FEBRUARY

General landscape advice

Reassess your garden.
- Consider adding plants or replacing underperforming plants.
- Are the plants suited to the site (e.g., soil texture and pH, drainage, sun and shade patterns, wind).
- Limb-up or “tree-form” large shrubs that may be out of scale with their neighbors.
Evaluate your successes and failures in the garden last year. Review your records.
- Focus on plants that grow well in our USDA planting zone (7B-8A)
- Take care of the soil and improve your watering practices.

Avoid walking on grass or groundcovers while they are frozen, as leaves are tender and easily damaged.
Dig wild onions and garlic as they emerge by removing the bulblet underground.

Watch for signs of growth in early spring bulbs.
- When about 1-inch high, start removing mulch (cloudy days are best). Fertilize emerging bulbs.
Check dislodged perennials caused by freezing and thawing of the soil.
- Dig up, separate if necessary, replant and water back in.

Spread wood ashes on bulb beds, vegetable beds, and non-acid-loving plants.
Feed pansies in late February.
Wait until new growth emerges before cutting back Lantana and Salvia.
Trim away dead leaves and stems from Asters, Coreopsis and Rudbeckia.
Clean up Lenten Roses and Epimedium. Remove old, dead and dying leaves to reveal the flowers.

Don’t prune Azaleas, Dogwood, Gardenia, Forsythias, Loropetalum, Hydrangea macrophylla and Spirea now, other than to remove dead or damaged wood. Prune after they bloom.
What you can prune:
- Hydrangea paniculata by 1/3 as needed and cut back Hydrangea arboresens to 10”
- Prune Buddleia, Beautyberry, and Smoke bush to the ground to encourage summer flowers.
- Prune Abelia and Elderberry.
- Prune Caryopteris back to low permanent framework as buds begin to swell.
- Prune hybrid teas, grandiflora and floribunda roses before bud break in late February. On mature plants thin out 1/3 of the old canes to the ground to open up the plants.
- Boxwood can be lightly pruned.
- Prune evergreens for shape and to encourage new growth.
- Prune fig trees.
- Prune any dead, diseased, dying or damaged wood.
Take stems of Red Twig Dogwood down to the ground to prepare for new spring growth.
- Prune to get a desired shape or form. Severe pruning can be done now, but take no more than 1/3 of the plant’s height.
Watch for damage to trees and shrubs from ice and heavy winds.
- Remove any broken branches following proper pruning techniques.
Check for scale on Camellia and Euonymus and for spider mites on Juniper.
- Treat as needed following instructions on pesticide labels as directed.
Transplant trees and shrubs so that they get settled in before the summer heat sets in.

Start slow-developing flowers, like alyssum, coleus, dusty miller, geranium, impatiens, marigold, petunia, phlox, portulaca, salvia and verbena.
Start herb seeds now in your own indoor mini-greenhouse in a warm, bright location out of direct sunlight.
Resume a fertilizer schedule for indoor plants. Water a couple hours before fertilizing to avoid burning roots.
Once a month, water your acid-loving house plants (gardenia, citrus) using a solution of 1 teaspoon of vinegar to 1 quart of water.
If your house plants are not growing well, check all five growing factors: light, temperature, nutrients, moisture and humidity, which must be favorable to provide good growth
Avoid placing cacti and succulents in hot, stuffy areas.
- Be sure the indoor garden is well ventilated, yet not drafty.

Plan and purchase vegetable seeds before spring planting season.
Sow seeds of cool-season vegetables, like kale, chard, spinach and peas after the 15th.
Create your own culinary theme garden with seeds for the cuisine you favor.
- For Oriental cooking, choose snow peas, green onions, Daikon radish, Chinese cabbage, and long, thin eggplant.
- For French, include haricot vert green beans, Courgette zucchini, mini-carrots, Butterhead lettuce, and the herbs chervil and French tarragon.
- Indian cuisine needs shell peas, fiery peppers and cumin.