February Garden Chores & Tasks (PNW & Similar Zones)

A list of easy February garden chores that you can do for fruits and vegetables, flowers, and general yard tasks to get ready for spring. Includes a convenient printable checklist to download and customize.

I find February such a hopeful time of year – the end of winter is in sight and we can see spring on the horizon.

The northern garden chores for this month are all about continuing to clean up and plan, but is it’s also the time to start your first seeds indoors.

PRO TIP: The time you take to plan for what you want to grow, where you want to grow them, and how you’ll grow them will lessen the work you’ll have to do in the spring. (This free multi-page garden notebook will help!)

Plus if you need new plants, it’s a great time to get some deals on bare root roses, shrubs and trees.

Of course everything you might get done outside hinges on the weather – I always like to take advantage of any mild days if I can.

February Garden Chores

Vegetable & Fruit Garden

• Traditional pea-planting date in the Pacific Northwest is president’s weekend, though most northern gardens should wait for March. (However, when compared with plantings done a month later in my PNW garden, there was no difference in size, so feel free to wait!).
• Cut down (or till in) any cover crops. Of course you know I don’t believe in tilling, so I would just cut down and gently turn over any cover crops.
• Cover unplanted raised beds and areas with black plastic to kill weeds in preparation for March and April planting.
• Prune berries, fruit trees, and blueberries.
• Prune and train grapes.
• You can plant hearty early spring greens in mild areas, including spinach. Plant in ground if soil temperature is 50-60 degrees, or in a cold frame or under cover to harvest April to May. Check out Garden Season Extenders: How to Use Cloches, Covers, Cold Frames & More for more information.
• Fertilize overwintered onions and garlic with blood meal or organic fertilizer.
• Fertilize and mulch rhubarb plants.

Flower Beds

• Plant bare root roses, berries, and fruit trees. TIP: Check out these 14 plants for spring blooms for ideas.
• Prune deciduous summer blooming shrubs.
• Prune clematis and ornamental vines. (However, not ALL clematis – go here to see which type to prune now.)
• Cut back any shrubs and perennials left over winter.

Seed Starting Inside

• You can sow broccoli, early cauliflower, and early cabbage (called cole or brassica crops) seeds indoors for planting out in March.
• Start tomato seed indoors late in the month. TIP: Want to grow amazing tomatoes? How To Plant Tomatoes That Thrive All Season and the Ultimate Tomato Guide: Grow, Harvest, Cook & Preserve will help!
• Start peppers earlier in the month because they take longer to germinate and grow than tomatoes. TIP: I’ve found starting them in 4-inch pots to transplant out late May means one less transplant to do.
• Start parsley and leek seeds.
• Can still plant some varieties of onion seeds indoors.