Rotating Extension Article

For:    Release week of January 20, 2003

By:     Daniel E. Mullins - Extension Horticulture Agent

Santa Rosa County Extension Service

Telephone:  850-623-3868 or 939-1259, ext. 1360

Overcome the February “Blahs” With Gardening Activities

February is not considered a very exciting month by many gardeners, but this need not be so.  There are many things that can be done in the landscape during the month.  Following are some suggestions.

            Camellias continue to bloom this month.  Be sure to practice disease control by picking up the old flowers that have fallen and removing them from your property.  This helps to reduce the incidence of camellia petal blight, which carries over from year to year on the old flower parts.

            This is one of the best times for applying a spray containing horticultural oil emulsion to shrubs and fruit trees.  A relatively safe product, it controls over-wintering scales, mites and other pests and is easy on beneficial organisms.

            Prepare annual beds for spring planting by incorporating organic amendments such as peat, manure or compost early.  If fresh material is tilled into the soil, allow at least 3 weeks before seeding or establishing bedding plants. 

            Heavy pruning is sometimes necessary in order to control the size of overgrown shrubs.  February is a good time because this allows a full growing season for recovery.  Don’t prune the spring flowering shrubs yet.  Any necessary pruning of azaleas, camellias, spireas, wisteria and other early bloomers should be delayed until after the flowering season is over.

            Start tomatoes, peppers and eggplants indoors by planting seeds in flats or small pots.  Approximately 5 to 6 weeks is required to produce bedding plants of the most desirable size.  They can be moved to the garden as soon as the danger of a spring frost has passed.

            Clean up the vegetable garden, removing dead or diseased plants and weeds.  Many insects and diseases can over-winter in this debris if left standing.

            Winter weeds in the lawn are vigorous and are most vulnerable to control measures during this month.  Hand pull them or use a recommended herbicide before they flower and begin producing seed in March.

            There is still time to plant some cool season flowers for late winter and

spring color.  Baby’s Breath, Calendula, Dianthus, Dusty Miller, Pansy, Petunia and Statice are the best choices for late winter planting.  Delay the planting of the warm season annuals for another month or so.

            Plant shrubs and trees.  Establishing them before spring will allow several months for root establishment before the stress of hot weather arrives next summer.

            Submit soil samples for analysis before the spring rush.  Contact your local Extension office for sample kits and instructions.  We recommend having a soil test done on a new area before any fertilizers or amendments are added, and approximately every 3 years after that.  It’s a small investment in time and money and takes the guess work out of liming and fertilization practices.

            As important as some of these practices are, it is equally important to resist the urge to perform others too early.  It is tempting for example, to fertilize the lawn at this time of year.  Don’t do it yet.  Centipede, St. Augustine and other permanent warm season grasses would not utilize the nutrients because the plants are not active yet.  Fertilizer applied to warm season turf this early will either be wasted, or will help to invigorate winter weeds.

            It’s also too early to plant grass seed such as Bermudagrass, centipedegrass or bahiagrass; to plant warm season flowers such as marigolds, zinnias and pentas unless you are a real gambler; and to apply a pre-emergent weed control product to the lawn.

Dan Mullins is Extension Horticulture/Vegetable agent for Santa Rosa County.

            Extension Service programs are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap or national origin. The use of trade names in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specific information. It is not a guarantee, warranty, or endorsement of the product name(s) and does not signify that they are approved to the exclusion of others.