Tasks for February

In Colorado, the first week of February is the time to start thinking about your landscape. Just like the groundhogs, it’s important to poke your head out and see what’s going on, so that when March rolls around you’re ready to go. Here are my tips for the next few weeks:

• Think about getting the blades on your mower sharpened. Check here to see an article on the subject.

• Cut down any perennial flowers that don’t look so great. Here’s a video that describes the process I use. If they still look attractive, you can wait until March or April.

• Be sure to winter water your yard, especially the trees and lawn. The “winter-summer-winter-summer” spring we’ve had can cause plant to dehydrate before the real spring arrives. Here are some articles on why winter watering is important and what and when to winter water.

• Cut down the cool-season ornamental grasses. You might be thinking, the what?! All I mean is cutting back the ornamental grasses that like to green up early because they grow best during “cool” weather. The main two that come to mind are Karl Foerster feather reed grass and blue avena, also known as blue oat grass. Try to get to both of these two soon if you have them in your yard. They often begin to grow in February. Check out this video to see how I recommended cutting them back.

Karl Foerster in Winter

Karl Foerster in Summer

Blue Oat Grass in Winter

Blue Oat Grass in Summer