Here some tips for February gardening tasks:
If you have a few boughs left over from your Christmas tree, put them over tender plants to catch the snow. It is the freeze/thaw cycle that kills plants, not just the cold.
Start planning your garden projects for 2024. Make a list for the spring, then you will know what you didn’t get done when you check it in June. I have mine done and I am tired already. Luckily, a garden is never finished.
Go online and order up spring catalogues. I just got mine from Botanus in British Columbia, packed with spring and summer plants like dozens of colourful dahlias, beautiful begonias, lovely lilies and achilleas. Check them out at www.botanus.com
Start propagating stem cuttings of geraniums, fuchsias, etc. by the end of the month.
Plant slow-germinating seeds for the spring inside now, like impatiens, peppers, eggplants, etc.
Don’t over-water house plants. Wait till the soil in the pot is dry down at least an inch before adding more water. Then water well and wait until it’s dry again.
As the weather warms, you can start pruning shade trees, fruit trees and shrubs, if you can get to them through the snow. Leave trees that “bleed” like maples and birch until after the sap runs and the leaves appear in the spring.
To get a whiff of spring, plan to take in the Barrie Spring Garden and Home Show, March 9 and 10, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Bradford Greenhouses Garden Gallery in Springwater, on Hwy 90, just west of Barrie. Hear special guest presenter, Frankie Flowers at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It’s worth the drive to Springwater.
Master gardener John Hethrington doesn't let any work pile up for his 20 different gardens. His advice for all gardeners is this: there's always work to be done.
