February and March Garden Chores

Today is February 27th, 2019... 21 days before Spring.

In February mostly covered my perennials and ornamental grasses. I checked all garden supports making sure every thing was sturdy for this years growing season.

It was warm in Texas this Winter so my rose bushes continued to grow and bud, so I had to pay a little extra care to them.

March is when everything really starts to get busy. I am pruning and fertilizing my Roses. I don't know if my Blueberry bush survived the Summer, but my grapes are doing well. I am removing weeds and because it has been so warm here I have a plenty sneaking up. There are some weeds I keep in patches because of they have health benefits ( wish I had listen more to my grandma about how to identify them). I am sowing potatoes, peas, onions, chard, and carrot's.

I am planting and dividing some of last year's flowers, especially the pollinators. I am already taking preventative measures against Aphids and other pests. Most of my herbs are planted already because I grew them inside during Winter, but I will be adding more salad greens. I'll be sowing Summer vegetables at the end of March.

What We Are Doing In April

Today is April 19th, 2018. It is the 109th day of 2018. We are 63 days away from Summer and Texas has been unusually cool for the start of Spring, which in itself is not bad unless you plan to start planting and are afraid of a late frost.

Garden chores for this month include checking on my plants that, did not survive the Winter and this may not be a fact but, it sure seemed our Winter was colder than usual and lasted a lot longer with fewer warm days in between. It can't be true though because after almost a month of non-stop rain in March we've had to mow the grass at least four times in the past month alone and while on the subject of lawns remember this is also the time for sowing and fertilizing warm season lawns (sod, plugs, or seed).

 I also thinned out plants in my garden and evaluated my overall garden design. I made a few changes to get the look I'm going for this Summer.

My roses made their usual grand entrance for the season and if I can keep them looking half as good the remainder of Summer I will be elated.

I am planting my vegetable garden in a different space. Beans, peppers, melons, squash, and such are already in the ground and looking good, but cucumbers are a little slow.

Remember to plant veggies in successive planting to keep a harvest through the entire season.