Choose a nice sunny day and fertilize your winter pansies, violas, and ornamental cabbage. It’s also a great time to deadhead any unsightly or damage flower heads. Be sure to also remove any seed pod stems. Fertilize your winner flower displays with products that contain “nitrate nitrogen” for plants growing in cold soil.

Mower maintenance is upon us! Don’t procrastinate! Drain and completely replace the oil in your lawn mower and check the spark plug and blades. Also, check the air filter for debris’s or clogged up pre-filters. If this is a task you don’t feel comfortable with, local mower shops usually are slow during January and can help with your lawn mowing maintenance needs.

Bare-root roses will arrive in nurseries this month! Start designing your landscape plan to incorporate spacing for each plant. The plants come in a wide variety of colors and textures to choose from. Just remember, when configuring the total square footage you will need. The basic rule of thumb is four feet wide and twelve inches deep for each plant to include new soil.

Now that leafs are gone in the Atlanta Metro area, it’s easy to see the limb structure of trees and a great time for limb pruning and shaping. Crape Myrtle’s are a very popular landscape variety in Georgia and are usually pruned during the months of January and February. Just remember to remove any unsightly or over hanging areas while trees are dormant. It’s also, a great time to complete any large tree pruning projects.

Don’t be in a hurry to fertilize poinsettias until March. Only water the plant as needed when the soil becomes dry. If you have difficulties determining if the plant is dry are not, use a moisture meter to assist you. Place the plant in a bright sunny area with cool temperatures for best results during Atlanta Georgia’s winter months or by your head.