Lawn & Garden Tips

February Lawn & Garden Tips

February is typically our rainiest month. After last month's deluge, we still need water to push harmful mineral salts down into the soil. There's still time to plant bare roots, including deciduous fruit trees, grapes and berries.

• Bare Roots - Nurseries still have bare root, potted or bagged roses and other plants and fruits. If they have broken their dormancy, gently snap it off new growth and plant. Secondary buds will quickly appear.
  
• Tackle Weeds Now - All that rain promote winter weeds. Remove them with a hoe before they get too big and can scatter seed. Don't put them in the compost pile as you'll spread weed seeds throughout your garden.
  
• Pop in Color - Fill in garden bare spots with spring color plants already in bloom in four-inch or quart pots. Pansies will last until summer and baby delphiniums can be planted, too. Many prefer to plant California natives and sow and water wildflower seeds this month.
  
• Begonia Beginnings - Start begonias from tubers by setting them in a flat filled with soil amendment like Agromin's PowerMix All Purpose Potting Soil. Leave the upper part of the tuber above soil and transplant when a few leaves appear.
  
• Shade Orchids - Move cymbidium blooms where they'll get a little extra shade to make flowers last longer. When finished, move them back to good light and fertilize every month until September. When plants grow close to pot sides, split and repot in Agromin's PowerMix All Purpose Potting Soil.
• Plant Tomatoes and Feed Fruit - In warmer inland areas it's okay to plant tomatoes at the end of the month. You'll see fruit by Memorial Day. And speaking of fruit, fertilize deciduous fruit trees evenly over the entire root area several weeks before blooming begins