Fertilize roses after pruning in late February. In the South, you can hard-prune your roses in late February or early March. After pruning, fertilize with a well-balanced rose food. Alternatively, you may feed with an all-purpose natural or organic fertilizer.
Prepare soil in annual flowerbeds and/or vegetable gardens. January is a good time to prepare your vegetable garden and/or annual flowerbed soil for the upcoming Spring planting season. If you do not make your own compost, most local nursery and garden centers carry products such as mushroom compost or composted cow manure that are good to replenish your soil with the rich organic matter necessary to successfully grow healthy vegetables and flowers.
Transplant Shrubs or Trees - February is the last month of winter when you may safely transplant/relocate shrubs or trees in the South. If there are some shrubs or small trees that you would like to transplant/relocate in the landscape, the winter dormant season is a good time to do so. How do we know plants have gone dormant? When all the leaves have fallen from the trees we know the dormant season is here. Even in the Deep South all ornamental shrubs and trees have gone into dormancy.
*Note: Some plants, such as established conifers and junipers, simply do not respond well to relocation.
February is a great time to plant most all shrubs and trees. - Contrary to popular belief, February, and in fact the entire winter season, is a great time to plant most all shrubs and trees. Winter planting of most dormant shrubs and trees is very safe and allows them to acclimate to their new home before receiving the huge benefit of an early-spring root flush. There is absoulutely no danger to most shrubs and trees planting them in February. We successfully plant through the entire winter!
Heavy pruning of shrubs and trees can be done. February is the best month to prune Crape Myrtles and many other plants and trees.
CAUTION: DO NOT prune spring-flowering shrubs such as Forsythia (Yellow Bells) and Azaleas until after they have finished blooming in Spring.
CAUTION: DO NOT prune Lantanas until the new growth begins to emerge in Spring.
