The February Gardener 2012

For being the shortest month of the year, February can sure drag on and test our grit. Instead of fighting winter to its bitter end, try embracing the subtle ways nature can sustain you. Take a walk around your yard. Listen for the first birdsong. Turn your face to the warmth of longer sunlit days. The plant and seed catalogs have started to arrive in the mail. Go ahead and start planning your spring garden, even if it’s only on paper. Spring is just around the corner.

Lawns: Late February through the end of March is the second best time (the optimum time is late August through mid-October) to overseed your lawn to make it thicker or to cover bare areas. The freezing and thawing of the soil this time of the year helps the seed to get good soil contact.

Try to avoid excessive walking on your grass when it is frozen to avoid damaging the crowns of your grass plants. Although this damage is not permanent, it will leave unsightly brown foot prints on the lawn until spring.

For the Soon-To-Arrive Birds: When birds warble their first hopeful songs of spring, it’s time to get busy in your yard.

• (1) Tidy up the bird house. Birds turn up their beaks at messy houses. Roll out the welcome mat by removing old nesting material, which can harbor harmful parasites.
• (2) Prepare for turf wars. Birds get territorial when love is in the air, even to the point of attacking their own reflection. To avoid fatal collisions, use decals or tape strips on windows; mount feeders less than 3 feet or more than 30 feet from glass.
• (3) Keep feeders filled. By late winter, nature’s larder of berries and seeds is low. Birds appreciate handouts of sunflower seeds, peanuts, millet and suet.
• (4) Provide fresh water. Birds love birdbaths, especially when other water sources are frozen. To keep water from icing over, use an electric birdbath heater.

Indoor Plants: You may notice leaf yellowing and leaf drop on some of your houseplants. This is usually a result of low light conditions or overwatering. Most houseplants should be watered only when the top of the growing medium begins to dry out.

Herbaceous Ornamental Plants: Spring bulbs are slowly emerging this month. They are first to emerge in sunny locations or south facing slopes. Gardeners often worry about them when there is still some very cold weather ahead. Exposed leaves may experience a little tip browning caused by very cold temperatures, but the spring flower display will not be diminished.

Woody Ornamentals: Trees and shrubs can still be pruned now. You may notice excessive sap bleeding from pruning cuts on elm, maple, birch, dogwood, beech, walnut, magnolia, tulip poplar and redbud. This bleeding is harmless to the tree.

Most winter burn occurs in February. Winter burn results from a combination of harsh wind or bright late winter sun and a frozen soil. Consider spraying an anti-burning material on vulnerable shrubs (hollies, boxwood, nandina and other broadleaf evergreens) to reduce damage. This spray coats the foliage, preventing moisture loss (which is the cause of the burn).

Pat Cieslak
Master Gardener, Baltimore County
University of Maryland Extension
Questions? Visit the Home and Garden Information Center at
www.hgic.umd.edu or call 1-800-342-2507, Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.