Yard, garden have bucketful of chores

Tornadoes and "spring forward” time changes have already visited Oklahoma, further confirming that spring really is at hand.

It is still early to plant warm-season annuals as our last average frost date in central Oklahoma occurs between April 5 and 15. It is best to wait to plant tomatoes, peppers, petunias, impatiens and begonias until mid-April unless you are prepared to give lots of extra protection with Hot Kaps, Wall-O-Water or fabric row covers.

In the garden

There now is a bucketful of things to do in Oklahoma gardens:

→Apply dormant oil spray to your fruit and ornamental trees to kill overwintering mites, galls, aphids, scale and other insect pests.

→Prune your rosebushes now, before they produce their spring shoots and leaves. You can also prune summer flowering shrubs, remove dead wood and shape trees and evergreen shrubs.

→Cut back dead or old foliage on ornamental grasses and lirope.

→If you plan to add fescue, rye or other cool-season grasses, this is a good time to sow those seeds, especially in shady lawn areas.

→Remove all dead plant matter from last season’s garden and cultivate your flower beds to remove winter weeds as you prepare for spring planting.

In the yard

Plenty of chores are ready to be done in the yard, too. They include:

→We’re near the end of the pre-emergent weed killing season. Apply weed-and-feed granular products or spray your lawn soon with a pre-emergent herbicide to kill crabgrass and weeds before they germinate.

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