Start your Spring Gardening Chores Now!

February is the time of the year to get out into the garden after the holiday season and attend to those chores you have been meaning to do.  Weed the garden, paint the house, fertilize the lawn, fertilize the palm trees and the citrus trees.  Many types of citrus are beginning to put out their spring flowers now.  

Be sure to water when and as long as your local water conservation rules allow (unless you have been lucky enough to receive adequate precipitation from passing cold fronts.)  Where you are not restricted, water deep and long since this is the dry season and often what rain we get is not enough to thoroughly soak into the ground.  Spritzing your garden is not recommended as it causes plant roots to grow short and short roots during droughts will spell doom for your plants.  A good, long soaking twice a week is best for your annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, and lawn (where applicable and practicable).

Trees and shrubs may be transplante this month since the cooler weather and relative dormancy of many plants make it a perfect time.  Be careful to keep as much of the root system intact as possible when moving your plants and try not to let the roots dry out during the moving process.  After planting, make sure to water your transplants thoroughly. 

Evergreen shrubs and deciduous summer-flowering shrubs can be pruned now, but do not prune deciduous spring-flowering shrubs until after they bloom.  These plants produce flowers on last year's growth so you will be cutting off potential blooms if you do it now. 

If you still have poinsettia plants from the holidays, do not throw them out.  You can plant them in a sunny, well-drained spot in the garden.  As poinsettias need long, dark nights to stimulate flowering, do not plant them near streetlights, porch lights or where vehicles headlights may shine on them at night. 

Cool weather annuals such as snapdragons, petunias, and calendulas can be renewed by deadheading them.  If the plants have become leggy, prune the stems back to the desired size and shape.  Water and fertilize them with a bloom boosting fertilizer and they will reward you with more flowers within a few weeks. 

The gardening season is still growing strong. If some of your crop plants are looking a little beat, you still have time to plant another crop of most vegetables and herbs before the heat and humidity return.  

What To Do:

Citrus:  Now is a good time to check citrus trees for scab disease.   Apply a copper fungicide when new leaves appear and again when 2/3 of the flower blossoms have fallen.  If not done in January, fertilize citrus now.  The rule of applying fertilizer to fruit trees is one pound of fertilizer for each year of the tree's age. 

Roses:  Roses should be pruned this month to remove damaged canes and improve the overall form.  After pruning, fertilize and apply a fresh layer of mulch.  Blooming will begin eight to nine weeks after pruning. 

Shrubs:  Now is the time to fertilize shrubs.  Spread fertilizer evenly over the soil surface and immediately water in.  Follow with a fresh layer of mulch which will conserve moisture and reduce weeds.  

Lawn Weeds:  Apply a pre-emergent weed killer to lawns this month to prevent germination of warm-season weed seeds.  Timing of application is important for good control.   

Best bets for starting a traditional garden this month are:

Vegetables--Beans, Beets, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chinese Cabbage, Collards, Cucumbers, Endive, Escarole, Kale, Kohlrabi, Leek, Lettuce, Mustard, Onion Sets, Parsley, Peas, Peppers, Pumpkins, Rhubarb, Romaine, Rutabagas, Spinach, Squash, Strawberries, Sweet Corn, Swiss Chard, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watermelons, and almost any other vegetable or fruit you desire.

Herbs--Anise, Basil, Borage, Chives, Chervil, Coriander, Fennel, Garlic, Lavender, Marjoram, Mint, Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Sesame, Sweet Marjoram, Thyme and most other herbs.

Flowers--Amaryllis, Asters, Baby's Breath, Bachelor's Buttons, Balsam, Calendulas, Callas, Candytufts, Carnations, Cosmos, Cockscombs, Daisies, Dianthus, Forget-me-nots, Gaillardias, Gladiolas, Globe Amaranth, Hollyhocks, Lace Flowers, Lilies, Lobelias, Lupines, Marigolds, Narcissus, Nasturtiums, Pansies, Poppies, Salvias, Scabiosa, Snapdragons, Statice, Stock, Strawflowers, Sweetpeas, Sweet William, Sweet Felching Verbenas, and other cool season flowers and bulbs.

Sources: Florida Home Grown; Florida Gardening Month by Month