Why February is prime time for planning and planting your spring garden

Gardening work in February is a necessity. Pruning branches and treating trees and fruit bushes are crucial tasks. Few understand when to commence the sowing of vegetables and flowers, given that it is still chilly outside and spring seems distant. February is an excellent time to start seedlings, but the challenge lies in doing it correctly and choosing the right varieties. From this point on, you should not have any doubts.

This question undoubtedly sprouts in the mind of more than one gardener, eagerly anticipating work in the garden. Sowing vegetables and flowers doesn't require uniformly warm weather—as prepared seedlings can thrive on home window sills. If you're unsure of when to plant peppers, tomatoes and also onions and lettuce, then you should definitely get started in February. This will ensure that you will reap healthy and plentiful harvests in a few months' time.

February is also an opportune time to plant herbs, which many gardeners overlook. These not only prove useful in the kitchen, but can also deter numerous pests in the new season. It is advisable to plant basil, oregano, as well as marjoram and thyme, and before long you’ll appreciate how rapidly you can delight in your own spices. In this month, you should not forget about sowing flowers, preferring to sow them annually. This way, they will undergo a very long growing season. Consider planting petunias, nasturtiums, sage, and perhaps begonias and geraniums.

The first step in the sowing of seeds for vegetables, herbs and flowers is to prepare a suitable location. This entails selecting pots or containers for your seedlings. You could utilise compostable materials like toilet paper rolls for this purpose, which happens to be a economical and ecological option. Alternatively, there's winter sowing in bottles. Whichever method you choose is likely to yield excellent results. However, do remember that the choice of soil is significant when planting seeds in February. The soil should be warm and light, yet also enriched with compost, ensuring it's fertile, which promises the growth of healthy and robust plants.

Seedlings require watering but avoid using a watering can. Rather employ a sprayer, which will prevent the washing of delicate seeds to the surface. This is vital, as is exposure to the sun, which is necessary for germination. Place them on a sunny windowsill, preferably facing south, and you'll soon see the appearance of green leaves.