February Garden Planning: Get Your Garden Ready for Spring
Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh, how beautiful,' and sitting in the shade - Rudyard Kipling
That chill in the air might still be biting at your fingers, but February is when gardeners start itching to get back outdoors. While the weather might not cooperate just yet, there's plenty we can do now to set ourselves up for gardening success later.
I've been spending my weekends sorting through seed packets and cleaning tools, determined not to repeat last year's rushed April panic. If you're like me, juggling work, family and home, sometimes the garden gets neglected until suddenly everything needs doing at once.
Let's break down what we can tackle this month to make spring gardening less overwhelming and more enjoyable.
Soil Preparation: Getting the Ground Ready
Our British soils take a battering over winter. All that rain, frost and snow leaves them compacted and often waterlogged. February is perfect for starting to sort them out.
If your garden's anything like mine, the heavy clay soil needs plenty of help. On dry days (they do exist in February, occasionally!), I've been adding:
Well-rotted manure from the local stables (£3 a bag and worth every penny)
Homemade compost from last year's kitchen scraps
Leaf mould collected from autumn
Bags of compost from the shop will do just fine if you can't get your hands on this stuff.
Don't dig when the soil is sodden – you'll just make things worse. Wait for a dry spell and then turn over vegetable beds and add organic matter. For established beds, a light forking over is usually enough.
Working in stages makes this manageable. I tackle one bed each weekend rather than trying to do everything at once. The teenager gets roped in with promises of extra pocket money, though his eye-rolling gets more dramatic each year!
And to be honest, if you lack time or energy, you can simply dump the compost on top of the soil and leave it! Any organic matter you give it will help.
Seed Starting: Getting a Head Start
By February, I'm desperate for growing things. The house becomes a makeshift greenhouse with seedlings on every windowsill.
You can start quite a few seeds indoors now:
Tomatoes (for greenhouse growing)
Chillies and peppers
Aubergines
Onions from seed
Some hardy annuals for early flowers
Previously I had stopped buying fancy seed trays - yoghurt pots with holes punched in the bottom work brilliantly. Old plastic takeaway containers make perfect mini-greenhouses when you put your seedling pots inside and close the lid. However I moved house a few months ago and had to throw it all away and start again, so this Spring I treated myself to some eco-pots while I rebuild my yoghurt collection.
I'm trying these card pots which will biodegrade so you can simply start your seed then pop the entire pot into the ground/container/next size up without having to disturb the roots. Genius! So far they're going well but I'll keep you posted!
For seed compost, I mix my own using:
Regular compost
Vermiculite (improves drainage)
A sprinkle of worm castings from my worm bin for nutrients
Label everything! I've learned this the hard way after having mystery seedlings that turned out to be pumpkins when I thought they were courgettes.
Keep seedlings on the warmest, brightest windowsill you have – usually the kitchen for most of us. A cheap LED grow light from Amazon (about £20) has been a game-changer for getting stronger seedlings without them stretching towards the limited winter sunlight.
Tool Maintenance: Sharpen, Clean, Oil
Nothing slows down spring gardening more than realizing your secateurs are rusty, your spade is blunt, and your garden fork has a wobbly handle.
February is ideal for a proper tool check and maintenance session. I do this on rainy evenings with a cup of tea and some good telly in the background.
For each tool:
Remove rust with steel wool or sandpaper
Sharpen blades with a sharpening stone
Oil moving parts with WD-40 or similar
Treat wooden handles with linseed oil to prevent splitting
Replace broken parts where possible
I've found that hanging tools properly (rather than my previous method of chucking them in a corner of the shed) makes them last years longer. A simple pegboard with hooks cost me £15 and has saved me much more in replacement tools.
My pressure sprayer always needs a good clean – the nozzles get blocked with hard water deposits. Soaking in warm, soapy water and using an old toothbrush sorts them out.
Planning Guide: Mapping Your Garden Year
The most valuable February garden task involves no mud at all – it's planning. I've learned that a bit of thought now saves weeks of work later.
My planning approach:
Draw a rough map of garden beds and containers
Note crop rotation for vegetables (don't grow the same things in the same place)
Plan companion planting (what grows well together)
Create a month-by-month sowing and harvesting calendar
Make a list of plants needing to be divided or moved
I keep my garden journal simple – just a notebook with sketches and lists. No fancy apps or complicated systems (who has time for that?).
Planning helps me avoid impulse purchases at the garden centre. We've all been there – coming home with plants we have nowhere to put, being glared at for spedning more money on plants! By knowing exactly what gaps need filling, I save money and create a more cohesive garden.
Looking Ahead: March Jobs to Consider
While we focus on February tasks, it's worth noting what's coming next month:
Direct sowing of hardy vegetables
More seed starting - flowers!
Pruning roses and fruit trees
First lawn mow of the season
Clearing the last of winter debris
February might still feel like winter, but these small steps now will set you up for a flourishing spring garden with much less stress. Breaking tasks down into manageable chunks means you can fit gardening around family life without it becoming overwhelming.
What garden tasks are you tackling this February?
