It may be a little too extreme cold outside nowadays, but there are still some things that you can do to enhance your home gardening experience this month. Following are some suggestions that you might like and consider doing in your garden.
Gardening Tips
1. Feed Birds
In winters it gets hard for the birds to locate food so naturally, it becomes important for us to help those little fellas find food. Keep your bird feeder fully stocked for your little friends and prevent them from starving. Also, put out some water from them to drink and change it regularly.
2. Plant cool-weather crops
With no extra cold frame and greenhouse need these vegetables are easiest to grow in your garden.
Carrots- Growing carrots in your garden can be a great idea this winter. Cold weather stimulates this plant to produce more sugars, preventing the roots from freezing out in the cold.
Spinach- Everyone loves spinach and it can be a great addition to your garden. Spinach is the hardiest leafy vegetable and can withstand extremely cold temperatures. With some protection from the birds and insects, you can have yourself some fresh and sweet spinach.
3. Tidying up
Keeping the plants clean is a must for a healthy garden. This February do some tidying up in the garden by removing dead and diseased plants as well as weeds from the plants and organizing them in a tidy looking way. It is also the best time to prune roses. Clean up those dead branches and any bloom stalks leftover from last year.
4. Help rain soak in
If the soil gets left up for an extended period of time it can become hydrophobic (water repellent) even after healthy rains. Remove heavy layers of autumn leaves that can prevent the rain from getting into the soil and add on some soil wetting agents or seaweed-based additives to replenish the soil so it can absorb moisture properly.
5. Create a compost heap
Now is the time to make a compost heap for healthier plants in the spring and summer. Make a pit and add compost, kitchen scraps, brown or dead leaves. For giving the process a head start find some horse steer or some well rotten manure. Keep it moist and fork it for the air to pass through. Leave it for six to eight weeks and it will be ready till then.
