en
The days are getting longer, the desire for gardening increases. As soon as the ground is no longer frozen or soggy, you can prepare your garden and your beds for the approaching spring. You can grow the first vegetables indoors or under glass and plant them outside soon. And with the right flowers you can already conjure up spring in your garden or home.
If the lawn has problems absorbing rainwater and therefore puddles form, you should poke the soil with a garden fork and aerate it. When to mow the lawn for the first time after winter depends on the height of the grass. However, don't mow until it's a constant 7 to 10 degrees, which probably means the second half of May. If you want to sow a new lawn in the spring, you should loosen the soil well now, clear it of weeds and level it. In March or April, you can then spread the lawn seeds, preferably with a spreader, and lightly rake them into the soil, roll them and water generously.
February is all about preparing your ornamental garden for spring. Loosen the soil with a rake, provide nutrients to the soil after hibernation, remove old plant parts, dig planting holes for new ornamental plants after the last frost and enrich the soil with fertilizer. Other important tasks waiting for you: cut ...... trees and shrubs, if you had not yet given them a winter pruning. From March, you can not cut back the woody vegetation to protect the birds.
In addition, at the end of February, you can advance indoors summer flowers such as sweet peas, levkojen, snapdragons, sunflowers or zinnias, preferably on a sunny windowsill.
As soon as there is no longer an acute danger of frost, you can divide and transplant perennials that will bloom in late summer or fall. If February is mild, you can put bare-root hedge plants, deciduous shrubs, fruit trees as half or high trunks, peonies and roses.
Depending on the climate zone and weather, you can sow the first vegetables in the open ground in February. Among other things, (early) carrots, radishes or radish. Two weeks before sowing, you should prepare all the beds, as soon as the soil is frost-free and relatively dry. Loosen the soil with a rake, remove weeds, fertilize the beds with mature compost or well-stored manure, and loosen the soil surface again just before sowing. For this vegetable is still too cold in the open field, but not in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse:
If it is still too cold outside, you can pre-plant many vegetables indoors and put them outside in a few weeks. Start chili, carrots, kohlrabi, lettuce, radishes or spinach in mid-February and artichokes, eggplant, celery, peppers, celery or tomatoes in late February. If you are growing vegetables indoors, cover the trays with plastic wrap to keep the air moist and place the trays on a bright windowsill once the plants have germinated. However, be careful not to get too hot when the sun is shining.
If you planted and tended vegetables during the winter, you can now harvest and enjoy kale, lettuce, leeks, parsnips, Brussels sprouts or root parsley, for example.
March is the beginning of the breeding season for many birds. That is why you should prune your fruit trees before then, if you have not yet given them a winter pruning. But wait until the danger of frost has passed - below minus 5 degrees, there is a risk of frost damage to the cuts. On pome fruit trees such as apple, pear or quince, you should cut back dead or diseased shoots and shoots that are growing inwards or crossing each other. You should thin out stone fruit trees such as apricots, cherries or plums and shrubs. Remove fruit mummies on trees and shrubs that may contain pathogens. If the sun is intense but temperatures are still low, lime all tree trunks or wrap them in jute mats to protect them from frost cracking.
Dig the planting holes now and enrich the soil with fertilizer such as compost or manure if you want to plant fruit trees such as apple, apricot, pear, cherry, plum, mirabelle or peach in the spring.
It is probably too early for sowing in the open ground. Unless February becomes milder than usual. Then you could sow savory, dill, chervil, parsley or chives already in the open ground, raised bed or cold frame. If not, you can preplant many herbs indoors under glass and plant them as soon as temperatures rise: In addition to savory, dill, chervil, parsley and chives also.
Three tips for sowing indoors:
Most kitchen herbs prefer a window facing west or east. Mediterranean herbs such as anise, basil, tarragon, coriander, marjoram, oregano, rosemary or sage prefer a window facing south.
You can transplant most herbs from April. Cold-sensitive herbs such as basil, marjoram or lemon balm should not be planted outdoors until after the Ice Saints in May.
Evergreen potted plants should continue to be watered regularly on frost-free days. Winter-hardy plants such as cyclamen, bellis, horned violets, primroses or pansies should bloom in February for some color on the balcony or patio. If you have grown bulbs of early flowering plants such as hyacinths, crocuses or daffodils over winter, you can plant them in tubs or pots towards the end of February. In preparation for spring, you can advance balcony plants such as canna, busy lilies or petunias in the warmth. Although temperatures are slowly rising, you should regularly check that winter protection is still in place and effectively protects your patio plants from the still possible frost.
Slowly but surely, your houseplants are waking up from their winter sleep. After the long rest, it is important that you water and fertilize your plants sufficiently. In addition, you should regularly check all houseplants and plants or bulbs overwintering indoors for pests such as spider mites or mealybugs, which thrive in dry air. If you can't or don't want to wait until spring starts, you can shorten the waiting time with early blooming hyacinths, crocuses, daffodils, checkerboard flowers or snowdrops.
Now your houseplants need plenty of light and humidity. Place all plants, including ferns, near windows, humidify the air in the room with a humidifier or water dishes near heaters and spray your houseplants regularly.
Two more months until spring. Use the time and prepare now your garden, balcony or terrace: Treat wooden garden furniture with a glaze, protect the wooden fence with a coat of paint, sharpen or replace the lawn mower blade, install a rain barrel as an economical water collection system, or tie down and secure climbing plants. If you are toying with the idea of adding a garden pond, now would be the best time to do it. In March and April, the pond still has enough time to establish a biological balance in the growing season.