Citrus Trees
Fertilize your citrus NOW for more blooms, May/June for better fruit set, September/October for nutrients.
For citrus trees, we recommend fertilizing with Espoma Citrus-Tone – all organic
Knock-out Roses
We like to cut knock-out roses by the end of January or first week of February, even if they’re covered in blooms. We prefer to cut before roses have made their first big flush of Spring growth. Just like the hybrid tea roses, knock-out roses benefit from a hard trimming, usually down to 24”. Begin fertilizing mid-February.
We recommend fertilizing roses with all organic Rose-Glo. Works great for lots of other blooming plants.
Ornamental Grasses
Trim your ornamental grasses straight across (no “cupcakes”) to 3”-4” from the ground sometime in January. Follow up with a small amount of fertilizer late February or early March. Be stingy – too much fertilizer speeds up the growth, making the foliage flop over instead of stand up.
Next week, my grasses will be cut back and ready for a new growing season.
For ornamental grasses, Plant Tone, Medina Growin’ Green, or HastaGro are all great organic fertilizers. Just remember – not too much!
-Sally Gill
7 Comments on “Timing Is Everything!”
I live in West Texas. When is the best time to prune my knock out roses and ornamental grasses?
march
Your work of horticulture and landscape is very educative
to us in North West Nigeria. Thanks very much.
Live in Rockport Texas. When is the best time to prune Peggy Martin Rose bushes? They are just beginning to bloom.
Hi Mo – climbing roses are different, including Peggy Martin. Enjoy those blooms and wait to prune until after they finish their big Spring bloom cycle, generally around April, maybe earlier if yours are already starting to bloom. And fertilize with Rose Glo when you prune.
My lemon tree has been blooming for over a month and there are small lemons when the blooms drop off. Should that be happening now?
That is early, but I have observed other plants that are a little out of synch this year. Its not an unfortunate occurrence though, unless we get a late freeze, which is unlikely. Do your citrus fertilizer now, as soon to warm weather will produce lots of new leaves to catch sunlight to make carbohydrates to build nice plump lemons!