To Do List for February

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 may be sprayed with a fungicide to prevent leaf curl.
  • Spray all fruit trees with dormant oil to help eliminate some insects, if needed.

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 or remove by hand.

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.

from http://catawba.ces.ncsu.edu/calendar-2/