February in the garden

As winter begins to retreat, February is a wonderful time to start preparing your garden for its display this year. There is lots for us to do for healthy and vigorous growth. February is a crucial month for pruning, clearing, and tidying up your garden. This includes tending to wisteria, fruit trees and late-flowering shrubs to encourage healthy growth.

Here we will be looking at the jobs that our small, hardworking team will be completing to help bring your garden into its best condition ready for the arrival of spring.  

Wisteria Pruning: Shape and Style for Stunning Blooms

Wisterias with their cascading clusters of violet-blue flowers are a gorgeous addition to the garden. To ensure they produce their best blooms in spring, proper pruning is key. February is a good time for us to prune your wisteria—before the plant begins to bud, ensuring healthy growth and an abundance of flowers later in the year.

Fruit Tree Pruning: Encouraging health and produce

Fruit trees, including apples, pears, and plums, can be pruned in February to ensure strong growth and healthy fruit production. Proper pruning now is essential to create a good harvest in later summer and early autumn.

Garden Clearing: Preparing for the Seasons Ahead

Winter debris, fallen leaves, and old stems can hinder your garden’s ability to grow and thrive in the coming months. A thorough garden clearing in February will give you a head start on spring and summer growth.

What we will be clearing:

• Dead leaves, dead stems, and mushy plant material from last season.

• Weeds that are starting to spring up and are easier to spot this time.

Clearing your garden will visually tidy up your space, it will look fresh and well-tended to. It’s amazing the debris and amount of dead growth that can gather over the winter months. Clearing will allow your plants to breathe and give them space for fresh growth once temperatures rise. Our gardeners will be working to clear and tidy your garden for you to enjoy.

Clematis Pruning: Ensuring abundant blooms

Clematis is a popular climbing plant known for its dazzling flowers that add beauty to fences, walls, and trellises. Depending on the variety, February is the ideal time for pruning late flowering clematis, particularly the early-flowering types. Pruning clematis now, encourages  vibrant, show-stopping flowers as spring takes hold.

Trimming Heather: To avoid bare centres and straggly growth

Heather is and versatile evergreen shrub that adds muted colour to your garden throughout the winter months. Once it has flowered, we will trim it into a healthy shape. This will keep it vibrant throughout the year.

Pruning late-flowering shrubs: To prepare for Summer Colour

Late-flowering shrubs including Buddleja davidii, Caryopteris x clandonensis, Ceanothus ‘Burkwoodii’, Hardy fushcias, Santolina, Ceratostigma, Lavatera and Leycesteria (Himalayan honeysuckle) all require a good prune in February to ensure strong new growth and a fantastic display of flowers in summer. Pruning now will help shape the plant, promote healthy growth, and prepare it for the warmer months. We will be cutting back old growth, removing dead or damaged branches and thinning crowded areas to allow in light and maximise air flow.

Weeding: Our continual work to help keep your gardens weed free

February is a great time to for continued weeding—before the weeds have a chance to establish themselves fully. Tackling early weeds prevents them from spreading in spring and summer. Our gardeners are skilled at identifying and removing weeds quickly and efficiently, ensuring your garden has the best possible start as the seasons change.

Our team of dedicated and hard-working gardeners can’t wait to tackle the gardening tasks in your garden this month. We are looking forward to seeing in you gardens very soon,

The team at Mackintosh Martin Gardening

Winter Morning Light in the Garden on a rambling rose with it’s rosehips

Viburnum Tinus

Winter Flowering Silk Tassel Bush

Winter Snow and Sunrise with a black Elder and Rambling Rose growing through it

Winter wood stack and small conifer Chistmas tree back out in the garden