Wheaton Garden Club

February Gardening

Zone 5
Order seeds
Sow seeds for hardy spring-blooming plants
Cut back on feeding houseplants (do not feed dormant houseplants)
Sow seeds for cool-weather vegetables
Sow frost-tolerant perennials indoors
Shrubs and trees
Deciduous shrubs and trees are still dormant enough to transplant this month, once the buds have begun to swell, it will be too late. Click these links for information on transplanting azaleas or moving specimen plants.
Trees which weren’t fed last fall should be deep fed by punching a series of 1-2 inch holes two feet apart around the drip line and filled with an appropriate food. A mulch of well composted manure is also an excellent treat for your tree.
Mid to late February is the time to fertilize shrubs and evergreens. Use an acid type rhododendron fertilizer to feed evergreens, conifers, broad leaf evergreens, rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias. Use an all-purpose fertilizer to feed roses and other Continue reading “Horticulture Report – February 2018”

Please feed the birds and provide them with unfrozen water. If there is snow on the ground and you don’t have a feeder, a simple piece of plywood, a scrap of carpet or even cardboard will create a very good feeding area. It’s easy to clean. Just turn it over if it happens to get covered by a fresh snowfall.

We had a few warm days in December and if some bulbs got the foolish idea that spring was coming, add a little compost and a thick layer of mulch to protect the tender new growth. This is an excellent use for the branches of your discarded Christmas tree or Continue reading “Horticulture Report – January 2018”

I know that just about the last thing on anyone’s mind in December is gardening, no matter where you live. But just in case you need to get outdoors to clear your head of all those lists and too much eggnog, here are a few garden chores that can be done now, without taking too much time from your festivities. And if you’re lucky enough to have plenty of evergreens and berries in your yard, now if a good time to prune and to have them do double duty as decorations.

This year, consider purchasing a living Christmas tree for your home. They really aren’t that much more expensive than a cut tree. This is an excellent way to improve your landscape, and at the same time, save a tree. Before bringing a living tree into the house, Continue reading “Horticulture Report – December 2017”

Perennials, annuals, and bulbs
During the fall months of September, October and November, after soil temperature drops below 60°F., the bulbs of spring – flowering tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, scilla, dwarf irises, Anemone, and crocus should be planted. Select healthy, disease free bulbs. Add Bone meal or Bulb fertilizer into the planting hole, as you prepare the soil.

Winter pansies, flowering kale, flowering cabbage, and fall mums may be planted now, to give a little color to the garden when the summer flowers have faded away. Continue reading “Horticulture Report – September 2017”