Prune Clematis
Prune clematis now to encourage a waterfall of large, showy blooms by summer. Clematis are among the best value climbers you can get – you’ll find a fantastic range in our garden centre and now is just the time of year to plant them. They say you can have a clematis in flower every day of the year, and we’ve got [...]
Rhubarb treat
Act now and you can enjoy forced rhubarb, one of the gourmet treats of early spring. The tender, pale pink stems of rhubarb grown in late winter in the dark are so delicately flavoured they’re much sought-after by chefs and foodies across Europe. Forced rhubarb costs a fortune in the shops, but it’s not difficult to force your own rhubarb [...]
Forcing new potatoes
Start off some new potatoes in sacks undercover now and you could be harvesting your early summer treats weeks earlier this year! Forcing new potatoes is a great way to sneak in an early harvest long before any spuds would be ready to eat outdoors. It fools tubers into thinking it’s spring – so they burst into growth weeks earlier than [...]
Cutting back ornamental grasses
Cut back deciduous ornamental grasses before the new shoots grow too long and start to get in the way. It’s worth waiting until early spring for this job as grasses hold their seed heads well through winter, producing great feathery plumes that look fabulous when rimed with frost: some of the best for producing this effect include Miscanthus sinensis‘Kleine Silberspinne’ with [...]
Snowdrop month
Enjoy a snowdrop day and learn to really appreciate the delicate beauty of Britain’s best-loved early spring flower. February is the best time to visit gardens which specialise in snowdrops, and many hold snowdrop days so you can marvel at hundreds of different varieties. Among the best places to see snowdrops are the massive winter garden at Dunham Massey, in Cheshire, [...]
Dainty-looking yet tough, and smothered with flowers over a long season, there are few climbers to beat a clematis. Grow them over pergolas, walls and fences; train them up a tree; cover an eyesore or provide a pretty partner for climbing roses. There’s one in flower every month of the year, from the blue bells of alpine clematis in spring [...]
Keep on top of weeds
Keep on top of weedsright from the start and you’ll not only make your garden look better – you’ll have fewer problems later in the year, since you’ll deny them the chance to seed around and spread. Keep on top of Weeds Hoe off annual weeds regularly – once a week is ideal – choosing a dry, sunny day wherever [...]
Install raised beds
Install raised beds in the garden now and they’ll be primed and ready to plant once the season gets under way next month. Raised beds are great for vegetables but are also ideal for herbs and cut flowers. Raised Bed Gardening They’re good for your plants, too. They hold all the nutrients in place, making the soil so rich you [...]