February Gardening To-Do List

Here’s our pick of gardening jobs for February! They will leave your garden in great shape for the coming summer 🙂

Sowing and planting

• Sow first early potatoes end of month and suitable cultivar of garlic if you missed the autumn planting
• Start sowing summer bedding and veg seeds indoor
• Start Dahlia tubers in pots if a 10C temperature can be maintained
• Move seed potatoes into light for chitting
• Plant trees, shrubs, roses

Pruning, dividing and cutting back

• Lift, divide, replant herbaceous plants
• Prune woody plants like Buddleja hard
• Prune winter flowering shrubs that have finished flowering
• Renovate overgrown deciduous hedges
• Lawn can get first cut if ground dry
• Finish cutting back deciduous grasses left uncut over winter

General maintenance

• For plants overwintering under glass, make sure all dead or drying foliage is removed to discourage grey mould. Improve ventilation if possible
• Fertilize rose beds with well-rotted farm yard manure
• Maintain tools
• Prepare beds for veg crops if ground dry
• Harvest last parsnips, leeks, swedes, beetroot

The Garden Pavilion is bursting with seeds and bulbs at the moment. Come in and treat yourself to the flower and vegetable seeds or amazing flowering bulbs on offer.

See you here soon.

Mary, Horticulturalist at Powerscourt Garden Pavilion

January Gardening To-do List

Happy New Year! Let’s get the gardening year off to a great start with gardening advice from our in-house horticulturalist Monica on what to do in the garden this January. Best of luck! Let us know how you get on.

January gardening To-do List

Planning

Order your catalogues for spring planting of summer flowering plants and plan where you want to plant what.

Stock up on stakes, canes, string – check that your garden tools are in order as well.

Image Credit

Sowing and planting

Sow seeds of Begonia, Lobelia, Salvia and Pelargonium in a heated greenhouse or propagator to provide early plants.

Sweet peas can be sown this month. Those sown earlier in the autumn can now be potted on. Place on a sunny windowsill, or on a high shelf in the greenhouse that gets plenty of light.

Plant lily bulbs in pots and in borders during mild spells.

This is the last chance to sow seeds that need frost in order to germinate (such as native tree and shrub seeds, and alpine plants).

 Image Credit

Pruning, dividing and cutting back

Cut off old leaves of hellebores and Iris unguicularis leaves to expose the flowers.

Start cutting back grasses and other perennials left for winter interest.

Root cuttings can be taken now eg. Papaver, Verbascum, Acanthus and Phlox

During dry spells, you can still lift and divide herbaceous perennials. This will increase stocks, and revive poorly flowering clumps.

 Image Credit

General maintenance

In cold spells, protect non frost-proof containers with bubble wrap, hessian or fleece, to prevent them cracking.

Grouping the pots close to a south-facing wall may provide additional protection.

Ensure protective straw or fleece is still in place on tender plants overwintering outdoor.

Collect leaves that have blown over beds. Clear up any weeds, to be ready for mulching in the spring.

Keep tubs and containers tidy.

Some pots particularly those sheltered by eaves or balconies may need watering.

Raise patio containers onto feet or bricks to avoid them sitting in the wet.

Other things to do:

Recycle your Christmas tree by shredding it for mulch

Dig over any vacant beds that have not been dug already

Repair and re-shape lawn edges

Start forcing rhubarb

Plan your vegetable crop rotations for the coming season

Keep putting out food and water for hungry birds

Inspect any stored tubers for rot or drying out.