February Garden Tips

Starting Seeds Indoors

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Check out my “Starting Seeds Indoors” article in this month’s newsletter.

For a typical mid-May last frost in the Denver area, zone 5, February is a good month for starting seeds indoors of slow-growing and cool-season crops.

It is too early for seeding tomatoes and other warm-season vegetables. That comes later.

Focus on these if you want transplants ready for April to early May planting.

• Onions, leeks, and shallots from seed start around mid-February, 10 to 12 weeks before the last frost.
• Early lettuces during the last week of February. This will give you nice transplants to harden off and plant out in April.
• Early leafy greens, including kale, chard, and other hardy greens, can be started in late February if you plan to harden them off and plant them under row cover or in a low tunnel.
• Cold loving cole crops like cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, kale, and chard.
• Very slow herbs like rosemary, parsley, thyme, oregano, chives, lavender, and chamomile.
• Slow-to-germinate flowers like impatiens, begonias, geraniums, petunias, and most perennials.
• Cool-season flowers like snapdragons, pansies and violas, alyssum, and stock.

Use February for planning, seed ordering, and soil prep. Prepare for March to be a big month for potting up bare root plants and summer flowering bulbs.

Pruning

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Pruning shade trees, fruit trees, berry bushes, and many deciduous shrubs while fully dormant can start this month. Avoid spring flowering shrubs that bloom before Memorial Day or you’ll be removing your spring flower show. Prune those right after bloom instead.

Inspect for and remove dead, diseased, or damaged branches on any plant, and tidy up any lingering diseased plant debris that could overwinter pests and pathogens.

• Cut back Class 2 and 3 clematis hard, to 12 to 16 inches tall, this month. These are clematis varieties that bloom in early summer, mid-summer, or autumn.
• Other hardy vines like honeysuckle, trumpet vine, and silver lace vine can be pruned to shape and remove dead or damaged stems. Wait to prune roses until April.
• Grapes can be pruned now through March. Pruning techniques vary depending on the purpose of the vines, whether they are grown primarily for screening or strictly for fruit production. I recommend viewing videos on YouTube produced by universities, extension services, or botanic gardens to learn the specifics. Also check your local garden centers for their class schedules, as they often offer free classes on pruning.
• Secure vines and other climbers to trellises and repair supports.

Bed Cleanup

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• On thawed days, walk beds and borders to check for heaving, reset any perennials pushed up by freeze-thaw, and gently firm soil. This is especially true for young plants put in the ground last fall.
• Top-dress beds with compost or well-rotted manure so winter moisture and freeze-thaw work it into the soil ahead of spring.
• Leave most herbaceous perennials mulched and undisturbed; cut back only clearly diseased, mushy, or pest-ridden stems now.
• Cut back cool-season grasses by late this month. This includes Feather Reed Grass varieties, Blue Oat Grass, Ornamental fescues, and any other ornamental grasses that are already showing signs of new growth. Cut them back in a dome shape, not a flat top, leaving roughly 6 inches of stubble above the ground.
• Remove accumulated debris from around spring flowering bulbs and early spring perennials like Creeping Phlox and Basket of Gold Alyssum now to give them easy access to the sun and room to show off. A good deep soak is also in order about now.

Lawns

If there’s been no snow or rain for 3 to 4 weeks and temps are above freezing, do a deep winter watering. Check to make sure the soil isn’t frozen. Probe the ground with a long screwdriver or similar tool.

Houseplants

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Inspect all your houseplants this month for insect pests. Especially those plants that spent last summer outdoors. Look for aphids on new growth, spider mites on the undersides of leaves, whitefly, flying dandruff, and mealybugs, tiny tufts of cotton, on stems and leaves. Catching infestations early, before they become a 5-alarm fire, makes control much easier and faster before they can spread.

If you haven’t fed your houseplants within the last 3 to 4 weeks, it’s time to show them some love. I like the Fertilome All Purpose 20 20 20 water soluble, at one-quarter strength with every other watering this time of year. Kick it up to one-half strength later in spring when the new growth picks up steam.