This is the ideal time of the year to prune non-blooming evergreens (or evergreens with insignificant blooms) such as boxwood, holly and pittosporum.

 

Flowering shrubs and trees that bloom after Memorial Day can also be pruned now. This includes butterfly bush, crepe myrtles, camellias (after they finish blooming), roses and summer-blooming spirea.

 

Evergreen ferns such as autumn, holly and tassle ferns benefit from a late-winter haircut every other year (can be cut to ground). Liriope, ornamental grasses and cast-iron plant can also be cut back now.

 

February is a good time to shape, limb-up and thin-out deciduous trees and shrubs, removing suckers, damaged or crossing branches and thick growth that reduces air and light circulation.

You may have noticed dramatic changes in the foliage color of evergreen plants in your landscape this winter. No need to be alarmed, though! This is a common and natural phenomenon that affects plants such as azaleas, boxwood, conifers, cotoneaster, Indian hawthorn, English ivy, Asiatic jasmine, wintercreeper euonymous and Confederate jasmine, among others. The discoloration is a result of increased production of anthocyanins in the leaves, and is more dramatic in foliage that is exposed to higher levels of sunlight. Anthocyanins are pigments that can appear red, purple or blue. When anthocyanin production is increased, foliage may appear red, purple, brown or orange, depending on the relative concentration of other pigments. Cold temperatures and other sources of stress can trigger increased anthocyanin production as plants attempt to cope. Exactly why this occurs in some evergreens, and not others, remains a mystery! In spring, new growth should emerge a "normal" green.

Apply  Hi-Yield Turf & Ornamental Weed & Grass Stopper to Centipede and Saint Augustine lawns mid-month.