First Week
- It's not too late to lightly and carefully spot-spray completely dormant bermudagrass with glyphosate (Roundup, KleenUp, KleerAway) to kill green winter weeds. Make sure no green Bermuda sprouts are near the soil line.
- Look for blooms on your Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis). Few other plants can supply the year-round interest of this evergreen groundcover.
- Redesign your lawn for easier mowing. Eliminate sharp angles and narrow turf areas. Use mulch, new flower beds or a groundcover like mondo grass there instead.
- Prune apple and pear trees now - but postpone peach pruning until mid-March.
Second Week
- Prune one-fourth of the branches from your overgrown fig bush. Removing any more will reduce the number of fruit this summer. Concentrate on saving the horizontal ones.
- Remove guy wires, stakes and trunk wraps from small trees you planted last fall.
- How much fertilizer or lime does your lawn or garden really need? The only way to know for sure is to call your county Extension office and get a soil test kit.
Third Week
- The brown foliage on pampas grass and maiden grass can be pruned away now. Leave only a "crew cut" of brown stems twelve inches high.
- Plant sweet pea now for fragrant flowers later. Plant English peas, onions, asparagus or elephant garlic for your spring vegetable garden.
- Overgrown Burford holly shrubs can be pruned severely now. Even if it is reduced to twelve inches tall, this shrub will resprout plenty of new foliage by summer.
- Plant a winter daphne (Daphne odorum) near your home's entrance or front walkway. The scent will greet you each day when you arrive at your abode this spring.
Fourth Week
- Clean out bird boxes so they will be ready to welcome new residents in a few weeks.
- Build raised beds for vegetables, roses and herbs. It's easy to do with four pieces of 2x8 wood planks. Choose lengths that fit your space; bolt them together at the corners.
- Reduce the size of your butterfly bush by two thirds to one half to encourage new growth (and big blooms) this summer.
- Set your mower to its highest setting and cut off the tattered leaves of liriope. They will quickly regrow in March.
- Time for the first fertilization of fescue for the year. Any brand of turf fertilizer will work well. Next application: April.
|
