Garden Activities for February

~What to do in the Garden in February~

Planning

•    Select and store healthy scion wood for grafting fruit and nut trees. Wrap in damp cloth or peat moss and place in plastic bag. Store in cool place.



•    Plan an herb bed. Choose a sunny spot and plant seeds or transplants once the danger of frost has passed (late-April or early-May).



•    Plan to add herbaceous perennial flowers to your flowering landscape this spring. Ex:  sweet alyssum, yarrow, penstemon, and coneflower.



Maintenance and Clean Up

•    Make a cold frame or hotbed to start early vegetables or flowers.



•    Cut and lightly incorporate cover crops or other organic matter into soil.



•    Prune and train grapes; take cuttings.



•    Prune fruit trees and blueberries.

•    Prune deciduous summer-blooming shrubs and trees

•    Prune and train trailing blackberries and back raspberries.



•    Prune fall-bearing raspberries (in late-February or early-March).



Planting/Propagation

•    Plant windowsill container gardens of carrots, lettuce, or parsley.



•    Plan to add herbaceous perennial flowers this spring: columbine, candytuft, peony, daylily, and iris.



•    Good time to plant fruit trees and deciduous shrubs. Replace varieties of ornamental plants that are susceptible to disease with resistant cultivars or natives.

•    Plant asparagus if the ground is warm enough.



•    Plant seed flats of cole crops (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts), indoors or in a greenhouse.



•    Where soil is dry enough and workable, plant garden peas and sweet peas.

Pest Monitoring and Management

•    Monitor landscape plants for problems. Don't treat unless a problem is identified.



•    Use delayed-dormant sprays of lime sulfur for fruit and deciduous trees and shrubs.



•    Elm leaf beetles and box-elder bugs are emerging from hibernation and may be seen indoors. They are not harmful, but can be a nuisance. Remove them with a vacuum or broom and dustpan.