
As February rolls in, the days start to feel a little longer, and the garden is on the verge of waking up from its winter slumber. Now’s the time to get ahead with key gardening tasks that will set you up for a vibrant and productive spring. Here’s your essential to-do list for the month!
Tidy Up & Prep Your Plants
- Cut back deciduous ornamental grasses left standing over winter before new growth appears.
- Divide congested clumps of herbaceous perennials and grasses to create healthy new plants for free.
- After flowering, divide large clumps of Snowdrops and winter aconites to start new colonies.
- If a deciduous shrub has outgrown its spot, now is the ideal time to move it. Some plants, like Roses and Magnolias, dislike being moved, so choose wisely!
- Prune Roses and climbing Roses now but leave rambling varieties until late summer. Try propagating new Roses from cuttings for an extra challenge.
- It’s still a great time to plant bare-root Roses and fruit trees if you haven’t done so yet.
Spring Colour & Shrub Care
- Brighten up containers with hardy spring bedding like Primroses, Wallflowers, and Forget-Me-Nots.
- Once winter-flowering shrubs like Mahonia, Winter Jasmine, and Heathers have finished blooming, give them a prune.
- Encourage abundant Wisteria flowers by pruning side shoots back to three buds from the base.
- Sprinkle slow-release fertiliser around Roses and flowering shrubs – check out our garden sundries department for organic and traditional options.
Fruit & Vegetable Patch
- Weed your vegetable beds and enrich them with a thick layer of compost.
- Get an early start on strawberries by using a cloche or fleece to encourage growth.
- Start chitting potatoes – this simple process gives them a head start and can lead to a stronger crop.
- Hunt down snails hiding in pots and crevices before they multiply. We have a great selection of slug and snail deterrents in store from well-known brands such as Slug Clear Ultra and Defenders Slugs Away, including natural wool pellets that will protect your garden for weeks.
- Check old seed packets for viability by sowing a few on damp kitchen paper to see if they sprout.
- Sow Sweet Peas in deep pots, keeping them frost-free. Try the kitchen roll method for easy germination!
- Dampen a piece of kitchen roll.
- Sprinkle the seeds on the damp paper towel.
- Fold the paper towel in half.
- Put the paper towel in a sealed container.
- Place the container in a warm room.
- Check the seeds every few days for signs of germination.
- Once the seeds have sprouted, plant them in compost, keeping them in a frost-free environment until they are strong enough to be moved outdoors.
- Start tender crops like tomatoes and chillies in a heated propagator or a warm, sunny windowsill.
- Plant Dahlia tubers in trays to encourage early shoots for cuttings.
- Pick up a selection of starter plants for summer bedding – available now in the garden centre. Keep them in a greenhouse or on a warm windowsill until the frost risk has passed.
- Remove any yellowing or faded leaves from overwintering plants to prevent fungal issues.


General Garden Maintenance
- Check any fleece or coverings used to protect plants from frost and make necessary adjustments.
- Keep feeding the birds – hanging homemade fat ball feeders will attract helpful blue tits that also control garden pests.
- Improve your soil by spreading compost or well-rotted manure over beds and forking it in.
- Give Roses and shrubs a nutrient boost with a layer of well-rotted manure.
Spring is just around the corner, and a little effort now will ensure your garden is bursting with life in the months ahead. Pop into our garden centre for expert advice, high-quality plants, and all your gardening essentials. Happy gardening!