Signs of life emerging

February is a good a time as any to make a start on early spring clean-up.  One of the first jobs for me is clearing away the outdoor greens left over from Christmas and taking down outdoor lights (usually I would have done this sooner but I had been away a few times).  It was a mild day today so I thought at least I would do some well needed pruning.  I will still keep the mulch on the beds a little longer as in my part of the world you can be easily fooled by a late season drop in temperature which could do a lot of damage to new shoots coming up.

Starting with the roses I pruned out any dead or diseased wood as well as any cross branches and did a further cutting back which hopefully will make the bush produce even more flowers come early summer.  Next I moved onto the lilac bushes and forsythia.  With the lilacs I clear the unwanted shoots at the base of the bush and I only had to cut out a few cross branches.  I am always very careful when I prune branches that will produce flowers for the coming season.  It is the same process with the forsythia; there is always a number of shoots at the base that I clear out and cross branches.   It will not be long before we will see the bright yellow buds.

There are still a number of perennials that need to have the dead stalks cut off, particularly the asters.   While working around the garden, it is always a good opportunity to assess areas where perennials need to be divided or if any plant has outgrown its spot and needs to be reallocated somewhere else in the garden if you have room.  

Meanwhile, indoors I am starting to sort out the seeds that I collected from the garden last year plus making a mental list of what I need to buy for the coming year.  As I do tend to get impatient, I start off by sowing some of my seeds indoors, particularly basil, and then move them into the greenhouse around mid March.  I take advantage of the sunlight captured during the day and keep a small heater on at night in case temperatures plummet to below freezing.  

I have three containers of potted bulbs that were buried in the vegetable garden which I have now transferred to the greenhouse.  This will definitely bring the bulbs on and I look forward to seeing them flowering on my front deck.   

February is also a good month to plant bare root shrubs or trees as long as the soil is workable, i.e. not frozen.  I always ensure that whatever I plant is well watered.  

As mentioned on my facebook page, I already have my witch hazel and hellebore blooming.  When everything else in the garden is dormant, it is always encouraging to see something in flower.

Just one more chore that I do this time every year is spraying the peach tree with dormant spray before the leaves appear.  I hate having to do this but it does help prevent leaf curl.  

Happy Gardening!