Fertilizing

• Shade trees can be fertilized.
• Fertilize emerging spring flowering bulbs.
• Spread wood ashes around the vegetable garden, flowering bulb beds and non-acid loving plants if the pH is below 6.0.

Planting

• First week in February start broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower plants inside your home.
• Plant English peas, onions, Irish potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, spinach, kale, turnips, and carrots the last week of February.
• Plant asparagus crowns when soil is dry enough to work.
• Plant fruit trees and grape vines while dormant, before buds open.

Pruning

• Prune bunch grape vines this month.
• Trim ornamental grasses like liriope, mondo grass, and pampas grass.
• Cut back any overgrown shrubs.
• Prune fruit trees, such as apples, cherry, nectarine, peach, pear and plum while dormant, before buds open.
• While pruning, remove leaves and clippings to prevent disease problems.

Spraying

• Peach and nectarine trees need to be sprayed with a fungicide to prevent leaf curl.
• Spray all fruit trees with dormant oil to help eliminate some insects.

Lawn Care

• Cool season lawns like tall fescue should be fertilized. Follow soil test results.
• Control wild onion in your lawn with spot sprays of a recommended herbicide.

Propagation

• Divide perennials like daylily and shasta daisy when the ground is dry enough.
• Hardwood cuttings of many landscape plants like Crape Myrtle, Flowering Quince, forsythia, hydrangea, juniper, spiraea, and weigela can be taken this month.

Specific Chores

• Clean out bluebird boxes.
• Order flowers for your sweetheart – Happy Valentine’s Day!
• Develop a vegetable and landscape plan for your home grounds.
• Order strawberry & blueberry plants.
• Bring cut branches of forsythia, winter honeysuckle, spirea and quince inside.  Place branches in water filled vases to enjoy early blooms.