February Gardening Tips

Gardening Dummy Surrounded by Experts Take on February Gardening Tips

Boy January went by very quick! I didn't get a chance to clean my pruners yet. (Should I admit that?) But they did seem to work fine when I pruned my grape vines this last weekend. So I quess my goal to have the best gardening year yet has begun in fits and spurts. Good news is when I checked the OSU Extension website this is a good time to get my mower tuned up.(Click here to see OSU extension tips.) So, I could read into this there is still time to maintain my pruners and other gardening tools. On the plus side, for the first time I didn't have sleepless nights fearing that my grape vines would bleed to death.

It looks like the gardening season is coming on strong. This is the month to plan and clean. Brenda must know this because she had the notepad out planning a redo of three beds and the creation of two more. Man, this is going to be a busy year. Now is also the time to build the cold frames, plant your seeds to put in the window sill, and plan, plan, plan. Perhaps my first step is go to Garland Nursery and get a cup of coffee. (Here I go again.) No really, I am going there to consult my experts. They may even have some of the parts to build a cold frame. Speaking of experts here is a link to some great instructions from the OSU extension.

And thats not all! It is time to plant! One of the garden beds that Brenda wants me to redo once contained raspberries which didn't do well in that location. So, we moved them last year to their new bed. In their place we are going to plant an espaliar apple. Now is the time to plant it. Garland Nursery is loaded with are bare root fruit trees right now, so I will have a great selection from which to choose. They also have a great selection of grapes, blueberries, raspberries, asparagus, etc. I have often wondered if the woman who named this vegetable had a husband like me and his name was Gus. So, she needed a spare Gus. So lets get planting.

It is also time to prune grapes, fruit trees, and deciduous summer-blooming shrubs and trees in the valley. You can also prune clematis, Virginia creeper, and other vining ornamentals. Pruning is actually a task I enjoy as opposed to weeding. Luckily Brenda likes to weed (as long as I clean up). Isn't life like that, the strengths of one augment the weaknesses of another and vice versa.

You may remember that I was so pleased with myself because there was so little to do in January. Well that self satisfaction has been replaced with PANIC! This best garden yet has got to happen and I have to get this lazy butt in gear. You may be able to keep up on my progress on the Garland Nursery blog. Click here to read the blog.

(Click here to see OSU extension tips.)
(Click here for a printable version of the January tips.)