Landscape calendar

Month-by-month planting & maintenance

A North Texas guide to what your lawn, beds and trees need each month. Bring questions to the nursery — our Nursery Professionals are glad to help.

1January

Plant trees and shrubs — fall and winter are the best time. Use Root Stimulator and Soil Conditioner when planting.
Prune shade trees while they are dormant: clean cuts, no sealer needed. Oaks are the exception — finish oak pruning by January 31 and paint every oak cut right away (oak wilt).
Water every two or three weeks in dry spells, and the day before a hard freeze — moist soil holds heat.

2February

Prune roses around Valentine’s Day, and most shrubs and fruit trees this month. No oak pruning February 1 – June 30.
Spring pre-emergent goes down February 15 – March 15 (when the redbuds bloom). Skip it on any lawn you plan to seed or sod. Amaze granules are for shrub and flower beds.
Get a soil test so you know what your beds need.
Still a great month to plant trees. Keep watering in dry spells.

3March

Finish the spring pre-emergent by mid-March and spot-spray weeds that got through.
Soil test if you haven’t yet.
Plant trees and shrubs; feed trees and shrubs once new growth starts. Don’t fertilize the lawn yet — it isn’t green.
Our average last freeze is mid-March — hold off on tender plants until it passes.

4April

Arbor Day is the last Friday in April — plant a tree!
First lawn feeding once the grass is fully green and has been mowed twice (usually mid-April).
Check soil temperature before seeding Bermuda (68°F minimum).
Preventive grub control if you had grubs last year. Spray for pine tip moths. Bedding plants are arriving!

5May

Plant heat-lovers like vinca (periwinkle) now that the soil is warm, and caladiums in the shade.
Feed bedding plants. A preventive fungicide helps roses prone to blackspot.
Remove standing water to keep mosquitoes down.
Watch for bagworms on junipers and cedars and treat while they’re small.

6June

Top-dress beds with compost or mulch — 2–3 inches keeps roots cool.
A light lawn feeding in early June is fine; nothing in July and August.
Add Bloom Start to crape myrtles to extend bloom time.
Spot-spray weeds early in the morning, never in the heat of the day.

7July

Use Bloom Set on tomatoes.
Water deeply and early in the morning, on your allowed days — check the current Rockwall watering stage.
Give trees and shrubs extra water: soak the root ball of new plants and under the drip line of established trees, not at the trunk.
Watch St. Augustine for chinch bugs and all lawns for grubs.

8August

Yellowing turf usually means iron deficiency or fungus — bring us a sample and we’ll help diagnose it.
Watch trees and shrubs closely for insects.
Last feeding for shrubs and roses by mid-August, so new growth hardens before frost.

9September

Fall pre-emergent and the big lawn feeding, September 1–15 — on established lawns only. Never put pre-emergent where you plan to seed this fall.
Want a green winter lawn? Overseed Bermuda with ryegrass in late September or October and skip the pre-emergent there. Tall fescue is only for irrigated shade.
Prepare beds for pansies.
Plant mums for fall color.

10October

Finish all lawn feeding by October 1. Brown patch season starts — water only in the early morning.
Plant winter color — pansies, violas, ornamental kale and cabbage.
Pick out spring bulbs while selection is best (they go in the ground in late November and December).
October and November are ideal for planting trees — use Root Stimulator. And visit the Pumpkin Patch!

11November

No lawn fertilizer now — warm-season grass is going dormant.
Before our first freeze (usually mid-to-late November): drain and store hoses, insulate outdoor faucets and the backflow preventer, and winterize the sprinkler system.
Plant spring bulbs between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Poinsettias and live Christmas trees arrive. Great month to plant trees.

12December

Keep watering trees and lawns through dry spells, and before a hard freeze.
Dormant oil for scale on fruit trees and hollies — only on a day above 40°F with no freeze for 24 hours.
Plant trees. Prune shade trees through February, but oaks only through January 31, and paint every oak cut.
Spot-spray winter weeds like henbit and chickweed on a mild day.

Tip: lawn pre-emergent works best in two windows — February 15 to March 15 and September 1 to 15. Follow the label’s yearly maximum, and skip it anywhere you plan to seed or sod.

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