Reproduced from February 07 issue of Gardeners' World magazine. This month's issue on sale now Subscribe now and save 30 per cent.
Tend pansies...time to prune...sow sweet peas...
Look after those pansies
Winter-hardy pansies provide reliable flushes of bloom during mild spells - a welcome boost when your borders are looking so bare. Don't ignore them, though, as fading flowers usually form seed pods and these must be picked off to prevent plants setting seed. Remember to tidy the plants regularly, picking off yellowing leaves and checking for sheltering slugs and snails among the foliage. Greenfly infestations can spread quickly in spring, so spray with soapy water if you spot any.
Prune your hydrangeas
Leaving old flower heads on mophead and lacecap hydrangeas provides a degree of frost protection to developing shoots. New growth is emerging on Hydrangea macrophylla varieties and this must be protected, but once conditions improve in your area, the faded flower heads should be snipped off. Cut back, shortening shoots to strong buds lower down the stem, shaping plants as you go. Take this opportunity to remove congested stems, opening up the centre of the bush, by cutting out about a third of the oldest woody or non-flowering stems each year. Varieties of Hydrangea paniculata need to be pruned differently, cutting all shoots down to within three buds of soil level every spring.
Cut back clematis
Summer-flowering clematis are due their annual prune this month. Ones that flower from June onwards must be pruned to avoid new growth and blooms developing high up on bare lower stems. During February you'll notice plump green buds sprouting from bare woody stems, and it's these that will develop to carry flowers later in summer. Prune just above the lowest buds, or at various heights so that resulting new growth provides the cover you're after. Clematis to prune in February include varieties of C. orientalis, C. texensis, C. vitalba and C. viticella and large flowered hybrids
Adam says: rescue hedges
Neglected hedges - bare at the bottom and full of gaps - can often be rejuvenated with hard pruning. Yew, privet, forsythia, camellia and beech can all be cut back hard into the old wood or down to their bases with loppers. This will reward you with strong new growth from the base, which you can turn into a far better hedge.
- Tip: pruning dogwoods
Several shrubs require hard pruning in late winter to encourage new shoots to develop from the base. Dogwoods are valued for their colourful bare winter stems, but these must be pruned back to their woody bases in February. Vigorous new shoots form in spring, carrying colourful foliage that can be enjoyed all summer. Willows can be pruned in this way, too.
Clear away old growth
Many hardy plants start back into growth once temperatures rise above 5C, which should be reached this month or next in many areas. Before grasses and herbaceous perennials begin producing new shoots, do make sure all their old growth has been completely cut away. Clear flower borders, cutting down perennials and composting all the debris, then mulch with composted bark or bags of peat-free compost.
Sow sweet peas now
If you're aiming for the earliest blooms, you'll have sown your sweet peas in pots last autumn and will now have strong plants developing, ready to plant out in April. Don't worry if you didn't, though, as sweet peas can still be sown - they'll be a little late, but you'll enjoy flowers this summer even so. Although sweet peas are hardy, the soil conditions are still too cold to sow directly into the ground until April. This month I'll be sowing seed into tall pots or Rootrainers. Once seedlings have developed three or four pairs of leaves, pinch out the growing tip to encourage side shoots to form.
Checklist
- Prune winter jasmine.
- Move shrubs growing in the wrong place.
- Divide congested perennials.
- Plant lily of the valley.
- Trim all foliage from epimediums.
- Plant lilies in pots.
- Prune mahonia, removing tall old stems to make room for new growth.
- Lift and divide snowdrops.
- Chop down pampas and miscanthus grasses.