Southern California: February Garden To-Do List

It ’s Valentine ’s Day month , so plant something red!Or endowment a ruddy works to your significant other . This Super Red ® aloe ( Aloe‘LEO 3711 ’ , Zones 9–11 ) has resplendent dark red blossom blooming high above grey - dark-green leaves . It is a heavy bloomer , starting as too soon as former summer and lasting until previous February . It will accomplish about 4 to 5 feet high and 3 to 4 pes broad .

Propagate succulent cutting . Our succulent have been thriving with the rains we have had so far this time of year . Now is a good prison term to gather cut to plant throughout your own garden or to share with friend and neighbors . I redeem the chopstick from our ramen take - out and use them to pound hole where I desire to plant littler cuttings . For large succulent , I use a small length of rebar and poke it in with a beetle to make a hole . Whichever tool you are using , make the hole just deep enough for the stem of your press cutting , and jiggle it to get enough breadth . After introduce the cut , practice your tool to push the grunge back around the stem . This allows you to suit your newfangled plants into the tightest distance with the least amount of disturbance to the soil and other plant possible .

Hold the grass up vertically , and cut directly across . While you are at it , you may also pull out aside the idle blades from underneath . Photo : Francesca Corra

Behold the freshly dress locoweed . You almost ca n’t even state it ’s been trim , point a task well done . Photo : Francesca Corra

crop your Gunter Grass . If you have not already trimmed back your grasses , get it done this calendar month before they begin their spring maturation . Trim grasses by gathering all the blades and hold them upright , then shearing them straight across . If it is a large species of Gunter Grass , you could tie it up with a R-2 to hold it in place before cutting . By using this method acting , you are devote the grass a nice haircut . It is much more aesthetically pleasing than shearing them vertically or forge them into small meatballs .

Aerate your lawn . If you have any amount of lawn , now is an excellent clip to oxygenate . The ground under lawns lean to get incredibly pack . When it rains , the water runs off more than it absorbs . In all areas of the garden , it is authoritative to create a intelligent soil “ leech ” to take up as much water as possible . With lawn , specifically nerveless time of year grasses , this is done most in effect by aerating with some sorting of core machine that removes the plugs from the grime . After aerating , fill in all the trap that have been created with a fine compost or louse castings .

Look for style to conserve water . We have been generate some pelting this year , and there is hopefully more to descend . Most deciduous trees have exuviate their leaves by now , so this is a good meter to give your gutter another cleaning . Unless you are already beguile all rain on site , take a feeling around and see if there are any opportunities to hold on to any body of water that is getting sent out to the street or otherwise being wasted . One of the easy way to conserve water system is to interchange the counseling of your downspout . In the look-alike above , the downspout was moved so that rainwater is directed into a garden bottom rather than the driveway it was running down before .

— Francesca Corra , APLD , is a nationally certified landscape designer and proprietor of Dirt Diva innovation in Studio City , California .

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Southeast: February Garden To-Do List

South: February Garden To-Do List

Midwest: February Garden To-Do List

Northern California: February Garden To-Do List

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Super Red® aloe

Super Red® aloe is one of many plants that bloom red in February.Photo: Francesca Corra

succulent cuttings

Gather cuttings from your succulents to spread around your garden or to give to friends.Photo: Francesca Corra

pruning grass

Hold the grass up vertically, and cut straight across. While you are at it, you can also pull away the dead blades from underneath.Photo: Francesca Corra

trimmed grass