February in the Garden

This is usually the hottest month of the year and gardens will demand constant watering. Some gardens will be at their peak with wonderful displays of annuals and perennials. Attention to the plants this month is important to have the garden looking good.

Vegetable Garden
Sow late crops of Bok choy, dwarf beans, beetroot, broccoli, cabbages, carrots (main crop), cauliflowers, kohl rabi, lettuce, silverbeet, spinach, turnips, parsley. Plant succession crops of cabbage and cauliflower.

Plant out a crop of leeks

Water regularly and evenly.

Clear crops from the area and prepare soil for the next crop. Practice crop rotation. Sow a green manure cover crop if the ground is not going to be used – either mustard, blue lupin, barley or oats.

Watch for white fly, cabbage white butterfly, earwigs and aphids and spray.

Harvest mid season potatoes, early carrots and parsnips, corn, early pumpkins, squash and beetroot (for bottling). Pick beans (for freezing and as a fresh vegetable), zuchinis, peppers as they are ready to ensure continued supply.

Onions and Garlic bulbs should be lifted and dried for curing and should then be stored in a dry well ventilated place.


Flower Garden

The flower garden for summer will be at its peak this month. Enjoy it. Take time out to note the successful plant combinations, plants that need to be shifted, divided and re planted, or removed altogether. Now it is a great time to plan next summers garden.

Prune and deadhead perennials. Cut finished flower spikes back to green foliage to prevent them setting seeds and this encourages the plant to produce nutrients to build up a good rootstock for the next year.

Now is a good time to take cuttings of most shrubs and perennials in the garden.

Sow next seasons annuals. Alyssum, Iceland poppies, cornflower, wallflowers, myosotis, calendulas, primula, nemesia, schizanthus, viola.

Plant – Bulbs especially narcissus, crocus, hyacinths, ranunculus, anemone, freesias, grape hyacinths, irises, fritillarias. As a general rule plant bulbs two times the diameter of the bulb.

Water outdoor tub plants thoroughly and regularly.

Provide some shade for the containers on patios etc so they do not heat up and destroy the plant roots.

Save seed of special plants.

Some early planted annuals maybe finishing now, eg lobelia and ageratum. Remove these and replace with a new selection of annuals.


The Glasshouse
Keep up a regular watering programme.
Remove some of the bottom leaves from tomatoes.
Ensure good ventilation and humidity levels.
Harvest tomatoes for use or turn them into pulp and freeze for winter use.
Harvest peppers and cucumber for use.

Fruit Garden

Harvest main fruit crops as soon as they are ready. Be prepared to eat them fresh or preserve them in jars or in the freezer.

With early stone fruits undertake summer pruning as soon as the crop is harvested.

Check fruit trees and fruit bushes for mites. The symptoms are silvering of the upper surface of the leaves. Spray with a miticide or regularly spray the undersides of the leaves with water as mites do not like humid conditions.

Grapes. Shorten back the strong and excessive growths to allow better management of the vines plus letting more light into the fruit to encourage ripening.

Citrus. Keep up regular watering and keep well mulched with compost.

Lawns
If contemplating a new lawn spray the old one out with Roundup or similar and prepare the surface for sowing in late March. Do not rotary hoe to deep as you will need to compact all the soil to ensure an even surface.

Tomatoes – a mans best friend

Growing tomatoes in the vegetable garden is a great challenge. There is a sort of unwritten rule for vegetable gardeners; if you grow good tomatoes the rest of the garden must be good also.

The art and science of growing great tomatoes is actually very simple.

Glasshouse tomatoes

During early spring use a fork to turn the soil and make it loose and friable. Apply a liberal amount of compost to the surface. Some people like to dig this in but it is not necessary. Keep it weed free.

Purchase your tomato plants from the garden centre or you may choose to sow your own seed. (see seed sowing). When selecting your tomatoes make sure you get nice strong healthy ones. They should be dark green, with plump stems and just a hit of purple at the base where the roots appear.

When all signs of frost or really cold weather have gone plant them out on your glasshouse about 40cm apart. Add some slow release fertiliser or blood and bone to the soil and water well.

Keep the glasshouse temperature even. The main thing that a glasshouse does is prevent wind damage and stops cold air disturbing the plants.

As tomatoes are climbers you will need to attach strings to the roof and tie the string to the bottom of plants and twist the plant around the string periodically. As you do this remove laterals (side shoots) to encourage upwards growth and better fruiting. Some people may let the main shoot and one other strong lateral grow to produce fruit.

Manage the glasshouse so that it does NOT become a hot house. Tomatoes require a even temperature not hot conditions. Leave the vents open for good air exchange to prevent disease build up.

Water the plants well and regularly. Do not let the soil dry out and then saturate it. This is the cause of a problem called blossom end rot of the actual tomato fruit. Regular watering is best.

As the plants grow the bottom leaves will start to turn yellow. These can be removed. This will let light into the ripening tomatoes.

Pest will appear later in the season and ill include white fly and looper caterpillar. Spray these with your organic or traditional insect spray.

Should the plants look like they need some extra fertiliser use a general purpose fertiliser that does not have too much nitrogen in it.

Commonsense and care and attention to glasshouse hygiene are keys to success with tomatoes.

When ripe pick the fruit and enjoy.

Outdoor tomatoes are even easier. Select a sheltered part of you garden away from strong cold winds. Prepare the ground with lots of compost. Plant out a row of tomato plants about 40 cm apart. Insert a sturdy stake to tie the tomato plant up to as it grows. Some people prefer not to remove all the side shoots and have it spread out and not become too tall. The choice is really dependent upon how much room is available in the garden.

Again keep up a regular watering. Removal of yellow leaves and some side shoots will keep fresh air moving through the plant and help prevent a build up of pests and diseases.

Once again good care and attention will provide large rewards.