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Parker County
Master Gardener Association
Garden Tips - February
General yard:
Remove old leaves and debris that could provide a haven for insects,
diseases, snails and slugs. This also adds to the beauty of your landscape.
Be aware of the water needs of your plants. Even in winter, they can become
stressed because of long dry spells.
Lawn:
Scalp your lawn grass late in the month or early March. This can help in
removing weed seeds before they germinate.
Apply broad-leaved weedkiller to control clover, dandelions, henbit and
other non-grassy weeds. Wait until temperatures are in the 60s, with no rain
in the 48-hour forecast. Mowing alone will eliminate many cool-season weeds.
Apply pre-emergent weedkiller late in the month to prevent crabgrass and
grassburs. You will need to repeat 90 days later.
Flowers:
Plant frost-tolerant annual flowers, including alyssum, English daisies,
larkspurs, pansies, petunias, pinks, poppies, violas, snapdragons, stocks
and wallflowers.
Summer and fall-flowering perennials should be divided this month, including
cannas, coneflowers, fall asters, mallows, mums, and ornamental grasses.
Fruit & Nut:
Go by the Fruit and Nut Spray Schedule available at the Texas AgriLife
Extension Service Office to
apply the appropriate insecticide, fungicide to peaches, plums and other
fruit crops.
Vegetables:
Plant vegetables: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, English peas, onions and
potatoes (all 6 weeks before last killing freeze or earlier) beets, carrots,
chard, lettuce, radishes and spinach (all 3 to 4 weeks prior to last
freeze).
Trees & Shrubs:
You should finish all digging and transplanting of native and landscape
trees and shrubs before new growth begins.
Prune standard nandinas by removing as many as one-third of tallest canes
completely to the ground. New sprouts will keep the plants full to the soil
line. This does not apply to other nandinas, these will either never need
pruning or very little.
Watch your arborvitae and junipers for early-season spider mites; they will
turn the interior needles tan.
Watch for scale insects on trunks and leaves of camellias, euonymus,
hollies, photinias, fruit and shade trees (apply horticultural oil before
growth begins).
Roses:
Plant bare-rooted roses this month. Buy top quality plants and plant them
immediately to prevent desiccation.
Prune bush roses by half, always pruning just above buds facing away from
the centers of the plants. Miniature bush roses are pruned by the same
percentage. This does not mean the climbing roses, wait until they have
bloomed to prune and shape them.
Fertilize roses, as buds break and new growth begins. Use a fertilizer
recommended for roses.
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