Why February is the best time to start taking action in your garden
If you don't want to feel overwhelmed and stressed come Spring!
Hi darling, I’m Kendall, a horticultural therapist. Here on my Substack, I share tips on how to use your garden to grow your personal power in a world that tries to keep women stuck, exhausted & burnt out. Come grab your trowel and join the rebellion, we’ve got a patriarchy to dismantle.
Welcome to the Seed, the place where we learn to resource ourselves in the garden so that we can unlock more joy in our lives.
There are moments of nice weather here and there and then boom suddenly another harsh overnight frost.
Which means it’s still too early to be planting out any frost sensitive plants BUT it doesn’t mean we can’t start taking action in the garden.
In fact February is the perfect month to start thinking about how you want to use your garden this year, what you might like to grow and start getting some of those overgrown and dead plants cut back so you and they have space to grow.
Here’s 5 reasons why February is the perfect time to start taking action in your garden.
Space to plan and dream
In order to be creative and come up with gorgeous planting plans for your garden you need SPACE. Not something that as women we get a lot of! And if you leave it until the weather warms you’ll already be on the back foot, and nothing beautiful was ever created when you’re under a tonne of pressure to do it quickly. Set aside some time now to allow your mind to wander and dream about how you’d love to use your garden this year and create your planting plan.
Allows you to do a garden audit
Got things growing out there that are giving you the ick? Or perhaps they don’t make you feel anything at all? They’re bland and boring and definitely don’t set your heart on fire. I like to look back at photos from last season as I do this as much of my garden is still hibernating right now. If it doesn’t make my knees go weak its going on the ‘Get rid’ list.
Time to get rid of plants you don’t want
Once you’ve done your audit, you’re going to need some time to dig up the plants destined for the compost bin.
My preferred tool for this job is a mattock. It looks a bit like a pick axe and is excellent at digging through tough soil around established plants. If you don’t already own one, I suggest getting one with a wooden handle. The wood absorbs the vibrations better than plastic so it makes for an altogether nicer experience as you dig through the soil.
Pick of the best plants
If you’ve already got your list of must have plants sorted by the time the shelves at the garden centre are heaving then you can head straight in and choose the healthiest looking plants. With no need to spend hours wandering around trying to quickly design a border in your head. You’ll already know exactly what you need to buy to make your vision from step 1 a reality.
Reduces overwhelm
If you wait to do all of this until March, they’ll also be seeds that need sowing, seedlings that need potting on, plants that need planting out and before you know it you’re feeling overwhelmed as fuck and this gardening thing that was meant to make you feel calmer is having the opposite effect.
Perhaps this has happened to you before? I promise you, come and join the Seed take some action this month and you’ll be feeling a whole lot better for it come Spring.
If you’re like me and you need a bit of accountability to make these things happen and you want to be part of a gardening community where you can learn to garden without judgement, a place where you can share your wins and your struggles without feeling like a failure, then come and join as a paid member.
Kendall xx
p.s. don’t forget by sharing this post with someone you think would like it you can get a free membership to the Seed and access all my articles and mindful gardening activities.
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It would be remiss of me to not mention my bloody brilliant masterclass Learn how to prune your plants. Which is THE only thing you need to watch if you’re a complete pruning beginner or you’re finding yourself procrastinating over getting your pruning done.
Come and do it along with me!
So I love the idea of getting rid of plants I don't like. However, what do you do with these plants? I feel bad throwing them out cause they're 'alive' 🤔😢😬