February Gardening Checklist

General

  • Treat your Valentine to something special! Linder’s offers many beautiful varieties of rose bouquets that are available for metro wide delivery.  Enchant your Valentine with fresh cut flowers …wrapped in tissue or a bouquet!
  • Get inspired! Check out Linder’s great selection of gardening books.
  • Check bulbs & tubers stored inside.  If they’ve started sprouting, plant them up and place in a bright sunny window
  • You can force spring flowering tree and shrub branches for indoor color and fragrance indoors now. Try forsythia, pussy willow, Eastern redbud, magnolia, crabapple, fothergilla, birch, maple and various cherry branches. Use branches less than ½” in diameter, giving them a fresh cut underwater, just as you would cut flowers. Place the stems in warm water, use a floral preservative, and replace the water every few days. You should have lovely spring blossoms in about 3 weeks.
  • Visit us at the local Home and Garden Shows: St. Paul Home & Patio Show, Minneapolis Home & Garden Show, and Roseville Home & Garden Fair.  Read more…
  • Brighten your winter days with a colorful, easy to grow orchid or a vividly green houseplant from our greenhouse.
  • Begin thinking about next year’s garden: your goals, dreams, last year’s results, solving problem areas. Visit your Garden Center and library, read gardening magazines and seed catalogs for fresh ideas.
  • Brighten your table and desk with cheerful pots of spring flowers. Fragrant hyacinths, primroses, tulips, and narcissus in jewel colors are arriving at Linder’s now!
  • Start thinking Landscaping:  Let Linder’s create the landscape of your dreams and our professional installation team will make it a reality. Linder’s provides a full range of landscape services. Whether you need some expert advice, a design that you can install yourself, or complete design and installation, we will tailor our services to fit your needs.
  • Take a break from the cold and ice. Stop into Linder’s to relax in the tropical warmth & humidity of the greenhouses. Let your eyes feast on lush green and bright flowering plants. A visit to Linder’s greenhouses can be a great cure for the winter blahs!

Lawns

  • Now that you can see the shape and scope of your lawn without the distraction of other leafy plants, make plans for any changes in spring. Will you be adding a veggie garden this year? Are the traffic patterns in the best places? Do you need more or less space for children to play?
  • As snow cover melts and exposes the lawn, watch for signs of animal or rodent damage and erosion. Any areas where piles of snow linger can indicate places prone to disease such as snow mold. All these will need attention when soil thaws in spring.
  • Keep walks and driveways shoveled and try to avoid driving on the lawn even if it is frozen. Use sand for traction or minimal amounts of plant-friendly de-icer to avoid damage to lawn edges.

Annuals, Vegetables & Herbs

  • Start a mini-herb garden in a brightly lit window. Include parsley, chives, mint, oregano or many other flavorful herbs to keep the flavor of summer going this winter.

Trees & Shrubs

Remember, appropriate pruning done in the proper season is important to the health of your trees and shrubs.  Many trees & shrubs benefit from pruning during their dormancy period; sometime before early March is usually best. The Arbor Day Foundation has a great Tree Pruning Guide.  To learn more, click on this link to go to their website.

  • Prune trees while they are still dormant. Take out any branches that you marked last fall. Look for branches that are weak, those that cross or rub other branches, any that are weather damaged and any that show signs of insect or disease problems. Cuts should be made leaving the branch collar intact on the tree. Strive to make the wound as clean and small as possible. If you need to prune maple and birch trees do so in winter before sap rise (usually in mid to late February here in Minnesota). If pruned later, considerable sap bleeding may occur. This will not permanently damage the tree, but can be unsightly.
  • Shrubs can be pruned now too, but remember that pruning spring-flowering shrubs now will reduce flowering. This includes lilacs, forsythia, magnolia, rhododendron, and azalea. Any branches that you must prune now though, can often be forced into bloom in the house and used as cut flowers. When you prune shrubs, look for the same problem areas as you would with trees.
  • Any pruning needed for ornamental fruits such as mountain ash, crabapples and ornamental cherries should be done before early March. Doing so allows the wound to seal over before warm, damp conditions activate fungal spores. This greatly reduces the risk of fire blight and other diseases.
  • Fruit trees such as apples can generally be pruned about mid March here in Minnesota. The tree should be starting its most active growth period then so healing will occur quickly. Dormant oil can be applied immediately following pruning but must be applied before bud break.

Roses

  • Monitor covering materials after any windy weather and add or replace if needed.
  • If you are using rose cones, be sure to vent them in warm sunny weather or anytime the temperature approaches the freezing mark to prevent disease problems.

Perennials

  • If we have a spell of warm weather, check your perennial beds to be sure any covering materials are still in place. Remember that the reason for covering is to protect plant crowns from the freeze-thaw cycles so common in the very early spring. You may still add marsh hay or straw right on top of snow if needed.

Birding in Your Backyard

  • Be sure to keep bird feeders full and clean to attract more birds. Offer high-energy foods such as oil-rich sunflower seeds and suet especially in very cold weather.
  • Add a heater to your birdbath to attract more birds to your yard. Clean the bath and change the water often to avoid disease. Birds will eat snow as a water source, but doing so costs them body heat.
  • ‘Decorate’ your trees and shrubs with home-made bird treats.  You can use pine cones, dried bread cut into star shapes or make ‘wreaths’ from  day-old bagel or donut slices. Melt suet and add an equal amount of peanut butter and a bit of cornmeal or a few hulled sunflower chips. When this mix has cooled a bit, use it to ‘butter’ the star toasts, bagel wreaths and pine cones and then roll in bird seed. Add a few dried cherries or cranberries to the seed mix for color and extra nutrition for fruit-loving birds.
  • Use pruned tree and shrub branches to make a ‘brush pile’ or stand the branches upright teepee-fashion to provide shelter from winter wind and snow. Your backyard birds and other creatures will appreciate it!
  • Hang clean birdhouses or winter roost boxes out too. Many birds will use these as night shelters to conserve body heat. Be sure to position the boxes out of reach of predators.
  • Watch and listen for birds returning from their winter vacation in the tropics. Bluebirds begin arriving in Minnesota in early March so fresh, clean houses for them should be up well before then.
  • In late winter, natural food supplies become increasingly scarce so keep bird feeders clean and filled. Your feeders also entice tired migrant birds to visit your backyard for your viewing pleasure.

Interested in learning more about birding?  Check out these two links:

Cornell lab of Ornithology- www.birds.cornell.edu
‘Project Feeder Watch’ from Cornell lab of Ornithology- www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/

Indoor Plants

Indoor plants can be a wonderful haven from the bleak days of winter.  Flowering tropical plants brought indoors from summer patios, holiday plants or familiar house plants provide an oasis of color during our frozen midwinter and a reminder that spring will come again. A few simple guidelines can help keep those plants in good condition.

  • Avoid drafts, from both furnace ducts and from windows or open doors, but do keep good air circulation to avoid fungus problems.
  • Try to keep humidity levels at 30% or more. Grouping plants together or using humidity trays can help. Purchase humidity trays at Linder’s Garden Center or make one using a shallow tray filled with pebbles and a small amount of water. Set your plant in a saucer on the pebbles so that the bottom of the pot does not sit in the water.
  • With our short daylight hours and cooler temperatures, most houseplants are not growing actively now so fertilize less often and use a diluted, balanced plant food.
  • Watch water needs very carefully. How often a plant needs water depends on many factors such as available light, humidity, temperature and how large the plant is in relation to its pot size. Always go by touch! Remember that a plant’s roots are in the lower half of the pot; just because the soil surface is dry may not mean the plant roots are dry. Improper watering is probably the most frequent cause of houseplant failure. We tend to love our plants to death!
  • Inspect regularly and carefully for insect problems. Many problem insects are very tiny and hide in leaf axils (the point where the leaf attaches to the main stem) and on the back sides of leaves. Treat with a good insecticide at the first sign of trouble.
  • Keep house plants clean by rinsing them periodically in the sink or shower. Be sure to rinse the back sides of the leaves as well as the upper surface. Clean leaves help plants use available light and humidity more effectively, and discourage insect pests.
  • Turn your plants a quarter-turn every week or two to keep them growing evenly.
  • Pinch and prune selectively to keep plants bushy and promote new growth.

Seed Starting

It’s early to start most seeds yet, but it is a great time to take a look at your seed starting needs.  One place to learn more about when to start your seeds is at the Weekend Gardener’s Grow Guide.  To learn more, click this link to go their website.

  • Clean pots and trays with hot soapy water, rinse well and sanitize with a 10% bleach solution. Clean your potting bench while you’re at it.
  • Put new light bulbs in any light fixtures. Most bulbs used for growing plants should be replaced annually. You may not notice the difference, but your plants and seedlings will!
  • Look at your garden plans for the coming season and decide which plants you want to start from seed and which are more practically purchased at your favorite Garden Center.
  • Choose and purchase seeds for early starting. Read the back of each seed packet for germination information and maturity date. Long-season plants such as onions, leeks, impatiens, petunias and some perennials will need to be started as early as February.
  • Linder’s Garden Center is a great source for an excellent selection of interesting flower and vegetable seeds including many organic and heirloom varieties. However, some very rare varieties may need to be ordered from a seed supplier by mail. Plan ahead so that you have seeds in hand at planting time. Be sure to store seeds in a cool, dry location until you are ready to plant.
  • Were you fortunate enough to receive a Gift Certificate for your favorite Garden Center? Perhaps you could use it for domed seeding trays or a new plant light or another seed-starting heat mat or a new trowel. Good, well-maintained equipment is a gardener’s best friend!

Bulbs

Check stored bulbs for condition.  Any bulbs in storage for the winter should feel firm to the touch and not show signs of sprouting or any mold.

  • If you find sprouted bulbs, your storage conditions may be too warm. Move them to a cooler, but not freezing, location.  Otherwise, pot them up and enjoy as a forced bulb.
  • If you find signs of mold or rot, your storage conditions may be too wet. Discard any bulbs that are damaged and spread the rest out in a shallow layer to air dry for a day or two, stirring several times. Repack into fresh storage medium (peat moss or perlite for instance) in a breathable box or bag.
  • Shriveled bulbs may mean storage conditions are too dry. Spread them out and lightly mist both storage medium and bulbs. Repack and check again in a few days.
  • Attention to stored bulbs’ condition now and through the winter will result in firm healthy bulbs primed to leap into glorious color again in your spring garden.

Water Gardening

  • Fish-containing ponds being maintained with heaters or aerators should be monitored daily to be sure equipment is performing properly. If the water surface does freeze over completely, thaw an air vent or two by placing a container of very hot water on the ice. Do not crack the ice by breaking it with a hammer or ax; the shock of the sharp sound in the water can injure the fish.
  • Dormant ponds need no special attention at this time.
  • Do not resume feeding fish until water temperature rises above 50 degrees.