CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte, N.C. - It’s February and your yard and garden may not look the greatest right now…
But no worries my friends! Because the path to a better yard and garden can start today.
Here are some Tips and To Do’s for February.
Make a plan: Assess what worked and what struggled last season and plan and map out what you want to do this year.
Flowers:
Bulbs: Start being aware that early spring bulbs could start growing soon.
When these are above 1 inch high – start removing mulch and fertilize those emerging bulbs. Doing this on a cloudy day is the most ideal!
This also a good time to buy your Fall Flowering bulbs, such as Dahlias and lilies but DON’T plant them yet.
The soil needs to be at least 55 degrees.
Pansies: If you have pansies they should be fed in late February so now is the time.
Lawns:
- This is a great time to soil test your lawn if you haven’t in the past 12 months. This will tell you if your soil is too acidic and if you need to adjust the PH for better growing success.
- The first round of fertilizer can be put down for fescue grass and any other cool-season lawns.
- If you apply fire ant protection now it will allow for it to be ready by the time they start returning. It has been so wet recently so active water in the ground will help it dissolve.
Vegetables:
Believe it or not some vegetables can and should be planted now.
Arugula can be planted up until late March.
Asparagus crowns should be planted from early February to late March.
Cabbage from February15th to April 1st.
Carrots from now until March 8th.
Kale can be planted but the window just opened up and you have until June 30th to plant it.
Lettuce's planting window is open all the way until the end of April.
Onion and green onion could have been planted in January but the window is still open through March.
Parnips can now be planted but the window is wide open until early May.
Spinach is safe to plant and you have as long as kale to plant it, until the end of June.
Turnips planting window is February 20th to April 1st.