flowering roses by a third to a half. 
  • Prune late-flowering clematis (group 3 clematis): cut just above a pair of healthy buds about 30 to 60 cm above ground.
  • Autumn fruiting raspberries: simply cut down all canes to the ground and apply a thick layer of homemade compost or mulch. 
  • Wisteria: February is the last month to give wisteria a winter prune. Cut back the stems to two or three buds. 
  • Fuchsia, penstemons: best to wait another month until you see signs of new growth. 

Sowing Annuals

  • It might still be too cold to sow outdoors. The end of the month is a good time to give annuals a head start, indoors in a warm sunny windowsill, or a heated greenhouse. Once the seedlings are big enough to handle, transfer them to small pots to grow, before moving them in late spring in the ground or bigger pots. 

Chitting potatoes

Chitting is a way of encouraging potatoes to sprout before they are planted. That way they will crop a little earlier and will be more productive. 

February is a good month to start chitting seed potatoes in a light, cool but frost free place. Potatoes will need 4 to 6 weeks of chitting before they are ready to plant. This will give them a chance to sprout and start putting on growth. They will be ready for planting in mid-March to April when the soli temperature warms up to 6-10 degrees.

Mulch perennial vegetables

Spread a thick layer of well-rotted manure or garden compost, around asparagus and globe artichoke. This will feed them, suppress weeds and retain moisture 

Visit to Anglesey Abbey – 31st January 2025

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On the last day of January, members and friends of the AHS, went on our Winter Garden Trip to visit Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire. The Winter outing has a special place to cheer us at this dark and inclement time and every seat on the coach was taken.
The weather was kind, overcast, not too cold, with no rain. 


The attractions included the Jacobean House, a Watermill, Lode Mill and of course the garden. 
A small group of us managed to take the guided snowdrop tour where we saw the specialist collection of snowdrops some directly linked to Anglesey Abbey. An artist has painted over 300 different snowdrops collected in a beautiful book on sale in the bookshop. We learnt that the snowdrops hybridise and subtle new varieties emerge. They propagate in a Fibonacci pattern so once they establish they spread. The flowers also lean over and reach the ground once they are past their best. Those with seed heads drop their seeds and germination can begin again.There are lots of names for the snowdrops including Robin Hood and Anglesey Grumpy. 

The winter garden has a wow factor with the beautiful silver birches planted in a group, their white trunks stark against the deep colour of the soil. The dogwoods gave contrasting rich colours of reds and yellows. Block planting, with repeating patterns, was a notable theme in the expanse of the garden..
The woodland walk and the path to the Lode Mill were explored and those that managed a tour of the house enjoyed it. One of our party was spotted in the woodland play area.

The restaurant provided satisfying hot food at reasonable prices. The shop and plant centre were busy and many came away with purchases. The shop is the busiest National Trust shop and we proved the point.
A much enjoyed outing for the Aldersbrook Horticultural Society.

Our Winter Gardens

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Ruth Martin, our AHS chair talked about Winter Gardens at the January meeting, in the place of the advertised speaker who had to postpone due to family illness. She began by showing pictures of plants and flowers from members’ gardens blooming during December and early January (before the freeze), emphasising the effects of climate change in our gardens. However, Ruth went on to emphasise the importance of planting particular shrubs, trees and early flowering bulbs to provide colour, interest and perfume in the cold, grey and dismal months. She stated the importance of providing a good winter view from the window. Ruth spoke about the changes in gardening habits and the necessity of keeping dead plants and foliage over the winter, providing feed for birds and insects. In the same way a number of flowering shrubs such as Daphne, Clematis cirrhosa, Hamamelis, & Winter flowering honeysuckle and early bulbs like Iris reticulata, Crocus, Galanthus (snowdrops) & Eranthis provide pollen for early flying single bees. Shrubs which flower in Winter have a strong perfume precisely to attract bees – they also perfume a room if one or two sprigs are brought into the house. A number of sprigs of winter flowering plants were available for members to see and smell. 

Pictures of trees of interest in winter, like Silver Birch and the Paperback maple with stunning trunks were displayed as well as shrubs with coloured stems such as Cornus and Rubus cockburnianus which give winter colour. Ruth suggested that planting a border with one or two evergreen shrubs provides a good background to plants with coloured stems. She recommended identifying an area of the garden which can be seen from a window and in that area planting an interesting tree, with evergreens and shrubs with coloured stems and strong perfume to provide more interest. She also suggested planting up pots with early flowering bulbs such as Iris reticulata and Crocus which can be seen from the window and planting perfumed shrubs by paths and outside doors so they can be appreciated best. 

She concluded her talk with some pictures of the Winter garden at Anglesey Abbey which members of the AHS