Simon has a few jobs for you (Image: YouTube/WalkingTalkingGardeners)
With the long, bleak weeks of January behind us, the gardening year begins in earnest now, and horticultural expert Simon, from Walking Talking Gardeners, has prepared a list of essential jobs that really need to be done in the coming few weeks.
“If you don’t do them in this month,” he warns, “it’s going to be too late to do them later on. This means it’s going to affect your next season’s displays, and you won’t have the opportunity to do it again until this time next year.”
Pruning Early Spring-Flowering Plants
First of all, Simon says in his new video, it’s important to cut back any early spring-flowering plants, such as mahonia or honeysuckle: “These will flower on the old growth,” he explains, “so by cutting now, you’re going to produce the growth during the next season, and they will flower on it next year.”
You shouldn’t prune them too savagely, he stresses, just create enough space for the new growth to come through. The important thing is to get it done now: “If you cut these plants later on, then you’re going to be removing the flowering wood for next season.”
There’s no need to be too fussy about your pruning, Simon says: “Cut out anything that’s straggly. Don’t always cut to a fault. Take out an entire branch. Don’t start snipping it around trying to make a nice tidy haircut. Just don’t do it.”
It’s time to get out there and start pruning (Image: Getty)
Read more: Roses will ‘grow vigorously’ and ‘flower well’ if you prune them now
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“Be very careful with witch hazels, because you don’t want to ruin the ornamental branch work. Preferably, leave them alone. But if you’ve got branches sticking out and in the way, you can take these back.”
Lifting and Dividing Snowdrops
Speaking of snowdrops, Simon advises that late February is the best time to lift and divide the little bulbs for a more widespread display next year: “If they haven’t finished flowering where you are, they will do soon. And that is the ideal time to lift, divide, and replant them around the garden.
“If they’ve still got the leaves on, no flower heads, it’s the best time of the year to propagate your snowdrops by division. It’s another time-sensitive job — as soon as they finish flowering, that’s the time to do it.”
If you like snowdrops, now’s the time to spread them around (Image: Getty)
The next job to look at, Simon advises, is trimming any wisteria you might have in your garden. “You would have done a summer cut,” he says, “and now it’s time to do your winter cut, and February is going to be your last opportunity.” You should prune back any long, chippy shoots, leaving two or three buds away from the main stem.
Simon adds: “As with all these prunings, always remove dead, diseased, dying, or crossing branches.” Another important point is to thoroughly clean your secateurs or saws after pruning each plant. If you don’t, you risk transferring disease or parasites between your prized blooms.
Medlars are a rare sight these days (Image: Getty)
February is the last month that you can do remedial pruning and cutting on some fruit trees, Simon advises. Apple, pear and medlar trees can all be trimmed at this time.
Medlars are less talked-about than apples or pears but yield a crop of small brown fruits in autumn that can be eaten as-is or preserved as jelly. Rarely seen in shops, the only way to get a taste of a medlar these days is to grow one yourself.
The fruit trees that you absolutely must not prune at this time of year are the stone fruits — cherries, peaches, plums and the like. Cutting them during the colder months could do irreparable harm.
Another important job for those with fruit trees is a winter tar wash. Easily obtained from most large garden centres, winter tar wash is an oil-based spray that helps control common garden pests such as aphids and red spider mites. Sprayed over fruit tree bark, it chokes overwintering insect eggs, preventing infestations once the weather warms up.
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