Posted: 01/18/2024 | Filed under: Blog, Malaquias' Gardening Tips
Many days in February may feel like spring, but we could still have frost, fog, rain, snow, and even hail! February is a transitional month, and there are plenty of things we can do in the garden!
PLANTING
• You can transplant most trees, shrubs, perennials this month.
• Start your summer crops from seed indoors now: tomato, peppers, basil, eggplant, and tomatillo.
• Sow California poppy and other wildflower seeds outdoors.
MAINTAINENCE
• Check your irrigation and make needed repairs for both sprinkler and drip systems.
• Pruning can still be done on berries, grapes, deciduous fruit trees, and roses.
• Do not prune Spring flowering shrubs like camellias, forsythia, Eastern lilac, California lilac, California native sage, or quince until they finish blooming.
• If you have plants that show signs of frost damage, wait until it’s warmer to prune to protect the crown and roots.
• After pruning fruit trees, apply a dormant spray before the buds swell but when the air temperatures are at least 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Products containing copper are used to control some diseases, like peach leaf curl. Products containing oil kill insects and their eggs that overwinter in the cracks and crevices of the tree.
• Control earwigs and mollusks becoming active this month.
• Apply a pre-emergent weed control such as Preen or Amaze for flower and shrub beds, and a pre-emergent Crabgrass control for the lawn as well.
• At the end of the month, fertilize deciduous fruit trees. Do not fertilize citrus or avocados yet.
https://ucanr.edu/datastoreFiles/268-1625.pdf
Welcome to the Frantz Garden Center Blog. Check out our digital newsletter, The ComPost, to see what is in season, learn about landscaping and gardening trends, and stay in the loop on upcoming events and sales at the Garden Center. You can also check out Malaquias’ Gardening Tips, helping turn everyone’s thumbs a little greener. Thank you for supporting Frantz Garden Center! Malaquias Vega, our in-house extraordinaire, will help you become a better gardener, by giving you useful, creative, and cost effective tips to maintain and grow your home garden.
