Welcome to Gardening with Ben, the podcast where we dig into the soil of
our gardens and the depths of our green funds. I'm your host, Ben,
here to guide you through the joys of gardening, from sowing seeds to
reaping bountiful harvests. Each episode will explore tips, tricks, and tales from
the Garden and Allotment, sharing insights from ourself and stories from our own back
garden adventures. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just getting your hands dirty for
the first time, there's something here for everyone, So grab your brew and
gardening gloves and let's get growing. With Gardening with Ben. Hello, and
welcome to our episode of what jobs need doing in the Garden and Allotment in
February. So this podcast is going to talk about all the different jobs that
we need to be getting done ready for the springtime and ready for the things
to start growing. If you didn't listen to yesterday's episode, make sure you
do have less to it because we was talking about all the things that you
can start to grow in February, So make sure you go back and listen
to that episode after this one. So as the winter chills linger and the
first signs of springs began to emerge. February stands as a pivotal month for
gardeners and allotment holders alike. It's time of preparation, planning, and early
planting, a month where the groundwork laid can set the tone for the fruitful
months ahead. In this episode of Gardening with Ben, we delve into the
essential gardening and allotment jobs that beckon our attention in February, from the wakeful
stretch of the dormant beds to the promise held within each seed packet. February's
tasks are as varied and as they are vital. We'll explore how to protect
your budding aspirations from lake frost, the art of chitting potatoes in anticipation of
their planting, and the precise timing to sow the seeds of success For early
vegetables and flowers. Pruning takes precedents as well, with fruit trees and bushes
needing careful attention to shape that year's growth. Meanwhile, the soil itself calls
for enrichment, whether through edition of well wrotted manure or careful planning of crop
rotation and showing your land remains fertile and production. Join us as we guide
you through these February tasks, sharing tips advice from our own tales of the
soil. Whether a seasoned gardener or beginning to cultivate your green from, this
episode is packed with the insights and help your garden will thrive for the coming
year. So sit back, relax, and grab yourself a brew and a
notepad and we'll get talking about what we need to do down at the allotment.
So, as I said, the best thing to do is have a
notepad ready because we'll be talking about all the tasks what need to be done
at the allotment and garden in February. And as you know, I do
like to make a note of things so that I could tick them off once
they're completed, and then you know you've done them. You know you've got
them out of the way, and then jobs are done and then you can
concentrate on all the other jobs that need doing down at the allotment and in
the garden. So we're going to talk about what jobs need to be done
this month down at the allotment and garden, and we'll do it in three
sections. What needs to be done in the vegetable garden, what needs to
be done in the fruit garden, and what needs to be done in the
flower garden. So yeah, let's delve into today's episode. So there's not
much to be done in the vegetable garden because there's not much growing at the
moment and there's only a few little jobs that we need doing so this month,
if you're growing asparagus, you need to put some multu around them.
Adding multu will give them that extra start to the year and give them that
extra struck in growing and getting some fantastic crops from them. So put a
bit of mult around them to give them the fruit into the soil of what
they need to get growing. Next up is beds. Prepare your allotment and
kitchen garden beds by weeding them, turning them over and covering them with plastic
to warm them up ready for growing this year. And once you've got them
all weeded, you can hopefully keep on top of them with a hole and
keep them weed free if only. Next up are potatoes. If you've not
started chating your potatoes, then now is the perfect time to be doing so
on the allotment and garden for the year. So yeah, I usually start
cheating my potatoes because it gives them the actual little start ready for planting out
in Good Friday, because I always plant my potatoes out and Good Friday.
It's a rule I stuck by. It's an old gardener's tail, but it's
something that I've always stuck by. So that's everything that you need to do
in the vegetable garden this month. Like I said, not many jobs,
but I usually use these monsters preparing ready for the monks ahead. Next up
is fruit trees and fruit bushes. So if you've got apple trees, these
can still be pruned. While the trees are still dormant. They'll start waking
up in March April time, so now is the time to prune them back.
Black currants, prune these if you've not done so, ready for the
year's growth. Fruit bushers. If you've got fruit bushes, add some potassium
fertilizer this month on your fruit bushes for great growth this year. Gooseberries,
if you've not pruned them again, you can still do that this month.
Same girls. For pear trees, get them pruned as well. Raspberries.
This is the last month that you can prune your raspberries. Autumn varieties can
be prune to the ground sum of the varieties. You leave last year's growth
for the fruit, but prune the canes which had fruit on them last year
and trim off the tops of your new growth to make them bush out more.
Red currants and black currants can both be pruned as well this month.
Rhubob If you're wanted an early crop of rhubob, why not try forcing it.
It's not something I do. I let mangrow or natural and yeah,
if you wanted an earlier crop, try forced it. Strawberries. If you
wanted an early crop of strawberries, cover them with a clotch. That will
start them growing faster. Not something I do. I just usually wait until
the ready, But if you wanted an earlier crop, cover them with a
clotch to keep them warm. Stone fruit protect blossoms on nectarines, apricots and
peachers from cold weather with a fleece. So that's all the jobs which you
can do in February in the fruit garden. Again, not too many jobs.
I usually had a winter wash on my fruit trees as well, which
protects them from the moths and from insects and It just gives them that little
bit extra protection from them being nibbled and eaten away. So what can we
do in the flower garden? Again, there's not many jobs to be done
this month in the flower guard. There's not many jobs to do in the
garden at the moment at all. But the jobs that need doing in the
flower garden are clematists. These can be pruned back now ready for the months
ahead. So pruneus summer clematists back this month. Futures these can be prone
back to two buds on each shoot this month, ready for the month ahead,
and heathers can also be pruned back as well. If you're going pans
is, make sure you keep dead heading them because the more you deadhead them,
the more they'll carry it on flowering. If you let them grow and
you're not deadhead of them, they'll go to seed and then they'll start dying
off for the year ahead. So make sure you're deadheaded and it will keep
the continuous growth growing on the allotment. So that's everything that can be done
in the flower garden. Like I said, not many jobs to be done
at all down at the allotment this month, but I usually use this month
as a time for preparation for the ear head. What I will do is
I'll repair all the beds, I'll get them all painted, I'll tide it
by paths up, any fencing that's blowing down or any rotted posts, will
replace all them, get them all ready. There's always plenty of jobs to
be done down at the Allotment, and the same goes for like any greenhouse.
You can be washing your plant pots, your seed trays, disinfecting it
all, killing off any bugs that may be hiding around, and any diseases
as well, because you wouldn't want any disease us in your new plans.
So get them all washed and get them all ready because next month is going
to be a very busy month of doing it. So this episode has been
a very short episode on all the jobs what he'd doing in February in the
Gardening and Allotment. I hope you've enjoyed it. Make sure you click that
follow button, make sure you click that subscribe button, and then you'll be
able to stay up to date with all these episodes that we put up here
on the Allotment. And yeah, make sure you go back and listen to
all the other episodes as well, because there's plenty of episodes on here.
I hope you've enjoyed it. Remember to leave a review, as that does
help push out the podcast, So make sure you come back tomorrow for tomorrow's
podcast. And remember, keep smiling, keep shining, and keep gardening with
Ben. Everybody, and that wraps up another episode of Gardening with Ben.
Thank you for joining me in this journey. Remember every seed planted is a
step towards a greener world, and every day is a chance to grow something
beautiful. Keep nurturing your gardens and your souls. Until next time, I'm
Gardening with Ben reminding you to let your garden be your sanctuary. Happy gardening,
and see you in the next episode. Remember keep smiling, keep shining,
and keep gardening with