Good morning! Spring is getting closer and closer! In February, we are still busy with winter gardening tasks, but we slowly begin sowing and planting. Here’s what to keep in mind in February:

✂️ Pruning shrubs and fruit trees – January, February, and the first half of March are still the right time for pruning fruit trees and shrubs.

🖌️ Whitewashing fruit trees – Whitewashing is done during the same period as pruning. It protects the bark from cracking and helps prevent diseases later on, such as bacterial canker.

🦀 Removing bacterial canker from fruit trees – While pruning, carefully inspect your fruit trees. This disease appears as a brown, jelly-like substance oozing from inside the tree. Infected areas should be cleaned as soon as possible and treated with tree wound paste.

🌳 Checking for leftover stubs on fruit trees – Remaining stubs can lead to bacterial canker. Remember to treat wounds on stone fruit trees with tree wound paste after pruning.

🧑‍🌾 First plant protection treatments for fruit trees – At the end of February or the beginning of March, apply a spray with a copper-based product containing copper oxychloride. Choose a time when the temperature is around 6°C and the buds are swelling but not yet breaking. Copper treatments are considered environmentally friendly and help prevent pathogens from settling in plant tissues.

Dissolve a few tablespoons of the copper product in water according to the instructions on the packaging and spray the trees thoroughly. When the temperature reaches about 12°C (around three weeks after the first treatment), prepare for another spray using a stronger product effective against scab.

These treatments help prevent many fruit tree diseases, including apple scab, peach leaf curl, leaf spot diseases of stone fruit trees, pear scab, and plum pocket disease.

🏵️ Planting! – Yes! From the second half of February, you can start planting begonia tubers. Early planting gives them enough time to develop well by May.

🌱 Seedlings and transplants – By the end of February, you can begin growing seedlings. Tomatoes may already be sown if they are intended for greenhouse or tunnel cultivation. For outdoor growing, tomatoes should be sown in mid-March. In February, you can also sow onions, leeks, and celery.

🌻 Perennials – February is a good time to sow perennials, especially if you want them to flower in the same season. You can sow biennial and perennial flowers and plants such as: Iceland poppy, hollyhock, garden pansy, lavender, coneflower, columbine, forget-me-not, passionflower, foxglove, daisy, rock cress, and baby’s breath.

Good luck!