Local Life - St Helens - February 2018

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Gardening
PLANT OF THE MONTH
Heather
There are hundreds of varieties of Heather,
which is an easy to grow, low maintenance
plant for your garden borders or pots.
Adding colour to your garden, you can plant
different species at different times A popular, basic
species is a Mediterranean Shrub. With white, pink
or purple flowers, this evergreen shrub blooms late
winter and Spring to a height of around 6-12 inches.
Heather is best planted in Spring and early Autumn,
in acidic soil with good drainage. If your plants are
autumn flowering, you’ll need to prune them in the
spring by removing old woody stems.
Try mixing up different types of heather in each pot
for bright colour and variety to your garden.
TOP TIP
If you don’t know what type of soil you have in your
garden then invest in a soil testing kit to make sure
you pick the right plants for your garden this year.
JOBS FOR FEBRUARY
• Erect a cold frame, polytunnel or greenhouse.
• Sow your tomatoes indoors.
• Plant soft fruit bushes.
• Plant garlic in the ground before the end of the
month.
• Get your nesting box up and ready. There are
great varieties now that come complete with a
camera that links up to your TV so that you can
check in to ‘nest cam’ and see what’s going on
inside!
• Try adding some edges to your lawn to prepare
for the season ahead.
• Sort out your seeds now by sowing date, month
by month.
HAVE A GO!
Have you ever grown your own garlic? Break the
bulbs into individual cloves and plant them, pointedend
sticking up so that the tip is just covered in soil.
Make sure you space them 15cm apart in a sunny
spot with rows that are 30cm apart. They prefer well
drained soil so check this before you commit to your
position.