For several years I’ve been a little late trimming the liriope. Determined to get a jump on it this year, I did some research and found great info on what I can do right now, not just with the liriope, but with my gardens and my entire landscape.
Gwinnett County UGA Extensions office’s Tips for the Landscape & Garden: January says it’s time to:
- Plan & prep new construction projects and planting zones
- Study your lawn & figure out how to eliminate hard-to-mow spaces…after making a plan, push your mower around the new space to test the flow
- Review your vegetable garden plan…think about last year’s layout, yield, and maintenance–are changes needed?
- Sterilize your tools, pots, etc…use one part household bleach to nine parts water; sharpen edges; oil surfaces
- Plant fruit trees…it’s not too late, but you’ll need to water them
- Prune grapes now to avoid bleeding from the cut ends… check out the Extension Publication Dormant Spur & Cane Pruning Bunch Grapevines for a wealth of info
- Start Gerbera seeds for June blooms
- Think about your deer prevention plan, putting necessary components into action now or mark your calendar for the right start time for you
- Prune the appropriate woody perennials in your landscape (more to follow)
The Tips contain detailed info on each of the above items, so be sure and click on the link and check it out.
The UGA Extension Bulletin Basic Principles of Pruning Woody Plants gave me my marching orders. It’s time for me to prune my nandina, trumpet vine, fringe flower, crepe myrtle, Rose of Sharon, and barberry. The bulletin has information on how to decide what pruning method is best for your design and how to effectively prune different woody plants.
While reading, I also found out it’s time to clean up my Lenten Rose.
So much to do… this year I have plenty of time and I can’t wait to get going. Hope you can join me. Not ready to get outside yet? I urge you to head to the UGA extension page and browse some of the publications. They are informative and inspirational.