February Lawn and Garden Planting and In-Season Harvest Guide

Bust out of your cold weather blahs by getting ready for the spring in your garden and in your kitchen. Though February is a cold month, it is warming up in some areas, allowing for some garden planning and planting in particularly warm climates. February is not a particularly active month for outdoor harvest produce that is fresh and in-season, though some cold hardy all-year fruits and vegetables are available fresh in the late winter. As slow as February is in the harvest world, it is just as slow in the planting world, where little is done in this month but preventative care and maintenance of outdoor lawns and garden spaces.

Freshest Fruits and Veggies to Harvest in February

If you have been keeping up with your indoor gardening during the winter, you can probably still harvest whatever you want out of your indoor greenhouse or window vegetable or herb garden. If you are not into indoor gardening, you will have slim pickings for a mid-winter fresh veggie trip at the farmer's market, but there is some fresh sustenance for sale still. Honeydew melons will start to enter their harvest season in warmer areas. You may also be able to get some sweet oranges and spicy persimmons in their freshest form.

Pineapples will also be plentiful as the middle to end of February approaches, and the out of luck produce fan can still find all-year favorites like bananas and avocados in fluctuating availability and price ranges in the mid-winter season.

Veggies are pretty slim pickings in February harvest, but you can still find fresh carrots and cabbage floating around during the chilly season.

February Garden Planning

In all but the warmest areas, February is too chilly for planting. However, it is almost a little late to start early garden planning activities like ordering supplies like tools and seeds and soil testing for the busy Spring planting season. If you have not yet arranged to test the soil for your garden, contact a local college agricultural department for resources to help you test your garden soil. Testing soil before you plant your garden can give you a chance to discover and treat any soil imbalances or contaminants that could affect the viability of your garden.

Even though the growing season is slow, you can still be checking your trees for disease and identifying problem areas to solve in your gardening space before the busy part of the gardening season gets underway.

One exception to the gardening slow season is in Florida, where it is a good time to start planting bulbs for flower gardens. Floridians and those with early warm weather can start planting sweet potatoes, eggplants and squashes to yield a warm-weather crop.

Lawn Care is Active in February

In the lawn world, February is mainly time for preventative care before planting seed for the new lawn. This includes testing the soil and treating it for weeds, pests and soil diseases. For gung-ho lawn lovers who have already pre-treated for weeds and pests, February is also when you can start to lay first seed in all but the most chilly of growing environments.

Laying seed in February starts an early growth that fills out lawns with a thick, lush appearance. This can help if your early Spring lawn tends to come in slowly and continue looking a bit bald until the warm weather is in full force. Early seeding in the late winter is not a guaranteed cure for this problem, but it can help a little. For eco-friendly folks, lawn care is going out of fashion, in favor of home vegetable gardens and water-friendly landscaping which takes less out of the environment and puts more onto the kitchen table.