Maintenance tips for February

- Delay pruning spring-flowering shrubs until immediately after flowering or you might lose this years display.

- Prune out shoots on hardy evergreens that should be two colours but are growing with only one colour – otherwise the whole plant could revert to one colour.

- Prune hybrid tea roses and floribundas now.

- Prune ground cover roses.

- Prune patio and miniature roses.

- Prune shrub roses.

- Cut back Ornamental vines, ivy, Virginia creeper and Boston ivy now.

- Honey suckle that will flower on new growth this year can be pruned back hard/renovated now.

- Prune Wisteria by cutting back the sideshoots by two or three buds. Avoid cutting off flower buds.

- Prune Campsis stems by cutting back lateral branches to within two or three buds of the main branch.

- Late summer and autumn flowering Clematis can be cut back to the lowest pair of strong buds.

- Winter-flowering heathers can be trimmed as the flowers fade, keeping them bushy and colourful.

- Last chance for pruning apples and pears. Next month the sap will start moving.

- It's also time to cut autumn fruiting raspberries and blackcurrants down to the ground to stimulate the new canes.

- Cut back ornamental grasses and any other perennials that were left for some winter interest.

- Divide clumps of herbaceous perennials that have either become too large, that you want to propagate, are flowering poorly or have lost their shape.

- Deadhead winter pansies and other winter bedding to prolong the display.

- Prune passion flower and winter jasmine to two or three buds from the main framework.

- Check whether pots and other containers need watering - even at this time of year, they can dry out.

- Its okay to move established hedges, shrubs, trees and climbers and plant new specimens.

- Continue to plant roses but remember not to plant them where roses have previously been planted to avoid replant disease.

- Plant Lily bulbs in pots for flowers in the summer.

Propagation

- This is your last chance to take hardwood cuttings of ornamental shrubs such as Salix, Forsythia, Ribes, Elaeagnus, Rosa, Weigela, Cornus, Chaenomeles and Escallonia.

- Check that stored Dahlia and Canna tubers are not too dry or wet.

Treatments

- Top up pots and tubs with fresh compost.

- Put a top dressing around plants after pruning, planting etc such as bark or gravel around alpines. This helps to improve the soil, suppress weeds, insulate roots and retain moisture during the summer.

- Apply a general fertiliser to all plants. Apply the fertiliser where the roots are - roughly a similar area to the spread of the branches.

Landscaping

- Lay turf and repair the lawn if it is not too wet or frosty but avoid compacting the soil.

- Cutting the lawn edges can really improve the look of your garden and save you work later on.