Five Essential Gardening Jobs That Must Be Completed This February
With the gloomy days of January finally behind us, the gardening season officially begins in earnest. Leading horticultural expert Simon from Walking Talking Gardeners has compiled a critical list of gardening tasks that absolutely must be addressed during the coming weeks. "If you don't complete these tasks this month," he warns, "it will be too late to do them later. This will directly impact your garden's displays next season, and you won't have another opportunity until this time next year."
Pruning Early Spring-Flowering Plants
First on Simon's agenda is the pruning of early spring-flowering varieties such as mahonia and honeysuckle. "These plants flower on old growth," he explains in his latest instructional video. "By pruning now, you encourage new growth during the upcoming season, which will produce flowers next year."
Simon emphasizes that gardeners should avoid being overly aggressive with their secateurs. The goal is simply to create enough space for fresh shoots to emerge. "The crucial point is to complete this task now," he stresses. "If you prune these plants later, you risk removing the flowering wood that would produce next season's blooms."
When it comes to pruning technique, Simon advises against excessive precision. "Remove anything that appears straggly. Don't always cut to a specific fault point. Sometimes it's better to remove an entire branch rather than attempting to create a perfectly tidy appearance through numerous small snips."
He offers particular caution regarding witch hazels: "Be very careful with these plants because you don't want to damage their ornamental branch structure. Ideally, leave them undisturbed. However, if you have branches that are protruding awkwardly or obstructing pathways, you can carefully trim these back."
Lifting and Dividing Snowdrops
Regarding snowdrops, Simon identifies late February as the optimal period for lifting and dividing these delicate bulbs to create more impressive displays next year. "If they haven't finished flowering in your area yet, they will soon," he notes. "That transitional period represents the ideal time to lift, divide, and redistribute them throughout your garden."
"When snowdrops still have their leaves but no longer have flower heads, that's the absolute best time of year to propagate them through division," Simon continues. "This represents another time-sensitive task—you need to complete it as soon as flowering finishes."
Trimming Wisteria
Next on Simon's essential list is giving wisteria plants their proper winter trim. "You should have completed a summer pruning already," he explains, "and now it's time for the winter cut. February represents your final opportunity to complete this task."
The technique involves cutting back those long, whippy shoots, leaving just two or three buds from the main stem. "As with all pruning activities," Simon advises, "always remove any dead, diseased, dying, or crossing branches first."
He offers another crucial recommendation: thoroughly clean your secateurs or saws after working on each plant. Neglecting this step could inadvertently spread diseases or pests between your valuable garden specimens.
Pruning Fruit Trees
February marks the final opportunity for remedial pruning of certain fruit trees, according to Simon. Apple, pear, and medlar trees can all benefit from careful tidying during this period.
While medlars receive less attention than more common fruit trees like apples and pears, they produce small brown fruits in autumn that can be enjoyed fresh or transformed into jelly. Since medlars are rarely available in supermarkets, cultivating your own represents the most practical way to sample this unusual fruit.
Simon provides an important warning regarding stone fruit trees: "You absolutely must not prune cherries, peaches, plums, or similar varieties at this time. Pruning these trees during colder months could cause significant damage to the plants."
Applying Winter Tar Wash
Another essential task for fruit tree owners involves applying winter tar wash. This oil-based treatment, readily available from most major garden centers, helps manage common garden pests including aphids and red spider mites.
When sprayed onto fruit tree bark, winter tar wash suffocates overwintering insect eggs, preventing infestations once temperatures begin to rise in spring. This preventive measure represents a crucial component of maintaining healthy fruit trees throughout the growing season.
