Get your new Garden Resource Guide

The latest edition of the guide is available at the 12 noon Tuesday Gearing up for Gardening Master Gardener events at the Corvallis-Benton County Library on February 11, 18, and 25;  as well as Town & Country Realty; Garland Nursery; Shonnard’s Nursery and the Benton County Extension Office, Master Gardener desk.  Stop in and get one today.       

                                                                                                                         

Make a Fresh Start

It’s a great time to start planning your spring garden, gathering your seeds, and getting ready to start growing seedlings to put in your early spring garden. 

Using toilet paper roll centers that you’ve collected (quickly!), prepare little individual pots that will go straight into the garden when it’s time to plant and decompose after being planted there.  This is an easy and economical way to get a jump on the season.

         

Remember to start your early greens, chard, kale, and broccoil in a sterile seed-starting soil mix.  Put some kind of light over the tray to give your plants a good warm start in life. 

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.

  See this link for many helpful publications.
•    Prune apple trees.  See this link for many helpful publications.

•    Prune fruit trees.  See this link.
•    Prune blueberries. Watch a video on blueberry pruning here.

•    Prune deciduous summer-blooming shrubs and trees

•    Prune and train trailing blackberries and black raspberries.



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



Planting/Propagation

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



•    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.



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.