Plant
• Cool season annuals.
• Bare-root roses.
• Fruit trees, grapes, pecans, blackberries and other fruit plants.
• Cool season vegetables: onions, snap peas and asparagus – 8 weeks prior to last killing freeze in your area. Cabbage, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, potatoes – 4 weeks prior. Leaf and root vegetables, including lettuce, radishes, carrots, spinach, beets, and turnips – 2 to 4 weeks prior to average date of last killing freeze.
Transplant
• Any established landscape trees or shrubs being transplanted should be moved before new growth begins for spring, preferably by mid-February in East Texas.
• Dig and divide summer and fall flowering perennials such as mallows, cannas, gloriosa daisies, purple coneflowers, perennial salvias, mums and fall asters before new spring growth begins.
Trim /Prune
• Prune roses that bloom on new wood after the leaf buds begin to swell so that a late frost won’t damage the new growth that follows pruning. Valentine’s Day is the approximate time in East Texas. Climbing roses and types that bloom only once in the spring should be pruned after their flowering has finished.
• Finish all dormant season pruning of peach and plum trees and grape vines before buds begin to swell.
• Prune summer flowering shrubs and vines to remove unwanted or damaged branches. Heavy pruning will retard flower production.
• Mow or trim Asian jasmine that has been browned by the winter or has grown too tall. Mondograss can also be trimmed before new spring growth begins.
Fertilize
• Trees and shrubs that have been recently transplanted with liquid root stimulator plant food.
• Cool-season color plants with water-soluble liquid plant food weekly. You can also apply a granular high-nitrogen fertilizer for more sustained feeding.
• Asparagus plantings with all nitrogen fertilizer to speed new spear growth for next 6-8 weeks.
Other Tips
• Protect fruit crops from insects and diseases by following Homeowner’s Fruit and Nut Spray Schedule available at your county Extension office.
• Use horticultural oil to eliminate scale insects on hollies, camellias, shade and fruit trees, and most commonly on euonymus. Use systemic insecticide or summer weight oil spray if they continue to spread.
• Use a broadleafed weedkiller spray to eliminate non-grassy weeds such as henbit, dandelions and clover. Weed-and-feed fertilizers are not efficient at doing both tasks at this time of year, plus they bring risk of damage to trees and shrubs.