Winter

From Antivist

December

• Keep watering your holiday plants and give them plenty of light
• Check houseplants and any plants you brought indoors for the winter, for insects that may have hitched a ride. With the heat on, they can multiply quickly.
• Also check any bulbs, corms, tubers and bare root plants for dessication or rot
• Start eating those stored vegetables and think about planting more winter squash next year
• Feed the birds

Zones 6 and Lower

• Keep an eye out for bark damage from ice rabbits, deer....
• Spray broadleaf evergreens with anti-desiccant, to prevent dehydration.
• Use the branches from your Christmas tree as protective mulch
• Keep watering newly planted trees and shrubs

January

• Order from catalogs
• Rework your garden design
• Review last year's journal and start a new one for this year by recording your seed/plant orders
• Check your stored bulbs and veggies
• Check plants for heaving
• Recycle your Christmas tree as garden mulch or a bird feeder
• Feed the birds and provide them with some unfrozen water
• Take a gardening class
• Sharpen your tools

Cold Climates

• Start cool season seeds like cauliflower, leeks and geranium seeds
• Zones 7+ can start seeds of slow growing annuals like ageratum, nicotiana petunias, portulaca, snapdragons and verbena and direct seed plants that need a period of cold (stratification).
• Check outdoor plants for animal damage
• Check indoor plants for pests

February

• Finish up your seed and plant orders
• Keep an eye on houseplant pests
• Get your garden tools in order

Cold Regions (Zone 7 and Lower)

• Prune trees and shrubs, both ornamentals and fruit
• Check flower beds for plants that may have heaved
• Replace mulch as needed
• Check outside plants and trees for animal damage
• Cut some branches for forcing indoors
• Rejuvenate holly bushes with a hard pruning
• Check evergreens for sign of desication
• Start seeds of cool season vegetables and flowers