Things To Do In My Garden In February

It’s time for me to plan out my garden activities for February. There’s always something that needs done and for some reason I always seem to be able to create even more for myself! This list of things to do in the garden this February is specific to my garden but may have some relevance to yours as well.

Things to Do In The Garden in February

1. Build Four New Raised Beds – The 2’x8′ raised beds I mentioned several weeks ago need built. I’ve been spending most of my time working on the greenhouse and haven’t managed to spare any time to put these raised beds together. 
2. Work on the greenhouse shed – the siding is unfinished, a ramp needs built for my mower to ride up, and the inside needs some tables to be built. I also need to put more gravel inside. I have functional locks on the doors but need to add some eyehooks on the windows to hold them closed from the inside.
3. Cleanup the Garden – Every garden is in dire need of maintenance but the vegetable garden is my first target. Weeds that could probably grow on Mars are emerging from the beds, either blowing from the wind or cleverly planted by avian saboteurs. Strawberry plants have invaded pathways and will need moved but I’ll probably wait until after fruiting for that. Lawn grass has grown all around the edges of the garden where my wire fencing is and –according to my wife– I need to remove the fence and mow down the grass as low as I can then cover with mulch.
4. Planting – Spinach, chard, and sugar snap peas will be the first things I plant this season. Following them radishes, beets and lettuce. Lettuce works great if you plant it in a pot and bring it indoors when the temperatures threaten to be too low. I also need to put up a trellis for the peas.
5. Trim the Perennials – I purposely neglected trimming the dead growth off most of my perennials for two reasons: 1) cold protection and 2) they are much more interesting in the dead of winter than nothing!  Keeping the dead foliage over the perennials protects the crown of the plant from chilly temperatures and may help the make it through the winter better. 
6. While trimming perennials I’ll take many of the cuttings and attempt to root them.  I found last year that hardwood cuttings of Russian sage root very well just by sticking them in the ground. 
7. Start seeds – It’s definitely time to get some perennials, vegetables, and herbs started indoors. Check on the seed packets and see how many weeks before the last frost it is recommended to plant then find the last frost date for your area. Once you have those two numbers count back from the last frost date the recommended number of weeks and you will have a good guideline for starting your seeds. 

On a side note I was looking back at last years photos and found that the first daffodil bloomed on February 11, 2009. It will be interesting to see what happens this year, especially considering our recent snow fall.