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 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 transplanted 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 a
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. Best bets for
starting a traditional garden this month are:
Vegetables
: Beans, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels 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, Verbenas, and other cool season flowers
and bulbs.
Sources:
Florida Home Grown;
Florida Gardening Month by Month
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