What to do in February

Checklists

Plant vegetable seeds: Beets, broccoli, carrot, chard, collards, endive, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, mustard, parsnip, peas, seed potatoes, radishes, rutabaga, spinach, shallot, turnips.

Start tomato & pepper seeds indoors.

Plant vegetable plants: Artichoke and asparagus crowns, Asian greens, broccoli, cabbage, chard, collards, lettuce, mustard greens, onion sets, spinach.

Plant herbs: All hardy perennial herbs, such as chives, oregano, and thyme; and cool-season annuals or biennials such as dill, fennel, and parsley. Be sure dill and fennel are watered and protected before any freezes.

Plant flower/ornamental seeds: Coreopsis, cosmos, echinacea, salvia. We are "in between seasons" right now. It is a little late for planting cool-season ornamentals, and too early for the warm-weather annuals such as marigolds and zinnias.

Plant annual flower/ornamental plants: African daisy, alyssum, balloon flower, calendula, English daisy, dianthus, dusty miller, forget-me-not, Iceland poppy, larkspur, lobelia, ornamental cabbage and kale, pansy, snapdragon, stock.

Plant perennial plants: All of them! Consider the ferny, evergreen, hardy nature of flowering yarrow, along with other stand-bys such as purple wandering jew, ruellias, and turk's cap for shady areas. (Yarrow can take sun or shade!) Try also Hymenoxys, Salvia greggii, Skeleton Leaf Golden Eye, and Zexmenia.

Plant ground covers and borders.

Plant strawberries.

Plant bareroot (or containerized) fruit trees, berries, and grapes.

Transplant, as needed, perennials and other landscape plants.

Fertilize cool-season annuals with an organic fertilizer: Use Lady Bug brand Flower Power and or John's Recipe.

Prepare garden beds for the spring! Work in compost and organic fertilizer to vegetable and flower beds in advance of planting time. Add a mineral source, such as greensand or Volcanite, if you haven't done so recently. Greensand can be added every year, or Volcanite every five to ten years. Go ahead and mix some organic fertilizer into the vegetable or annual flower beds before planting.

Prune roses ‚ on or around Valentine's Day.

Apply corn gluten as a pre-emergent weed killer in early February: At all costs, avoid the chemical pre-emergents. They are among the most toxic substances you can buy, for you, your children, your pets, your neighbors, and our drinking water! Corn gluten is a natural pre-emergent which should be broadcast at a rate of 20 pounds per 1000 square feet. A drop spreader works better for this than a whirlybird type. It adds nitrogen, too! The suppression of seed sprouting lasts about three weeks. Remember also that using exclusively organic fertilizers and enhancing the overall health of your soil can prevent and/or eliminate most weed problems. This is a long-term solution to weeds and many other lawn problems.

Spray apple, peach, pear, and plum trees with either Actinovate or Serenade fungicide when you see the buds begin to swell. Rarely, if ever, in organic gardening do we recommend spraying pesticides or fungicides as a preventative measure, except in the case of these fruit trees.

Water: Be sure to water deeply before the soil becomes dry, especially before freezes. Dry plants are more likely to suffer freeze damage than well-watered ones. Avoid overwatering in the winter.

Continue to protect tender plants, especially new seedlings, before a freeze.

Have a soil test done. At our nursery, we recommend Texas Plant and Soil Lab in Edinburg, TX. They can be reached at (956) 383-0739 or link to their web site.

Recycle your old phone books: Look for the phone book recycling dumpsters at your local grocery store, such as H.E.B.

 

Growing Tips

Rose Pruning - by Natasha "The Rose Queen"
Pruning is hard to sum up in a nutshell, but here goes: Use a clean, sharp pair of bypass pruners, and you might want to invest in a pair of leather gauntlet gloves. Thus equipped, remove any dead canes. Remove any canes that are growing back into the bush, rather than out of it. Cut them all the way back to quick or they will branch and return two-fold. Once you've done that, trim all the healthy outward facing canes back about a third (or maybe a little more) by cutting about 1/2 inch above an outward facing bud (make sure it's not a thorn!) at a 45 degree angle. (That's to keep moisture from settling on the cut and causing stem dieback.) Blooms will appear on the new growth in 6 to 7 weeks.

If you have a once-blooming rose like Lady Banks, wait until after it has bloomed to prune it, if pruning is absolutely necessary.

For climbing roses, don't cut them back. Just tidy up the canes, take off any dead wood or unmanagable canes, and secure any errant or new branches with a yielding garden tie (no wire or staples).

Remember that it's not rocket science, and if you screw it up, it will grow back. Have fun. For more information attend my class & ask lots of questions.

Don't rush the garden
When we get a couple of nice spring days, we are often tempted to plant things when it is just a little too early for that plant. Our average last frost date in the area is mid-March, so frost-tender plants should not be put out before then. The actual temperature is not the only thing to consider. Cold winds and very wet soil can also hurt plants that really want the drier, sunnier weather. There are still many plants that can be planted now and enjoyed in the next couple of months, such as cool-weather vegetables, cilantro, dill, larkspur and many others. So be patient and the time to plant tomatoes, basil, marigolds, etc. will be here before you know it.

Corn Gluten Meal (CGM) for weed control
Now is the beginning of the window to put down CGM for control of weed seeds that germinate in the spring. The use of CGM came from Iowa State University researcher Nick Christians by accident when he was trying to use CGM to grow a pathogen found on golf course turf. The experiment did not work but he found that the CGM could inhibit root growth. It will work best on seeds that germinate on or near the surface of the soil. Weeds controlled by CGM include crabgrass, dandelions, pigweed, purslane and others. Corn gluten will prevent successful germination of seeds, but it will not kill weeds that are already established. It is applied at the rate of 20# per 1000 square feet. Corn Gluten has a 9-0-0 nutrient analysis so it will act as an early non-toxic "Weed & Feed". Come April or May, if your grass is not as green and healthy as you would like, feed it again with Lady Bug 8-2-4. Remember, CGM prevents seeds from germinating so it needs at least 60 days to break down before you seed the area with grass, vegetable, flower, or any other seed. CGM should also be applied in September/October for fall germinating weed seeds.

Prune you Roses
Prune shrub roses gently in mid February. Remove dead or diseased canes, thin out any growth headed into the shrub rather than out, and trim outward facing branches back about one-third, cutting above an outward facing bud at an angle. Thin unwanted or unruly canes on climbers by removing them at ground level. Bind up any loose canes with any soft elastic material (Miracle tie, old panty hose, or jute.) Remember, a rose trained horizontally will bloom more profusely than one trained vertically.
Now is the time to put compost around the roses. Turkey compost is a good one to chose for this time of year - nice and rich. Then sit back and prepare to be dazzled!

Corn Gluten Meal
Corn Gluten Meal (CGM) for weed control. Yes this is the same hint (expanded) as two weeks ago, but it is a very small window when the CGM is most effective. That window is NOW! Put down CGM for control of weed seeds that germinate in the spring. The use of CGM came from Iowa State University researcher Nick Christians by accident when he was trying to use CGM to grow a pathogen found on golf course turf. The experiment did not work but he found that the CGM could inhibit root growth. It will work best on seeds that germinate on or near the surface of the soil. Weeds controlled by CGM include crabgrass, dandelions, pigweed, purslane and others. Corn gluten will prevent successful germination of seeds, but it will not kill weeds that are already established. It is applied at the rate of 20# per 1000 square feet. Corn Gluten has a 9-0-0 nutrient analysis so it will act as an early non-toxic "Weed & Feed." Come April or May, if your grass is not as green and healthy as you would like, feed it again with Lady Bug 8-2-4. Remember, CGM prevents seeds from germinating so it needs at least 60 days to break down before you seed the area with grass, vegetable, flower, or any other seed. CGM should also be applied in September/October for fall germinating weed seeds. The CGM that we carry and feel is most effective is in a powder form. This makes application a little bit tricky. The easiest way to get good coverage is to put the CGM in a drop or broadcast spreader set on the smallest setting (smallest opening) and walk briskly or else all your CGM will end up in one pile. Do not try to apply this on a windy day as it will go all over.

Start seeds for summer flowers
Start seeds now for summer flowers. It is less than a month away from the last frost date here in Central Texas so it is a great time to start seeds indoors for summer color. Zinnias, cosmos, morning glories, and many others can be started in flats inside the house with a bright light source. A shop light will work if you keep it right over the plants - only a couple of inches above the highest plant. You can move the flat outside during nice days into full sun and protect them from the wind and bring them in on cool evenings. When the last frost has past, transplant the plants into your garden. You do not need to have a really full plant to transplant like you get from a nursery. These have been grown in very controlled situations. A smaller plant with several true leafs is usually going to be fine when transplanted. Just be sure to pay close attention to the water and potential bug problems for the first couple of weeks. Come join our greenhouse manager - Kelly for her propagation class here at the store on Saturday (Feb 28th) at 10 am.

From the www.naturalgardeneraustin.com Web site

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