Garden Notes for February 2026

If the weather allows, try to get the seed beds dug over early in the month as the frosty mornings will help make a good ‘tilth’ for the young seeds.  But only do your digging when there is no frost and it is dry enough to fall off the end of the spade – otherwise it will do no good at all. Always try to dig in good humus. Some people say that incorporating coarse grit will improve our clay soil by improving the drainage.

In February, if you have well sheltered places why not try some early broad beans, spaced at 20 cm. Young carrots are one of the joys of the garden, try sowing some ‘Nantes 5’ or ‘Amsterdam Forcing’. All the big seed-houses do packs of salad leaves, and these can be grown after starting under glass, since they need a bit more heat than the other crops I have mentioned. Mini-lettuces like ‘Little Gem’ and ‘Tom Thumb’ may also be started and planted out at 15cm spacing when the plants have developed a bit more.

All these seedlings will need to be protected from frosts – use garden fleece as required, but always allow plenty of air to circulate to stop fungal attack such as botrytis which will cause damping off.

Think about getting seed potatoes in February. There is a wide range to choose from. First earlies like ‘Lady Christie’ do well here, although to get the fuller flavour of second earlies is always nice – try ‘Nadine’ then there is always the reliable ‘Charlotte’. Don’t forget to start the seed by ‘chitting’ them using old egg trays to stand the tuber with the eye growing point up and placed in a sheltered frost free spot.

Towards the end of February, start of March, bush roses should be pruned. Use sharp secateurs. Cuts should not be more than 5mm above a bud, and should slope away from it. Prune die-back to healthy wood. Remove all dead, diseased stems and burn them.  Trace suckers back to the roots from which they are growing and pull them away. Always wear protective gloves, the scratches from rose thorns can be nasty. Remember to keep your anti-tetanus jab up to date, at least once every 10 years.

Don’t forget your house-plants, especially on cold, frosty nights. Keep them on the room side, not behind the curtain. Plants are most likely to die from drastic temperature changes between a heated room in the day and a frosty sill at night.

Verbenas can be difficult to raise from seed, the best way to do it is to keep one or two plants for stock, and to take cuttings about the middle of February. Just cut a tip and place it in a good rooting medium and you will be able to have several hundred cuttings from one good stock plant.

Young plants of perpetual flowering carnations should be potted on as soon as the small pots are filled with root growth. Keep the plants in a light, airy place that is cool – they do not like too much heat.

Dahlias always provide super colour in the summer and into autumn. I love the Pom-Pom varieties sometimes described as a ping-pong ball on top of a knitting needle. Anew variety is called “Pink ISA”. At the other end are the decorative ‘kitchen plate’ stunners It is worthwhile looking out for other tubers that you can propagate in a greenhouse, and get them from Garden Centres or from your usual supplier.