Love your garden in Valentine’s month
Close to the house, groups of snowdrops and crocus sheen brightly in the strong sunlight that also picks out the tantalising buds of Forsythias which are preparing to open for next month.
Evergreens play an important role this month as better light conditions pick out their variegated leaves. For instance, variegated hollies and spotted laurels look superb in a mixed border where the summer bloomers are still asleep.
Lenten roses are a real architypal winter cottage flower as they have delicate nodding blooms which are often in pastel shades. They are also at home in woodland, but whether they are here or in the borders, they have that ideal free self-seeding nature that fits in so well with the whole idea of cottage gardening.
There is certainly plenty to do this month in preparation for a busy season ahead. Roses can be pruned and home-made compost can be spread over borders to supress weeds, retain moisture and instill a real fresh feel into the beds.
This is the perfect month to get seeds of hardy perennials started and the list really is endless. Seed catalogues and seed stands at the local garden centre or superstore have a mouth-watering range to choose from and it is certainly a very economical way of filling a sunny border within a matter of months.
In the Valentine month it is time to show your love for your garden by planning its next 12 months.
It’s news to thee
NEWSPAPER pots are both an organic and an ideal way for transplanting seedlings of Lupins and Delphiniums that have been sown indoors on a kitchen windowsill in trays of compost.
When sowing, ensure they are kept just moist and they should germinate readily within two to three weeks. After that, put them in the newspaper pots (which are then tied with twine) so they can be planted directly into the ground during April.
To make these pots, lay out three sheets of newspaper on top of each other and moisten them slightly with a water sprayer or a wet sponge. Then, press suitable sized pieces into a large tumbler, or a plant pot. Once you have got your moulding right, take them out and allow to dry near a radiator.
Ivy spot of good advice
VARIEGATED Ivy is so versatile in the cottage garden, as it will provide colour all year round, but most notably at this time of year.
It is probably best not to let it venture up the house walls, as it invariably ends up all over the roof and the guttering.
Old walls, not connected with the house, are also best left alone as you won’t see the beauty of the stone if the Ivy is let loose.
The best place to use it, is in winter containers and it looks particularly charming trailing over the edges of an oak barrel or a rattan (wicker style) hanging basket.
Make sure you are led up the right garden path...
WHATEVER the style of your garden, paths really are a necessity. Their uses are wide and varied for all practical and leisure purposes and for aesthetic appeal. This is particularly important in a cottage plot.
Essentially, the path should comprise an endearing and exciting journey around the contours and even hidden areas of the garden.
In the simplest and most traditional design, geometric patterns of crossing paths can be used in any smallish area of the garden, which is intensively planted for flowers and vegetables.
These geometric designs rely on a central focal point, such as a sundial, a birdbath or a large standard rose, which can be seen from any of the paths.
A curved or wavy-edged border is often better without a path, particularly close to the house as it can look fussy and complicated. However, a straight-edged border, particularly under or near the windows, may be shown off well by a bold, wide solid path of reclaimed stone.
Solid stone in differing sizes is ideal for patios and gaps can be left and filled with gritty compost to accommodate herbs.
Most areas of the garden would benefit from a much-softer trail, such as gravel. This has a wonderful cool crunchy sound when walked on in the summer, and alpines and violets can be planted or sown into it.
Slate has an old fashioned appeal and is normally available in purple or pale green shades. In rural areas, it may be possible to obtain old broken slate from old buildings.
The path that is perfect for your cottage garden is out there, it’s just a case of finding it!
TO PRUNE old-fashioned shrub roses, firstly take out any dead wood, followed by cutting the strongest stems at staggered heights from around 3ft down to near ground level.
A touch of snow?
NOW IS an ideal time to plant snowdrops whether they are emerging, coming into flower or past flowering and ‘in the green’.
They are perfectly suited to a woodland situation, but are just as well at home providing a splash or drift of colour amongst plants which still lie dormant.
Let’s get fruity in the forest
SOFT FRUITS or fruits of the forest will happily grow in a more shady part of your plot, providing you have a fairly rich and deep moisture retentive soil.
Now is an opportune time to plant these, but they don’t have to be planted in traditional rows on their own.
Watch that space
If space is limited, why not incorporate them into a shady bed or border amongst Hydrangeas, Hostas, ferns and Astilbes.
PLANT bulbs of Liatris and lilies in a loose soil that has had plenty of sandy compost added to it.
Turn your hand to show three of a kind:
WESTERN Red Cedar (or Thuja Plicata) is a wonderful conifer. It has rather open, shiny green leaves which sometimes take on a bronze tinge after harsh winter frosts and also exude a strong smell of apples when rubbed. The young stems are a faint mahogany red colour and grow at a steady, fairly slow, rate.
At their ultimate height, they can be expected to reach around 30ft. A young pot-grown plant will probably reach around 8-10ft in ten years.
This plant will tolerate a wetter and shadier location than most conifers will.
VIBURNUM Tinus is a superb, slow-growing, evergreen for keeping close to the house in semi-shade. It has a loose rounded habit and its clusters of pink buds produced in autumn gradually open throughout the winter. They flourish into minute, scented white blooms which reach a final peak in the strengthening sunlight of late February and March. This shrub is generally easy to please, needing very little in the way of pruning, other than to keep it in shape. Any pruning is best done when all flowering has finished and when growth commences in April. Give it a slightly acidic soil.
SNOWDROPS epitomise the February border. They are suited to almost any location, providing that the soil remains moist throughout the summer months p10.0- - they tend to detest any drying out.
They are best planted ‘in the green’, which means any time from emergence in December to foliage decay in May. Garden centres do sell dry packets in late summer and autumn, but these bulbs seldom do well.
Snowdrops are gregarious and like to be planted very closely together in clumps, although they may be divided from time to time to avoid congestion.
Sow your seeds on sills in the sunshine
INDOORS, seed-sowing can begin in earnest. Many hardy perennials, which will last years in the border, can not only be raised very easily from seed, but will often flower in their first summer.
Delphiniums are a prime example and, whilst the general advice is not to let them flower in their first year, one can defy this with a cheap seed mixture. Other plants to try, are lupins, achilleas, Gauras, snapdragons and herbaceous potentillas.
The general rule is, sow them thinly to allow the young plants to develop in the seed trays, and then pot them up individually when the plants are large enough to handle.
A kitchen windowsill is often perfect for allowing the new plantlets to settle into their pots for a few days, before they are transferred into a cold frame or sheltered part of the garden during a suitable mild spell.
Keep them just moist, but never overwater them, as March days can sometimes be very much on the dull and cold side.
Plant them into their final positions, in spring, as the ground warms up in the strengthening sunlight. Meanwhile, now is the time to prepare and enrich the soil ready for the new plants to go in in a few weeks time.
A Prim called Wanda
PRIMULA Wandas are very much like their normal winter and spring flowering cousins, but this variety has deeper coloured leaves with an overall purple hue. Their flowers are also generally much deeper in colour - similar to African Violets, although cream and white is undesirably available.
This plant lends itself to any situation - whether that is in the woodland edge or enhancing your patio containers.
February will be one of your not-so-golden coldies
HIGH PRESSURE has brought us a very dry winter so far and little change to this pattern seems to be expected for this month. Some rain and milder weather may materialise for a time during the second week.
The month seems likely to be cool, or rather cold, overall and this could well be highlighted by a cold snap and possibly some snow later in the month. Sunshine levels will generally be below average.
