Citylife in Lichfield February 2020

Advertising Feature
Your Garden in
February
By Byron Lewis
We've not seen any snow over the
course of the last few months -
which is good! Unfortunately rain
has been the order of the day,
causing the ground to become
saturated. It is worth keeping off
lawns and restricting your
digging/planting plans for a few
weeks until the soil has drained a
little. Meanwhile there are other
jobs that can be done.
Why not plant up a pot with some
instant colour? Either use a brand new one or, in this age of recycling,
bring an old pot back into use! Colourful plants to use now include
pansies, primroses, ivy and pots of ready-planted spring bulbs. We've now
got a great range of bulbs ready, from crocus to mini daffs, hyacinth and
tulips. All these are great for colour straight away - once they've done
their thing in pots, transplant them into gaps in your borders for colour
in future years.
Once the soil is a little more drained you can also start to cut back last
year’s growth on cottage garden plants, such as crocosmia and foxglove.
The mild weather has caused brand new growth already this year, and
cutting the old growth away will allow this to develop well. It also makes
the garden look a lot tidier!
Garden centres will soon be selling seed potatoes - buy them early for
the best selection and keep them somewhere warm and dark (like an
airing cupboard). This will encourage small shoots, or chits, to grow.
When these are around an inch long they will almost be ready for
planting into the garden. Taster packs are often available so you can try
growing a few different tasting spuds for your dinner - don't forget these
can also be grown in large pots.
If you’ve got a greenhouse, now is the time to give it a good clean. Take
out any benching and wash it thoroughly with a good disinfectant, wash
all the glass (inside and out) for maximum light to get through and aid
your growing. On the subject of cleaning, wash out any old plant pots so
they can be re-used again this season. It’s also worth cleaning any
pathways outdoors that may have become slippery over the mild winter.
Again use a good disinfectant to remove any algae or slime.
I think now is the ideal time to put the kettle on, while you sort through
this year's seed catalogues and gardening magazines to plan your
summer garden!
Byron Lewis runs Lichfield Garden Centre at Curborough
Countryside Centre, Lichfield.
Telephone 01543 254306 or visit online at
www.lichfieldgardencentre.co.uk,
or on Facebook and Twitter.
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