February Landscape Tips

February is a great time to over seed any remaining bare areas of your lawn or to over seed as a renovation in its appearance.  Remember to dethatch and mow your yard at your mowers lowest setting if you are going to do the whole yards, or cultivate and loosen soil in the bare areas if this is the limit of your work. You may have to mow two or three times, progressively lowering the blade each pass.

We generally recommend you use a mix of several varieties of tall fescue grass, and no perennial ryegrass this time of year.  Do not prune spring flowering plants like rhaphiolepis, ligustrum, and photinia right now.  You will be pruning off the buds that will soon blossom. You can however prune off any frost damage from winter now that the danger of frost has lessened.  

You can cut back ornamental grasses and morea (iris) before new growth starts. Warmer days in February make for great vegetable planting; plant all herbs, beets, carrots, collards, fava beans, kale, leeks, lettuce, parsley, peas, rutabaga, spinach, and turnip. They will do well in the cool but sunny days ahead. Gear up for spring and summer by turning on and adjusting each sprinkler head. Fix any leaks or breaks, and replace any clogged or broken nozzles. Set up your timer to water for about 5-9 minutes (standard pop up nozzles) 2-3 times per week. Turn off the timer after it rains, and leave it off for several days until you see the lawn stress.  

Bonus Tip: If you see a fresh display of summer bulbs in the stores you can still plant now with success including Dutch iris, lily and begonia.  Do not plant bulbs that have spent the winter on display since last fall, even if the sale price seems too good to be true. They won’t bloom well.

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