These garden tasks need to be done soon in North Texas, but to get ahead of yourself

We’ve had a “second summer” this past week of mid- to late winter. Go figure. We must be in Texas. Folks have been pulling out their gardening boots and gloves and feeling the fever. And that fever, to a degree, is just fine. But don’t get ahead of yourself. Glance forward at what we’ll be facing next week and it’s all going to come to a sudden halt as winter returns.

Let’s chat about things that do need to be done soon, and those that should not be put into “fast-forward.” Let’s assess where we are now in our gardening world.

Fruit crops

If you have peach and plum trees, you need to finish your pruning immediately. Warm weather will have them in bloom before you know it. Remember that your goal is to establish a cereal-bowl shape to the trees so that sunlight will reach the ripening fruit, also so that the weight of the fruit will be evenly spread over stronger branches. Trim out any strongly vertical growth as you encourage the trees to grow to 14 to 16 feet wide and only 9 to 10 feet tall.

You do not want to do that same type of pruning to apples and pears. Prune only dead or damaged branches. Watch closely for signs of fire blight damage. It shows as tips of branches that turned dark brown suddenly, leaves drying in place without falling last season. You’ll see the disease lesions on the stems. If that has happened to your trees do research on how to cope with it from this point forward.

Grapes are pruned by 80% to 85% to maintain their scaffold branches along your trellises. This pruning is critical each winter so that grape clusters will be fewer in number but larger in size.

If you intend to plant new fruit and pecan trees, this is the ideal time. Fruit trees should be 3 to 4 feet tall and pecan trees 4 to 5 feet tall. Prune them back by 50% at the time of planting so that you can establish strong branching.

Do your homework so you will be prepared to begin your spring spraying program for insect and disease management on your fruit crops. It gets underway as the flower buds are swelling.

Vegetable gardens

Onion plantings should already be finished. Cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and Irish potatoes can be planted in the next 10 to 12 days. They need to grow in cool weather so they can mature before summer.

Leafy and root vegetables are planted in two to three weeks, but you can advance that timing by planting them in sheltered locations or in patio pots that can be brought into protection should we have unusually cold weather yet this month.

Annual color

You can see the dramatic impact of frost cloth where pansies and other winter color was protected from January’s cold temperatures and snow. If you have beds that are still empty or where cool-season annuals didn’t fare so well, you can plant frost-hardy annuals such as petunias, wallflowers, sweet alyssum, cyclamen, larkspurs, foxgloves, and ornamental Swiss chard, but remember that these plants will withstand only moderate freezes into the high 20s. Again, frost cloth will be a great ally if it turns really cold.

Wait to plant summertime color such as marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, and all the other frost-sensitive plants until the last week of March.

Tree and shrub care

Woody plants that need to be dug and relocated should be transplanted as soon as possible. You want to do so while they’re still totally dormant. This week’s warmth has hustled them along toward breaking buds. Dig them carefully and hold their root balls as tightly intact as you possibly can. Set them in their new locations at the same depths at which they had been growing and water them deeply right after they’re planted.

This is also a good time to work with your favorite landscape designer to plan for spring improvements. They’re about to get swamped by spring business. (The good ones may already be.) Set your appointment. Make your list of what you want to accomplish with your landscaping upgrades and take with you the concepts you’ve seen that you like in others’ designs. Those will all help the planner in guiding you.

This is the time to prune evergreen shrubs, but try to avoid formal shearing whenever possible. It’s best to allow shrubs to develop in their natural forms. Prune summer-flowering shrubs and vines before they begin their spring growth, but remember never to top any crape myrtle at any time — ever! It ruins their forms permanently.

Lawn care

This week’s warm weather has people wondering if application of pre-emergent weedkillers ought to be moved earlier. Emphatically, “No!” That needs to be saved until the middle two weeks of March. Next week’s cold weather will bring us back to reality.

The same thing applies to fertilizing your lawn. It doesn’t matter if you’re growing bermudagrass or St. Augustine, they don’t green up and start growing until soil temperatures get a lot warmer — probably early April. Certainly not now unless you have either fescue or ryegrass.

What you can do now is apply a broadleafed weedkiller spray containing 2,4-D. These products function to kill existing non-grassy weeds such as dandelions, henbit, chickweed, clover, plantain, thistles, and others. I prefer to apply them with a pump sprayer that will allow me to use small droplet sizes to coat the leaf surfaces almost to the point of runoff. Don’t mow for two to three days before or after you spray and give the spray a week or more to take effect. The weeds will become distorted as they gradually wither and die.

This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 6:00 AM.