Planting

• Set out shrubs and trees.
• Cold-weather annuals: sweet William, English daisies, pansies, and calendulas.
• Divide mondo grass, liriope, cannas, chrysanthemums, coreoopsis and phlox.
• Start seeds for tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers and eggplants.
• Set ou herbs: thyme, lemon balm, oregano, chives, sages and winter savory.

Fertilizing

• Fertilize all ornamental shrubs and trees. use a slow-release fertilizer.
• Top dress azaleas and amellias with acid-loving fertilizer.
• Apply lime to peonies, clematis, and boxwood.
• Apply pre-emerge to turf to prevent crabgrass and other summer weeds (late February in South Mississippi)

Pest Control

• Spray new rose leaves once fully emerged weekly for black spot disease.
• Use soil-drench rose disease control.

Pruning

• Prune roses, remove dead and weak canes and properly dispose of clippings.
• Prune crepe myrtles and altheas for size and shape.
• Cut English ivy back hard as it will return in the spring.
• Trim mondo grass and liriope to 4"-6".

Indoor Accents

• Winter-blooming shrubs can be forced to bloom indoors by cutting stems when buds begin to swell and placing them in water. Place sprays of forsythia, flowering quince, oriental magnolia, and fruit trees in a vase in a sunny window.
• Divide or repot overgrown houseplants. Cut back weak parts to encourage new growth. Apply liquid fertilizer.

Miscellaneous

• Dispose of fallen camellia blossoms to prevent blight.
• Pinch off dead flowers from tulips and daffodils. Wait until May to cut foliage after it turns yellow and dies.
• Mulch all landscape bed areas - 3" in new beds and 1" in existing beds.