February Gardening Chores

It's time to do pruning on trees, shrubs and roses. (Don't prune early flowering shrubs, though, until after they bloom this spring.) Binding Stevens has a complete line of pruning tools, and staff that can give you good advice on how to go about it. For more information please refer to:

Pruning Ornamental Trees and Shrubs.
Rose Culture in Oklahoma

Spring flowering shrubs in bare-rooted form should be planted now. Forsythia, quince, weigelia, flowering almond, althea and lilac are just a few of the shrubs that can be planted successfully this time of year. In fact, by planting them now, you can usually get a bigger plant for less money than when it is containerized.

Recommended planting methods for trees and shrubs have changed considerably in the last few years.

 Please refer to OSU's Planting Shade Trees and Shrubs for the most up-to-date methods.

Plant fruit trees in your yard.  Apples, peaches, pears, plums, apricots and cherries are all good trees that will produce well in Oklahoma. They can usually be purchased in 5-gallon and larger containers. Be sure to check and see which varieties should be planted close together to insure the best pollination and setting of fruit.

Apply pre-emergent crabgrass control to your lawn. Several good products will control those unwanted weeds in your grass. A pre-emergent applied according to the directions will act as a barrier, and kill weed seed as it germinates.   Over the last several years, Barricade has become very popular for crabgrass control. It has a long residual and has even given season-long control of crabgrass when applied the previous fall. The active ingredient in Barricade has a low solubility in water; consequently, it appears to require more irrigation (or rainfall) to move it into the soil (i.e., to activate it). An inch of water should be sufficient to activate Barricade. You may need to apply this amount of water in several short cycles to avoid runoff. If you are relying on natural rainfall to activate Barricade, you should apply it NOW to give it maximum exposure to potential rainfall.

Balan has long been the standard of the industry, and continues to perform well. However, Betasan will perform as well, but last three times as long. Thus, weeds will be controlled from late winter into spring. The alternative would be to apply 2 applications of balan. Both of these products prevent "nuisance" grasses (crabgrass, goosegrass, etc.) from germinating. Portrait is a good product that controls broadleaf weeds (dandelions, lambsquarters, purslane, etc).

Remember, the best way to a healthy lawn is to prevent weeds from ever getting established in the yard.

For More information See our Publication: Cool Season Grasses

Take home a new houseplant!  Garden centers and nurseries have a great selection of tropicals this time of year. They usually have a vast selection of majesty, kentia and sago palms, ficus ali, arboricola trees, braided and twisted weeping fig trees, corn plants, peace lilies, kimberly queen ferns, chinese evergreens, pothos hanging baskets, philodendrons and many, many more. Take home an orchid, bromeliad, tillandsia, african violet or bonsai plant.

Feed the Birds! You can find an immense variety of bird feeders in the local garden centers. Bird seed choices are black oil and striped sunflower seed, safflower seed, red and white millet, cracked corn, thistle, finch food, redbird food, wild bird mix and more! And don't forget to give them a ready supply of water. Even though the last several winters have been unseasonably warm, there are many days when most available water has a film of ice on top of it. Help our fine feathered friends with bird baths, bird bath heathers and squirrel baffles.