Top 10 gardening tips for February

February Gardening in the Mercury Bay

February in the garden involves protecting, feeding and harvesting your maturing food crops. It is also a good time to start planning your winter garden. Feed and deadhead hibiscus to enjoy their blooms as long as possible.

Try these tips:

1. Check soil moisture daily and water deeply as required in the early morning or early evening. Keep an eye on weather forecasts. To improve water retention, use mulch or a wetting agent.
2. Thrips, leafroller caterpillar and psyllids are common pests for many trees and shrubs at this time of the year. Protect plants against insects by spraying with Pyrethrum, Neem Oil or Success. Early autumn rains increase plant susceptability to fungal disease. Pay particular attention to controlling powdery mildew on cucumbers, pumpkin, dahlias, roses and grapes. To combat fungal disease, spray with Copper.
3. Harvest fruits and veges regularly and keep crops well fed and watered for a swollen harvest - apples, apricots, basil, beetroot, beans, capsicum, carrot, chilli, coriander, courgette, cucumber, capsicum, lettuce, loganberries, mesclun, parsley, passionfruit, peaches, plums, potatoes,  radish, raspberries, rocket, silverbeet, spinach, spring onion, strawberries, sweetcorn and tomatoes.
4. After the harvesting period, pull crop remains out of the ground and replenish the soil with a layer of compost or sheep pellets in preparation for your winter garden. 
5. Prune nectarines, peaches, plums once they have finished fruiting. Prune out overcrowded branches to open up the tree's framework and allow light to penetrate the lower branches. 
6. Plant vege seedlings - basil, beetroot, beans, broccoli, coriander, courgette, cucumber, lettuce, mesclun, onion, parsnip, parsley, potatoes, radish, rhubarb, rocket, silverbeet, spinach, spring onions. Water in seedlings with a seaweed tonic and lay slug and snail bait to give your veges the best start.
7. Plant flowers - fuchsia, echinacea, alyssum, cosmos, gaillardia, arctosis, gazania, marigold, daisy, delphinium, dianthus, lavender. Water in seedlings with a seaweed tonic and lay slug and snail bait to give your flowers the best start.
8. Prune back hydrangeas to the largest bud after flowering to encourage blooms for the following season. Feed and water.
9. Start planting spring bulbs - tulips, daffodils, freesias, dutch Irises, hyacinths, anemones, ranunculus, muscari, crocuses, scillas, ixias and more. Add a handful of bulb food at planting.
10. Sow seeds now for your winter garden. Veges - broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, brussel sprouts, silverbeet, spinach, leeks. Flowers - stock, viola, pansy, sweet pea, poppy, calendula, hollyhock, clematis and alstromeria.