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et ready for seed-sowing.
Make sure you have good-quality soil-based or soilless seed compost. Before you
buy, check bags are fresh, avoiding leftovers from last year. Clean pots, trays
and modules before sowing.
If you didn’t plant garlic
in autumn, you can still plant suitable cultivars such as 'Solent Wight’ at the
end of the month.
Prune back stems of autumn
raspberries close to ground level. For a smaller but earlier crop, cut about
one third of the stems in half. Select the strongest shoots and prune just
below the point where they fruited. Remove those stems after harvest.
Check apricots, peaches
(pictured) and nectarines under cover as they may start flowering. Hand pollinate
using a soft brush.
Cold and humidity can
encourage fuzzy grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) on leaves, stems or flower
buds of plants overwintering under glass. Remove any dead or dying foliage.
Water and improve ventilation to reduce humidity.
Prune shoots of
overwintering fuchsias to one or two buds.
If you can maintain the
temperature at about 10C (50F), pot up dahlia tubers and start bringing them
into growth.
In milder areas, start
pruning hybrid tea and floribunda roses; in colder areas the pruning is best
delayed until March.
Finish off cutting back
perennial and deciduous ornamental grasses, getting the beds ready for
mulching.
Remove some of the older
leaves and damaged or diseased foliage of hellebores when the flower buds start
to emerge.
Prune shrubs grown for
winter stem colour, such as Cornus alba, Cornus sanguinea and Salix
alba. Prune back all stems to two buds (two pairs of buds for Cornus) of
the previous season’s growth.
Renovate deciduous hedges
such as beech and hornbeam. If healthy, they will tolerate reduction by up to
about 50 per cent in height and width, but such drastic pruning is best spread
over two seasons.
WARM THE SOIL FOR EARLY
SOWING
To start sowing outdoors
early, consider pre-warming a patch of soil. When the ground is not too wet,
first cultivate the soil, incorporating organic matter and fertiliser if
needed. Cover the soil with clear plastic film or cloches. It is also possible
to use black polythene, but ensure a good contact with the soil. Fleece is less
effective. To keep the sheet in place, tuck it into the soil, or weigh the
edges down with bricks.
Leave in place for six weeks
until you are ready to sow. After sowing, cover the soil with cloches or fleece
to protect the germinating seeds and young plants from the worst weather.
Clay soils are slower to
warm up as they hold a large amount of water. Unless water is lost to
evaporation, pre-warming will not be very effective. It is preferable to use
cloches on clay.
Crops to try
Early carrots ('Adelaide’,
'Yukon’)
Bolt-resistant beetroot
('Boltardy’)
Broad bean ('Masterpiece
Green Longpod ’ 'Witkiem Manita’)
Kohl rabi ('Kolibri’)
Lettuce ('Little Gem’,
'Merveille de Quatre Saisons’)
Parsnip ('Gladiator’,
’Archer’)
Peas ('Feltham First’,
'Douce Provence’)
Radish ('Sparkler’)
Salad onions ('White
Lisbon’, 'Purpette’)
Shallot ('Long Red
Florence’)
Turnips ('Atlantic’, 'Milan
Purple Top’)
PLANT OF THE MONTH
Narcissus 'February Gold'
This is a vigorous daffodil
for early spring colour. The single flowers are golden yellow and 7.5cm (3in)
wide, and the perianth segments (outer petals) are slightly reflexed (curved
back). The flowers reach about 30cm (12in) tall.
Bulbs are best planted in
the autumn in moist but well-drained soil and in full sun or light shade. Wear
gloves when handling daffodil bulbs as the sap can cause skin irritation. Make
sure that the soil is moist when in full growth and let the foliage die down
naturally.
If necessary, lift, divide
and replant once the foliage starts to die down after flowering.
Source of Article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
