Gardening in February: What to do and what to plant?

As the days begin to lengthen and the earth warms up slowly, here are some tasks you may want to add to your to-do list this month.

Things to do in your garden in February:

• Cut autumn-fruiting raspberries down to ground level
• Prune fruit trees now while the fruit buds are prominent and repair any winter damage
• When dry, prepare the ground in preparation for planting
• Once snowdrops have finished flowering, dig up and divide large clumps while the foliage is green, then replant
• Buy seed potatoes and place on trays indoors in natural light and a warm spot so they can sprout (chit)
• Use cloches to warm the ground and provide protection for early sowings of seeds
• Prune hardy evergreen hedges and bushes such as box and honeysuckle and sort out overgrown deciduous hedges
• Cut back grasses left for the birds over winter and remove any dead material among evergreen grasses
• Prune winter-flowering shrubs once they’ve finished blooming. This will set them in good stead for the year ahead
• Sow some vegetable seeds in trays of compost under cover
• Sow hardier broad bean cultivars such as ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ in seed trays or pots in a sheltered spot outside ready to plant out when conditions allow
• Check winter-flowering shrubs, such as Viburnum tinus, winter jasmine and witch-hazel (Hamamelis) and prune any that have stopped blooming