What to do in the garden in February

• Chit early varieties of potatoes. Lay them out in trays and allow to form short sprouts. Place them in a bright, cool, frost-free place. Plant towards the end of March.
• In the greenhouse start or under cover in a warm propagator start sowing cabbage, celery, sweet and cayenne pepper, tomato, parsley, celery, leek and onion.
• Mulch perennial vegetables such as artichokes and asparagus with manure or garden compost.
• Prepare vegetable seed beds by removing all weeds and forking in plenty of compost. Cover the beds to keep them warmer.
• Remove yellow leaves from brassicas to prevent downy mildew and grey mold from spreading.
• Outdoors start sowing early varieties of carrot, broad bean, and parsnip. Plant shallots from the middle of the month.

• Prune raspberry canes to stimulate new canes to fruit in the autumn. Cut the tips of summer-fruiting raspberry canes that have grown beyond the top of their support. Cut just above a bud.
• Prune blackcurrant bushes, gooseberries and red currants to keep up a productive framework.
• Force rhubarb plants for an early crop.
• Cover outdoor strawberries with cloches to encourage an earlier crop.

• Stay away from the lawn.

• Continue planting ornamental trees and deciduous shrubs.
• Plant a hedge.
• Prune late-flowering climbers and shrubs.
• Prune large-flowered and cluster flowered roses.

• Start off winter-stored dormant plants and tubers.
• Sow slower-growing summer bedding plants under glass.
• Prune wisteria now, cutting back summer side-shoots to 2 or 3 buds.
• Bring in bulbs for forcing and plant out spent indoor bulbs.
• Take chrysanthemum cuttings.
• Plant lilies and anemones.
• Plant outdoor annual seeds, weather permitting.

Read more:
What to do in the garden in January
What to do in the garden in March