FEBRUARY Garden Tips & Tasks

Flowering quince

In Middle Tennessee, where The Garden Bench calls home, February can be unpredictable. One day the temperature may be in the 50s or 60s, with sun and blue skies; the next day there could be snow.

I write from Zone 7A on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Hardiness Map, where the low temperature could be 0-5 degrees F., but in truth, the temperature rarely gets that low. Still, there’s the chance that it could, so mid-winter, wherever you are in the region, is a good time to take it easy. Don’t rush the season, but spend time planning for it. Spring, the best season for enjoying a garden, is on its way.

• Got cabin fever? A little time in the garden can be a cure. Get outside on a sunny day and pick up any trash, twigs and other garden debris that may be littering your landscape.
• Plant a tree. On a day when the soil isn’t frozen, dig a hole that is slightly wider than the tree’s root ball, but no deeper. Place the tree in the hole; replace the soil and water it well. Add mulch, but do not mound it up around the tree’s trunk.
• Lenten roses (Helleborus) should be blooming now. Enjoy the blooms indoors by floating them in a bowl of water (an idea via Instagram from garden expert Brie Arthur, author of Gardening With Grains and The Foodscape Revolution.)
• If you insist on pristine, weed-free beds in your kitchen garden, dig up the deadnettle, henbit, chickweed and other winter annuals that are likely beginning to emerge before they take over your garden beds. (Chickweed is edible, you know. Good for salads.)
• Turn your attention to houseplants, but don’t overdo it. Too much water can be as bad as too little. Before you add water to the plant’s soil, check the soil’s moisture level by sticking your finger in.
• Welcome birds into your garden by providing nesting boxes. Cavity-dwelling birds may start a family in a simple box with a 1½-inch entry.
• Pansies in containers may benefit from a little attention. Snip off dead flowers and ragged leaves and provide a dose of liquid fertilizer (follow label directions) to perk them up and get them through the rest of the winter.
• Wild onions may grow tall in an otherwise winter-clipped lawn. If you don’t like the look, go after them with a trowel to dig out the bulbs and roots. This is easier just after a rain, when the ground is moist.
• Some vegetables can be direct-sown in the garden as soon as the soil can be worked. Later in the month, plant spinach, lettuce, radishes and snap peas in the kitchen garden. A gardening friend here in Middle Tennessee likes to follow an old gardening tradition of planting peas on Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, she says, the weather doesn’t always cooperate.
• Coax branches of late-winter or spring-flowering shrubs and trees to bloom indoors. Cut 2- to 3-foot branches after the buds begin to swell, split the bottoms of the stems, then place them in a vase of water in a cool room. When the buds begin to show color, move the vase into a warmer area, and welcome spring into your home.

Dreaming of warmer weather: a to-do list

Here’s a ray of sunshine to warm up a winter day…

It’s hard to think about a garden when the ground is frozen solid. But for gardeners, January is not a total loss. I looked around the world of garden calendars to find to-do lists to back up that claim, and came across these nice little bits from The Garden Girls — Dr. Sue Hamilton and Beth Babbitt – at the University of Tennessee Plant Sciences Department. Here’s some of what they suggest for January, when it’s too cold to get out and dig:

• Use the time to design and plan. Now that the garden in bare, take a look at  the “bones” and determine where you may need to move plants, add new plants, add hardscape, or make new beds.  If it looks a little dull out there right now, consider adding plants that can provide winter color and interest. Take notes so you can remember these ideas when the time comes for action.
• Gather your seed-starting supplies if you want to get a head start on spring by starting seeds indoors. The early-season plants should be started indoors by the end of the month. Go ahead and place your orders from mail-order services to get the best selection of plants and seeds.
• Give your houseplants a little love. Trim, groom, clean, divide and re-pot as      needed. Still hanging on to that Christmas poinsettia? Take the pot out of the foil wrap and place them in another container to catch overflow water. Keep it in bright sunlight and the soil evenly moist. When the color starts to fade, cut it back to about half and continue to treat it like a houseplant. After the danger of frost, move it outdoors where its lovely green foliage will grow all summer.

The Garden Girls also have advice on how to protect landscape plants during a deep freeze:

• When the temperatures are below freezing, avoid contact with trees and shrubs because frozen plants can break easily. Ice-laden plants are especially prone to breakage. Lightly cover plants that are subject to winter damage, but avoid using plastic, which can heat up too much when the sun is out. Don’t walk on frozen grass.
• If you do find winter damage, don’t be in a rush to prune. Remove broken limbs, but if it’s simply burned foliage you see, wait to see if the damage is superficial; it may bounce back.

Think of January as a time of anticipation. Spring will be here before you know it.