GARDENING TIPS - February 2012
The weather should be starting to warm up now and everything will start to show new growth. Be careful when cutting back hedges and shrubs as they will provide shelter for birds and with the mild winter we have had so far, they may even be thinking about nesting early.
Roses can be pruned this month by cutting back to an outward facing bud. Try to open up the centre of the bush by cutting out some of the old wood. Mahonias can also be cut back, though if they have berries forming, the blackbirds and thrushes will appreciate them. However they will tolerate hard pruning, if necessary, depending on the size of the bush. Sweet peas can be sown now unless you did so earlier. They like room for long roots to form. I find that large cream or yoghurt pots are ideal for 5 seeds and then unless you want specimen flowers they can be planted as a clump perhaps around a pyramid of canes. If you have a greenhouse and a little heat you could sow glasshouse tomatoes and peppers now. Any cuttings taken last year of geraniums and fuchsias should be potted up individually now. Check your fuchsias for a new pest- Fuchsia gall mite. This tiny pest gets onto the leaves, sucks the sap and eventually can kill the plant. We have found it on plants along the Broadway. For the time being we have cut them hard back and will spray the new growth with an insecticide. However it seems difficult to eradicate at the moment so if it returns we will have to dig them up.
Seed potatoes are now available along with shallot and onion sets. Potatoes need to be chitted- stood in a cool but not frosty position to allow shoots to grow before planting. They can be successfully grown in large pots or bags to get early new potatoes. Why not have a go.
(photo - fuchsias)
Denise Hill
Broadstone in Bloom
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