Here in the UK, we’ve just had the wettest January on record. The month was almost a complete wash-out for me; postponed work, soggy lawns, quagmire borders… So congratulations if you did achieve anything outdoors. Don’t feel too bad if you didn’t. You wont be the only one!
So where did we get up to? I said I’d post the last couple of January jobs 2 weeks ago, and I didn’t. To be honest, there didn’t seem much point; I’ve spent my time decorating.
- Potatoes: It’s too early for outdoor spuds, but you could start Early varieties in tubs in your greenhouse. Again, just frost-free should be enough to give you a crop before outdoor growing gets close to yielding anything!
- Mulch Asparagus beds: A healthy layer of well-rotted manure will make a marked improvement to the crop!
- Protect fruit trees and bushes from birds: For bushes, a fruit cage is easily made. For trees, it is harder by far; Mr. Hellyer suggests spraying the trees with a strong quassia wash, which seems a very organic thing to do (especially since the book was published in 1936). Quassia is a plant extract that is renowned for being bitter. Spraying the trees makes the buds unpalatable to the birds so fewer are lost.
- You can start forcing outdoor rhubarb and sea-kale: Either use a special forcing pot (a ceramic dome which excludes all light) or use a large plant pot that you have blocked all the drainage holes in. The important thing is to exclude all light. Place these over old, established crowns then heap up old dead leaves etc.. around them to act as insulation. Sea-kale is treated as per rhubarb.
- Sow your leaks in the green house or a very cool windowsill… the temperature doesn’t want to exceed 12 Celsius, 55 Fahrenheit.
That’s enough about January, let’s get on with February!
I hear you cry. You didn’t? Well, a man can dream. So what are we on with? Well…
- It’s still a good time for planting bare root trees and shrubs.
- Apparently only sluggards still have digging to complete in February, so I guess I’m a sluggard as well. And the soil that has been dug needs to be finished now to a nice fine finish. However, this is where it gets problematic at the moment… to break down soil to a fine tilth you need dry weather, as the soil needs to be relatively dry. A problem for most of the UK…
- Keep an eye out for the need to ventilate cold frames and green houses; it should be getting brighter and hence warmer under glass.
- Did you start cauliflower last Autumn? Yes? Well, it’s about time to start hardening off the young plants; take away all sources of artificial heat and bring them outside for a few hours in the day (when it’s not frosty), making sure to put them away again at night.
- Clematis should be cut back now. Most of the garden varieties, I believe in cutting back to about 18″-2′ (45cm-60cm) from the ground. This encourages bushy growth from the base, and leaves plants less prone to Clematis wilt. Once established, clematis grow remarkably fast, and by cutting back low most of your flowers should stay at eye-level, rather than ending up at the top of whatever you have it trained up.
- Dogwoods (Cornus spp.) grown for their ornamental stems (bright red, yellow, green or black bark) should be cut back hard now. Remove twiggy branches completes, and cut all the others to within 2 nodes of their start.
- Sow Broad Beans under glass for an early crop. Once germinated and the seedling are big enough to handle, they can go outside provided they are covered by fleece or similar on frosty nights. Culinary peas can be treated in the same way now.
- Start more cauliflowers in your green house.
- If you have the space and the heat, you can also start early cucumbers. I say heat, s cucumbers need to be kept warm (24C, 75F) to encourage germination and rapid growth.
- Plant Jerusalem Artichokes: These are a tuberous crop, that is very low maintenance (put ’em in and leave ’em!). They grow in all but the poorest soils; crop well; and even if you think you have removed them all, you still find enough growing next year to give you a good crop again… They can be an acquired taste (a bit “Marmite”, you either love them or hate them). They roast, boil, or mash. are a nice addition to soups. But par-boil before use and change the water; they have an unfortunate side-effect on the alimentary canal that can be reduced but not removed…
- Cut away the old stems of autumn-fruiting raspberries. Cut to within 6″ (15cm) of the ground.
That’s it for the moment. Is it too much?? Possibly, but remember, all the timings are for guidance. If it doesn’t happen this week, there’s still next week… And sometimes things just have to give, and it’s easier and cheaper to buy a small pot of leeks in March than start them in February. Starting from seed is fun, but it’s time-consuming; and if you don’t have lots of pots and space can be expensive to start.
Speak to you all again soon!!