February Zone 4
What to do in the garden in February in zone 4
You still can’t actually do a lot IN the garden, but there are gardening related activities you can do.
- Plan Relax with a stack of garden catalogs and plan for the next season. Plot your garden or property on graph paper.
- Plant flowers Force bulbs
- Order seeds Order seeds early, some sell out quickly.
- Start seeds By the end of January or in February you can start the slow growing plants such as parsley, thyme, tarragon, geraniums and sage. Also start the early cool season vegetables such as chives, onion and leeks. By the end of February or in March you can start seeds for tomatoes, peppers, annuals and perennials.
- Feed the birds
- Sort tubers Sort through stored tubers, roots and bulbs for dahlias, cannas, glads and begonias. Dispose of anything that has shriveled or decayed.
- Garden Journal Work on, or start, your garden journal. Keep track of plants you want to try, record garden results, keep track of what you plant where and how many for a shopping list next spring.
- Attend seminars Find seminars, clinics and meetings hosted by master gardeners and university extension services.
- Re-apply anti-desiccant If you get a nice day above freezing, re-apply anti-desiccant spray to evergreens.
- Prune By end of the month you may get days nice enough to get out and prune trees and shrubs. Don’t prune any spring flowering shrubs and trees, as the buds have already formed.
- Build a cold frame With a cold frame you can plant cool season crops such as radishes, spinach, and lettuce in March or April.
- Build garden structures By end of the month it may be warm enough out in the garage to start building window boxes, arbors and garden benches.
- Plant tubers Buy tubers for begonias and plant them in pots indoors now, they will be ready for your window box or planters by spring. You will save a lot of money versus buying potted plants at the garden center.
- Leave snow on the evergreens alone Do not try to remove wet heavy snow from evergreens, you could do more harm than good. Evergreen limbs remain supple through winter and will bend under the weight, but hopefully will not crack.