Pictured: Lettuces Growing in Winter

by Lydia Holley January 30, 2023

Although February is generally the coldest month in East Texas, it is not too early to start getting your garden ready for spring. According to the Henderson County Master Gardener Monthly Gardening Guide, there are quite a few chores to do the last part of January through the end of February.

Most gardeners will leave dead stalks and seedheads in their gardens throughout the winter for interest as well as food for birds. But you can now start chopping those off. Make certain not to harm any newly-emerging greenery from plants which have started coming out of dormancy.

Now is the perfect time to start a compost pile if you do not already have one because you can gather leaves to put in it. If you already have a compost pile, turn it now and determine if you need to add more browns or greens to it.

It is time to plant vegetables such as beets, English peas, carrots, Irish potatoes, kohlrabi, mustard, onion sets, radishes, strawberry transplants, spinach, and turnips.

If you have not already done so, start seeds indoors for broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, eggplant, herbs, kale, lettuce, peppers, and tomatoes. Flower seeds can also be started indoors now for begonias, marigolds, periwinkles, petunias, and more.

You may now prune numerous shrubs such as abelia, Annabelle hydrangea, butterfly bush, clethra, cotoneaster, euonymus, gardenia, holly, nandina, privet, rose of Sharon, vitex, and both type 2 and 3 clematis. Since the ground is warm, roses are already starting to leaf out, so you may wish to prune them a little earlier than Valentine’s Day, which is when it is generally recommended.

Look at the plantings you already grow. You may be able to divide what you have in order to gain extra plants for free. Once new growth shows, plants which can be divided now include cannas, daylilies, mums, ornamental grasses, and summer phlox.

And finally, you may want to start checking the hummingbird migration map so you will put out feeders in time to attract the first hummingbirds coming through.

With so much to do in the garden, February will be gone in a flash. You want to make certain you are ready when spring arrives.

For more information, call 903-675-6130, email [email protected].