Gardening This Weekend: December 29, 2016

Most chores can wait another week, but these are the ones you really want to hop on when you have a few moments this weekend.

PLANT:

• Pre-chilled tulips and hyacinths immediately. These bulbs will be in full bloom in two months, and they have to be planted now! Final reminder!
• Patio pots and entryway gardens with cold-tolerant pansies, pinks, snapdragons and ornamental cabbage and kale to spruce up your place before guests arrive, but be prepared to protect the plants next week as cold weather returns.

PRUNE:

• Winter-killed stem stubble, foliage to tidy your landscape up.
• Mistletoe from small tree branches before it becomes well established. See related story last week.

FERTILIZE:

• Houseplants monthly with diluted, water-soluble plant food to maintain their vigor until better growing days of spring return.

 

 

ON THE LOOKOUT:

• Cold weather is forecast next week. If you used frost cloth to cover your plants two weeks ago, leave it in place a bit longer.
• If you have pecan trees around your house and driveway, look up into the tops of the trees. If you see stubs of dying branches, have a certified arborist inspect the trees. Branches that are shaded by higher branches will die and, a few months later, fall to the ground without warning. You don’t want them to do damage or cause injuries.