February

Top Tip:
Ever thought about lime? If you have heavy clay soil now is the best time to look for solutions and lime can make a real difference. It is however essential to strive for the right PH balance in the soil. You can find home PH test kit in most good garden centers. Most kits have comprehensive instructions with them but as a very general guide you are looking to obtain a pH reading of about 6.4 so if you have a PH of anything less than 6, particularly in heavy clay type soil consider getting some lime.

Lawns:
As a general rule try to stay off the lawn if it is excessively wet.
If your lawn remains sodden for prolonged periods or allows water to pool you need to think about improving the drainage.

Aerate compacted lawns to allow greater penetration of feed and top dressing
Worm casts may look scruffy on a neat lawn but they are usually beneficial, remember worms produce fertile soil and worm casts make an excellent lawn dressing. When conditions allow gently rake the casts across the lawn.

I am extremely reluctant to look on worms as pests because they bring so many benefits to the garden. Although not all species of earthworms make casts my advice is that unless they reach huge numbers regard them as a blessing.

Perennials, annuals and bulbs:
Protect early flowering bulbs or corms likely to be damaged by cold weather with glass or plastic cloches. A large plastic bottle cut in half can be a useful low cost alternative.

Fruit & Vegetables:
We are blessed in the South East in the fact that soil temperatures are generally a couple of degrees warmer than many other parts of the country. You may well be able to plant earlier than the recommended planting time, let soil temperature be your guide.

The rule with sowing in the garden is, if in doubt don't do it. If it's not warm enough or two wet sow under glass or where appropriate in trays.

You can normally sow early varieties of: broad bean, peas, parsnips, lettuce and potatoes in February if the soil temperature permits (typically 10C minimum)

Greenhouse:
If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse there is huge potential to get a head start with sowing in trays.