What to Do in Your Central Texas Garden (Feb 15–28): Winter Clean-Up & Last Chance for Cool-Season Vegetables

Feb 27

Welcome back, gardening friends! In this episode of the ATXGardens Podcast, landscape consultant and certified arborist Colleen Dieter walks you through what to focus on in the second half of February—one of the busiest transition periods of the gardening year. With winter freezes behind us and spring around the corner, it’s time to prune, plant, clean up, and prepare your Central Texas garden for the growing season ahead.

🌡️ Post-Freeze Observations & Garden Journaling

After the recent ice storm, plant damage across Central Texas has been mixed. Some rosemary survived under covers, while other plants like citrus and olives showed varying levels of damage depending on microclimates.

Colleen recommends:

Taking photos or notes after freezes
Tracking what survived and what didn’t
Recording which protection methods worked

Keeping a simple garden journal will help you make smarter decisions next winter.

🌳 Trees & Shrubs: Planting and Pruning

It’s still a great time to plant native and well-adapted trees and shrubs, including:

Oaks
Redbuds
Hollies
Other Central Texas natives

Wait until mid-March to plant:

Mediterranean trees like figs
Tropical shrubs like bougainvillea

⚠️ Important:
Do not prune oak trees right now. Oak wilt season begins in February, and pruning can spread the disease.

You can still:

Prune small ornamental trees
Remove branches hitting roofs, walls, or walkways
Shape trees to control size

🌹 Roses & Fruit Trees: Finish Winter Pruning

You still have time to complete winter pruning tasks.

For roses:

Finish pruning by March 1
Remove dead, crossing, or crowded branches

For fruit trees:

Continue pruning apples, pears, peaches, and plums
Stop once trees begin leafing out
Summer pruning is another option for size control

Some orchardists even prune during bloom to reduce fruit load early and minimize thinning later.

You can also:

Collect fruit tree scions for grafting
Prune grapevines
Plant fruit and nut trees before March if possible

After pruning:

Feed roses and fruit trees according to soil tests
Add wood chip mulch out to the drip line

🌿 Deciduous Shrub Pruning

Late February is a great time to shape deciduous shrubs—plants that lose their leaves in winter.

Common examples:

Beautyberry
White mistflower
Rose of Sharon (Althea)
Flame acanthus
Bee brush
Almond verbena

You can:

Reduce size
Control height
Shape plants near walkways or windows

Avoid pruning now:

Hydrangeas
Azaleas
Spireas
Mock orange

These shrubs set buds in fall, so pruning now removes spring flowers. Wait until after they bloom.

🌼 Perennials, Bulbs & Evergreen Groundcovers

With the hard freeze behind us, it’s time to cut back most perennials.

Timing tips:

February is ideal for cutting back
Aim to finish before March 1
Dead stems can protect new growth from late freezes

Cold-damaged bulbs:

Remove dead leaves only
Avoid cutting into the bulb neck

Evergreen herbaceous plants to cut back if damaged:

Cast iron plant
Liriope and mondo grass
Sedge
Asian jasmine
Holly fern

You can mow or shear these plants and they’ll regrow in spring.

Also trim small evergreen perennials like:

Salvia greggii
Skullcap
Blackfoot daisy
Artemisia

This encourages bushier, healthier growth.

🥕 Vegetable Garden: Transition Time

Late February is the shift from cool-season to warm-season crops.

First, assess freeze damage and choose your approach:

Option 1: Reset for spring

Remove damaged plants
Add compost and fertilizer
Mulch beds and wait for March planting

Option 2: One last cool-season crop
Plant from seed:

Collards
Kale
Lettuce
Carrots
Turnips
Radishes
Beets

Avoid starting new transplants of:

Broccoli
Cauliflower
Cabbage

It’s too late in the season for those to mature properly.

🧅 Potatoes, Seedlings & Spring Prep

Late February is:

The last call for potato planting
The time to thin indoor tomato, pepper, and eggplant seedlings to one per pot

If seedlings are large enough, you can:

Divide and replant them into separate containers

Around March 1:

Begin hardening off seedlings outdoors
Move them outside on warm days
Protect them during cold snaps

By mid-March:

Transplant into the garden

🌿 Herb Garden Reset

Now is the time to:

Remove herbs that died in the freeze
Make notes on what to replace

Last chance to sow cool-season herbs from seed:

Dill
Calendula
Fennel
Parsley
Cilantro

You can also start warm-season flowers indoors, including:

Marigolds
Zinnias
Cosmos
Sunflowers

🌱 Lawn Care & Winter Weeds

Before spring growth begins:

Service your mower
Sharpen the blade
Prepare for first mowing in mid- to late March

For winter weeds:

Mow tall weeds before they set seed
Bag clippings if weeds are flowering
Use hand tools for removal

🔗 Links & Resources Mentioned

ATXGardens Landscape Consultations: https://www.atxgardens.com

Fiskars Uproot Weeder: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004S0PH1A?tag=atxgardens-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1

Japanese handy weeder: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9F3FN6S?tag=atxgardens-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1

Dutch hoe https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D46NJJHT?tag=atxgardens-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1

🌼 Stay Connected

For more Central Texas gardening guidance, visit http://ATXGardens.com , follow Colleen on Instagram @‌ATXGardens_, and subscribe to the ATXGardens Podcast for seasonal, science-based gardening advice tailored to Austin and the surrounding region.