We love February

Whose silly idea was it to have Valentine’s Day in February? Surely it would be more appropriate to have it in May? Or June? Or, frankly, any other month apart from this short and bleak four weeks in winter? I suppose there are arguments for the romance of a log fire and some snuggling under soft blankets, but I reckon that most gardeners feel at their friskiest when there are leaves bursting from trees and shoots peeking from borders. Still, we have what we have, so not only do We Love February but February loves us back by giving us just the chastest kiss of colour.

Expert’s choice Crocuses

Bringing a welcome splash of colour this month, these popular bulbs may not be quite what you think, as Graham Rice explains

Gardeners’ World Offer

*Just pay £5.95 postage FREE* 24 summer bedding

The Full Monty

Change is afoot in the Jewel Garden as Monty reveals why it’s time to rethink the iconic heart of Longmeadow and how he’s going about it

Over the fence

Can you ever have too many house plants?

Digging deeper

Putting the spotlight on the biggest issues in gardening today

Gardeners’ World offer

SAVE £100pp WITH CODE GW100 Discover Lake Como,

2 for 1 Gardens Snowdrop spectacular

Celebrate the coming of spring as we visit some of the snowdrop-studded sites that you can visit for less with your 2 for 1 Gardens entry card

Container of the month

Nestle rosy hellebores among a cosy layer of evergreen foliage to create this heart-warming shady pot display

Subscriber CLUB BENEFITS

Offer of the month Raspberry ‘Glen Ample’ Raspberry

Sowing for success

Start your growing year on the right footing with Monty’s timely guide to sowing a garden full of colour and flavour

Soak up the atmosphere

Having tranformed a bland suburban plot into a romantic, relaxing oasis, Sunil Patel has opened his garden for charity over the past two summers, and now invites us to take a look around…

Garden globetrotting: Seville

With the cross-cultural architecture of its buildings and the gardens’ diverse planting, the Real Alcázar de Sevilla has so much to offer visitors that Matt Collins has to resort to his diary to recall its every detail

Inspired by Alcázar

Bring the essence of Alcázar home by adopting its plants, ethos and style

Mini chainsaws

Take the strain out of pruning trees and shrubs with a handy, battery-powered, mini chainsaw. Harry Duncton puts six products to the test to see if they make the cut

Mini chainsaws explained

Bar Acts as the guide for the cutting

Webb Eco WEV20PSB2 Cordless Pruning Saw Trimmer

SCORE: 18/20

WORX WG324E Cordless Compact Chainsaw

£129.99 Weight 1.7kg Bar length 12cm

Bosch EasyChain 18V-15-7 Cordless Chainsaw

£198 Weight 1.7kg Bar length 15cm

Stihl GTA 26 Cordless Garden Pruner

BEST BUY £149 Weight 1.7kg Bar length

Greenworks 24V Mini Chainsaw

£139.99 Weight 1.7kg Bar length 10cm

Husqvarna Aspire™ P5-P4A

BEST BUY £169.99 Weight 1.3kg Bar length

How to use a mini chainsaw

Make sure your work area is clear of

How to look after a mini chainsaw

Always remove the battery before you work on

Best mini chainsaw

Stihl GTA 26 Cordless Garden Pruner

Best mini chainsaw for versatility

Husqvarna Aspire™ P5-P4A

Best budget mini chainsaw

Webb Eco WEV20PSB2 Cordless Pruning Saw

Hardwood cuttings made easy

Making free plants doesn’t get any simpler than with hardwood cuttings, and now is the perfect time to give it a go. Alan Titchmarsh shows you how

Make the most of your kitchen garden

Getting out into the garden in winter, even for short spells, keeps things ticking over, especially fruit and veg crops, as Adam Frost explains

Make moments matter

A small kitchen garden doesn’t need a lot of attention at this time of year, but there are several quick and enjoyable jobs you can be doing now to keep things moving

Potting on a winter show

PART 3

Create your container

Position your pot in a sheltered spot, where you can easily enjoy its colourful display from indoors

Protecting potted plants

These simple tips will help keep your containers looking their best throughout cold snaps

DIY garden projects

PART THREE

British Isles garden cruise

Exclusive onboard events

Luxury 5-star river cruises

8 days from £1,599pp, June-October 2025 and April-October 2026 departures Salzburg

Act now for wildlife

Gardeners across the UK have been stepping up to support wildlife and combat related issues such as climate change. GW Wildlife Editor Kate Bradbury reveals the results of this year’s review, celebrating successes and exploring how we can all help

Easy-going erysimums

SAVE £18 when you buy 3

SAVE 15% ON THE BRAND NEW SUMMER RANGE

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FREE* TOMATO GROWERS’ SAVER COLLECTION

10 Postiplugs WORTH £20.97

Quality bedding collections

Fill your garden with colour from spring through to autumn with these three vibrant bedding collections. Pot up the plug plants on arrival and keep indoors until after the last frost, then plant in beds, containers and hanging baskets.

3 FOR 2 ON WILDFLOWERS

Greater knapweed Salad burnet Bird’s foot trefoil Ox-eye

Cactus dahlias collection

Dahlia ‘Yellow Star’ SAVE NEARLY £30 Dahlia

Patio potato selection

SAVE £17 ‘Charlotte’ ‘Desiree’ ‘Rocket’ These specially selected

How to choose a mini chainsaw

If you’re thinking of buying a mini chainsaw, consider the following points first

Growing THE GOOD LIFE

Join urban smallholder Sara Ward as she begins the month with a few key jobs for the year ahead

Sweet pickings

What are the best cordon cherry tomatoes to grow? Lucy Chamberlain tested a dozen varieties to find the sweetest, juiciest and heaviest cropping options for the season ahead

Month-by-month guide

Sow cherry tomatoes soon for sweet, fruitful harvests from July until October

Little wonders

Short on space? Cordon cherry tomatoes are the perfect vertical veg crop

FEBRUARY Jobs

ABOVE The soil in raised beds drains better

WHAT TO DO NOW

50 things to do this month from the Gardeners’ World team

Cut back deciduous grasses

Deciduous grasses need cutting back to make room

30 MINUTES TO SPARE

Cut buddleia plants back hard now, 10cm from

Maintain feeders

Take bird cleaners indoors for a good wash

STEP BY STEP

Create a winter habitat for bugs

Cut back cornus stems

Hard pruning now gives cornus plants plenty of

Last chance to prune hedges

It’s safer to use loppers than a ladder

Don’t forget

■ Order bedding plug plants from specialist suppliers

Cover borderline-hardy plants

Check the weather forecast and cover up any

Edge lawns

Improve the whole look of the garden by

BEECHGROVE ON TV

The series is off-air until spring, but

Repot ailing house plants

It can help to use a spoon to

Trim back ivy

Trim back overlong shoots to keep growth under

STEP BY STEP

How to prune roses

Look out for bulbs in lawns

Keep off areas of grass planted with bulbs,

30 MINUTES TO SPARE

Once the flowers of forced hyacinths have faded,

Don’t forget

■ Sow hardy annuals in modules or pots

Plant camellias

Plant a camellia in a large pot for

Add pops of colour to patio pots

If your containers have lost their sparkle, revive

STEP BY STEP

Divide geraniums

Sow your FREE seeds

This month, subscribers receive a FREE pack of

STEP BY STEP Potting up aloe offsets

With light levels increasing and plants beginning to

STEP BY STEP Refresh fruit bush compost

Replenish the compost of fruit bushes grown permanently

YOUR PRUNING MONTH

February is a great time to prune many garden plants, from herbaceous perennials to holly topiary, says Frances Tophill

Rejuvenating neglected holly topiary

Beware of holly’s prickly leaves when pruning Holly

Holly

NEXT MONTH Look out for our new pruning

Check max/min thermometers

Reading and recording temperature trends helps you protect

Pot up mint for early pickings

Mint roots are incredibly tough and will grow

Pinch out chrysanths

Pinching out is best repeated several times through

STEP BY STEP Pot up cannas

Bring cannas into early growth by potting TOP

Start harvesting cavolo nero

When harvesting cavolo nero, work around the plant,

30 MINUTES TO SPARE

Apply organic fertilisers, such as well-rotted manure or

Last chance to prune apples

Remove any unproductive or old apple tree branches

Tidy up herbs

Cut out old stems at ground level to

Chit seed potatoes now

Choose a cold, dry place, such as an

Look for old fruits and remove

Check your trees for old fruits and remove

Plant a bare-root fruit tree

Espaliers make great use of available space, especially

STEP BY STEP Planting a bare-root fruit tree

1 DIG a square hole just before

Vine weevil

Your questions answered

GQT Gardeners’ Question Time

Our experts tackle your queries, which include a sad-looking pineapple, some leggy seedlings and a horde of hungry squirrels

Crossword

Put down your trowel, pick up a pen and exercise those brain muscles instead…

How to get in touch

Please contact us online in the first instance

Marketplace Travel Directory

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Marketplace Product Directory

Fabulous Bespoke Glass Rooms & Verandas Use Code

THE TV SHOW IS BACK SO GET GROWING WITH US!

March issue on sale 13 February

Tales from Titchmarsh

Spring is just around the corner, and there is no better time to be alive. Just make sure you take a moment to enjoy it, says Alan