Pat’s Jobs for February 2025

1. It’s time to cut back those late-flowering clematis…the viticella small-flowered types and the ones flowering after June. All that rain last year made mine grow rampantly so cut back hard to just above a bud, 6 to 12 inches from the ground, and give them a feed and a mulch. 

2. You can also cut back some of the slightly early-flowering types like jackmanii varieties and Comtesse de Bouchard, but it’s best to check individual varieties or you’ll lose all your flowers for this year. Other varieties such as early varieties like Montana should be trimmed back after they flower in Spring, unless overgrown – when they require drastic action and you’ll be sacrificing the flowers for a year or two. Anyway, please check.

3. If the ground is frozen or too wet then don’t be tempted to walk on it for fear of damaging the structure. Seems impossible at the moment to get much done! 

4. If conditions are right, dig up some of those perennials or unwanted self-seeding annuals and pot up for our monthly sales table please. 

5. If you have no scented shrubs at present, treat yourself to a Viburnum, Mahonia or Daphne being sure to have it somewhere near your back door to catch the smell and attract early pollinators. 

6. Now is a good time to take root cuttings from plants like Anemone hybrida and Phlox by digging up the plants and taking pieces of root about an inch long to pot up – but much patience is required!

7. Cool season grasses such as Calamagrostis and Molinia need cutting back now before the new shoots emerge and get damaged. It’s also time for digging up and splitting to make new plants. 

8. Protect those brassicas on the veg plot making sure to peg down well to avoid trapping birds. Mine blew off in the gales and the pigeons ate every single kale and purple sprouting broccoli plant. Heartbreaking after all that work. 

9. Strawberry plants need tidying up. Remove the dead leaves and plant some runners either into the ground or pots of fresh compost and peg them down. The plants are actually only really productive for 3 or 4 years and then need replacing. 

10. Finally, prune autumn raspberries by cutting down to the ground. New shoots should emerge in a couple of months or so. 

Happy gardening all! 

Pat K