Happy February Morgantown!

February is short but has been simply amazing! I saw my first dandelion on the second day in the Suncrest Towne Centre turf area in front of Buffalo Wild Wings. I saw other anomalies too, and there is absolutely nothing we can do about them but watch and learn. This is the best time of year to prune your very special plants because they’re still sleeping. Examples would be Japanese maples, magnolias, dogwoods, or plants planted for sentimental reasons. It's also a great time to get a head start on getting rid of weeds or moles in your landscape beds.

Those are my newsletter subjects this month. If you want to know more, then read on.

Part of the horror of winter is that, when the ground isn’t frozen, moles want to tear up what we’ve worked so hard to create. I just finished a mole article, let's call it a rant, that will be going up soon in my new section of the website titled “Wisdom Unencumbered by Facts, Morgantown Flora by Jay Benson.” Moles have been my enemy for 42 years, so it had to be in the first release of information. The answer here is that mole control is for the professionals. I keep contact with Morgantown’s best mole hunter, so call me for a referral.

Nature is so much fun because it’s never the same. This year I’ve seen cress already six inches high, onions and garlic fully developed in beds or turf, and even actively growing clover. The plants were probably held dormant late last fall due to the drought, and the winter rains have allowed them life, but that’s just an honest guess. Let’s not worry about the reason and just enjoy the ride.

This is a great time for you to go out in your garden and do some pruning. It’s not a great time to call me for pruning because we’re basically shut down for the winter, acting like we’re having one. Pruning now allows some really cool advantages to your landscape, however.

One is that you can see your patient better without leaves. When you can see, you can easily cut the limbs that touch. Remember to leave the one you want because, once you cut it, coming back in with glue just doesn’t seem to work.

You want to cut the limbs that grow back across the plant because eventually they will touch. Why is touching bad for your trees? Plants that grow by gaining girth eventually will tourniquet each limb, and someday, when you least want it, you will have two dead limbs. Sorry, it’s just a fact.

Another reason for pruning right now is because the plants have energy stored in their roots to sustain an existing canopy, so if you reduce that it can be redirected into surviving the impact of the surgery. Also, the pruning is a way of adjusting the directions the plant will grow. The extra energy can result in putting on new limbs and leaves that will illustrate your genius (or, for me, sometimes lack of genius).

I’m also trying hard to get mowing referrals ready for the website as spring approaches. The website, hopefully, will continue to grow and eventually become a DIY manual for successful landscaping in Morgantown.

If winter stays away, we will be back to work starting the first week of March. I’m looking forward to seeing you in your lawn in just a few days!