February gardening guide: What to prune, plant and plan in Oregon

Each monthly calendar, created by OSU Extension, serves as a reminder for important garden tasks including planting, fertilizing, controlling pests, and maintaining the garden.

The calendar’s recommendations might not be relevant in every part of Oregon. Get in touch with the Extension office in your area for further details.

Sustainable gardening techniques are promoted by the Oregon State University Extension Service.

More emphasis is placed on preventive pest management than reactive pest control. Prior to taking action, identify and track issues, then choose the least harmful solution to address them. Predators and parasitoids are examples of biological control agents that should be conserved rather than chemical controls.

Planning

• 
  Tune up lawn mower and garden equipment before the busy season begins.
  
• 
  Have soil tested to determine its nutrient needs. For more information,

  contact your local Extension office

  for a list of testing laboratories or view

  Laboratories Serving Oregon: Soil, Water, Plant Tissue, and Feed Analysis

  (EM 8677).
  

• 
  Select and store healthy scion wood for grafting fruit and nut trees. Wrap in damp cloth or peat moss and place in plastic bag. Store in cool place.
  
• 
  Plan an herb bed for cooking and creating an interesting landscape. For example, choose parsley, sage, chives, and lavender. Choose a sunny spot and plant seeds or transplants once the danger of frost has passed (late-April or early-May in the Willamette Valley and central Coast; June or July in eastern and central Oregon).
  
• 
  Plan to add herbaceous perennial flowers to your flowering landscape this spring. Try some

  drought-tolerant perennials

  to save money.
  

Maintenance and Clean Up

– A trimmed blueberry bush. Neil Bell took the picture. OSU Extension Service/Neil BellOSU Extension Service/Neil Bell

• 
  Repair winter damage to trees and shrubs.
  
• 
  Make a

  cold frame or hotbed

  to start early vegetables or flowers.
  

• Fertilize rhubarb

  with manure or a complete fertilizer.
  

• 
  Incorporate cover crops or other organic matter into soil.
  

• Prune and train grapes

  ; make cuttings.
  

• 
  Prune

  fruit trees

  and

  blueberries

  .
  

• 
  Eastern Oregon: Prune and train summer-bearing and fall-bearing

  raspberries

  .
  

• 
  Western Oregon: Prune

  deciduous summer-blooming shrubs

  and trees; wait until April in high elevations of Eastern and Central Oregon.
  

• 
  Western Oregon: Prune and train trailing blackberries (if not done the prior August); prune back

  raspberries

  .
  

• 
  Western Oregon: Prune fall-bearing

  raspberries

  (in late-February or early-March).
  

• 
  Western Oregon: Prune clematis, Virginia creeper, and other vining ornamentals.
  

Planting/Propagation

• 
  Plant windowsill container

  garden of herbs

  like chives, cilantro and parsley.
  

• 
  Plan to add herbaceous perennial flowers this spring: astilbe, candytuft, peony, and anemone.
  
• 
  Good time to plant fruit trees and deciduous shrubs. Replace varieties of ornamental plants that are susceptible to disease with

  resistant cultivars

  .
  

• Plant asparagus

  if the ground is warm enough.
  

• 
  Plant seed flats of cole crops (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts), indoors or in a greenhouse.
  
• 
  Western Oregon: Where soil is dry enough and workable, plant garden peas and sweet peas. Suggested varieties of garden peas include: Corvallis, Dark Green Perfection, Green Arrow, Oregon Sugar Pod, Snappy, Knight, Sugar Snap, Oregon Trail, and Oregon Sugar Pod II.
  
• 
  Western Oregon: Good time to plant new roses.
  

Pest Monitoring and Management

Read the pesticide label carefully and only use chemical controls when absolutely required. Think on cultural controls first, followed by biological and physical controls. Select the least harmful options (horticultural oils, insecticidal soaps, botanical insecticides, and, when used sparingly, organic and synthetic pesticides).

• 
  Monitor landscape plants for problems. Don t treat unless a problem is identified.
  
• 
  Use delayed-dormant sprays of lime sulfur for fruit and deciduous trees and shrubs.
  
• 
  Remove cankered limbs from fruit and nut trees for control of diseases such as apple anthracnose, bacterial canker of stone fruit and Eastern filbert blight. Sterilize tools before each new cut.
  

• Control moles and gophers

  with traps.
  

• 
  Western Oregon: Elm leaf beetles and

  box-elder bugs

  are emerging from hibernation and may be seen indoors. They are not harmful, but can be a nuisance. Remove them with a vacuum or broom and dustpan.
  

• 
  Western Oregon: Monitor for

  European crane fly

  and treat lawns if damage has been verified.
  

Houseplants and Indoor Gardening

• Make your own potting soil

  for starting seedlings in pots or flats, or use clean sterile commercial mixes.
  

• 
  Central Oregon: Gather branches of quince, forsythia, and flowering cherries; bring indoors to force early bloom.
  

Trade-name goods and services are solely used as examples. The Oregon State University Extension Service does not support these goods and services or aim to discriminate against those that are not listed.

Extension Service at OSU