February journal

Tips & tricks

• Indoor plants are lush and lovely. Don’t be tempted to over-water them though. Allow them to dry out almost completely between waterings.
• Give bougainvilleas and roses a teaspoon of Sulphate Of Potash once a month to encourage more - and better - flowers.
• Plant wormwood to repel fleas, flies and moths. Pick and dry leaves, then mix with lavender and dried mint for sachets that deter moths from nibbling your clothes.

Jobs to do

• Prune roses lightly to encourage good flowers in autumn. Keep feeding each month with a good rose food or pelletised manure. Deep water each week with a watering can full of seaweed solution.
• Prune runaway growth on wisteria. Do not allow it to climb into trees. Do not prune after February, as flowering will be diminished.
• Keep dahlias well staked, otherwise the weight of the foliage will cause them to collapse.
• Make a water feature. A simple wall fountain will create a cool ambience in a patio or courtyard.

In the flower garden

Plant ornamental grasses

Soft swaying sweeps of ornamental grasses really make a statement providing interest and movement. Plant them with drifts of perennials. Allow them to come into flower in autumn. Don’t prune grasses until the end of winter.

Cut back perennials

When perennials such as salvia, Easter daisy (perennial aster), delphinium have finished flowering, cut them back to promote another flower flush. Then feed with controlled-release fertiliser, such as Garden Gold and deep water with seaweed.

Watch your pots!

Monitor the moisture levels of your pot plants and don’t allow them to dry out. Once potting mix dries it repels water and shrinks away from the edge of your pot so that water runs down the sides and out the bottom. Add some liquid wetting agent to the water to allow it to penetrate the root ball.

Plant Mediterranean

Mediterranean plants are tough, colourful and will flower all through summer. Plant lavender, bougainvillea, geranium, oleander, citrus and rosemary. For structure, plant a hedge of rosemary or lavender with an Italian cypress accent. Plant window boxes with tumbling red geraniums.

Erect wind barriers

Seaside gardens need a windbreak to give shelter from salt-laden winds, then you can plant tough sand-lovers behind. Open slatted timber, lattice or wire mesh interlaced with branches make useful wind barriers. For frontline planting, choose: coast tea-tree, Leptospermum laevigatum; Norfolk island hibiscus, Lagunaria Patersonia; Coast banksia, Banksia integrifolia; Coastal wattle, Acacia sophorae; or New Zealand Christmas Bush, Metrosideros excelsa.

In the vegetable patch

Think no-dig

Consider a no-dig garden for a roof-top or courtyard. They’re great for older gardeners as there’s no need to bend! Build a frame above the ground using timber or brick, layer newspaper, pea straw or lucerne, compost, sprinkle blood and bone and potash, and repeat this layering until the frame is full. Soak with seaweed solution and plant your vegetable seedlings. The secret ingredient is the compost!

Feed fruit

Feed stone and pome fruit (apples and pears) at the end of summer. Mix together five bags of cow manure, one cup of blood and bone, one cup of Sulfate Of Potash. Spread over the root zone of your fruit trees and out to the drip line, to a depth of 10cm. Deep water with a full can of seaweed solution each week through summer.

Spray beans

Beans are fruiting now. With heat and high humidity, they are susceptible to bacterial and wilt diseases. Spray them with Amgrow Organix Plant Health Spray to increase vigour. Harvest when the bean reaches full size, but before the pod gets too fat - an overripe pod is tough, and the bean loses its sweetness.

Grow no-dig potatoes

Potatoes can be grown directly in any patch of earth using the no-dig method of growing under straw. Cover the growing area with a layer of manure. Dampen and cover with a thick layer of wet newspaper. Place the seed potatoes about half a metre apart directly on top of the newspaper and cover with a generous layer of straw. Spread a layer of manure, blood and bone and any other available useful organic matter over the straw. Then another layer of straw, more manure and so on until the straw is about 40cm deep. Water well. There's no digging and your crop will be nice and clean.

Trim summer herbs

Summer herbs such as basil, lemongrass, verbena, mint, and parsley should be kept trimmed. If you have a glut, just cut bunches and hang to dry them. Don’t allow them to flower or they lose flavour.