Gardening Checklist

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January - February - March - April - May - June

July - August - September - October - November - December

January
Week 1 Week 2
  • Check trees and shrubs for signs of rodent feeding.
  • Salt used to melt ice on walks and driveways can damage plants.
  • Have power yard equipment serviced now.
  • Clean, repair, or replace garden tools and equipment.
  • Move houseplants away from frosty windowsills.
  • Use branches from your Christmas tree to mulch perennials.
  • Group houseplants to increase humidity.
  • Split your seed order with a friend.
  • Provide food and water for birds.
  • Inspect stored roots, corms and tubers.
  • Email or write for seed and nursery catalogs.
  • Try a few new varieties this year.
  • Avoid creating blind spots with piled snow at sidewalk and road intersections.
  • Research plants before purchasing and planting.
  • Consider fragrance when ordering plants for the garden.
  • Winter is a good time for garden dreaming.
  • Gardening keeps you physically and mentally fit.
  • Provide water for birds.
Week 3 Week 4
  • Join a garden club or civic beautification group.
  • Read a few OSU Extension fact sheets at ohioline.osu.edu
  • Consider interplanting vegetables in the ornamental garden.
  • Espalier dwarf fruit trees to save space.
  • Tamp snow around fruit trees to discourage rodent damage to the trunk.
  • Start some grass seed in pots for your cat.
  • Allow water to reach room temperature before watering house plants.
  • Provide seeds, fruit, and suet for the birds.
  • Read some back issues of Buckeye Yard & Garden at webgarden.osu.edu
  • Repair leaky garden hoses.
  • Sharpen shovels, spades, hoes, and pruners.
  • Clean and organize garden tools.
  • Add statuary, birdbaths, and wind chimes to the garden.
  • During the January thaw, water woody plants if the soil is dry.
  • During the January thaw, spray evergreens with an anitdesiccant.
  • Check hardiness before ordering plants.
  • Beware of plants advertised as miracle plants.
  • Provide seed, fruit and suet for birds.
Week 5  
  • Start houseplants from seed for a challenge.
  • Grow vegetables among your flowers.
  • Grow fresh parsley and other herbs in containers in a sunny window.
  • Look for disease-resistant varieties when ordering seeds.
  • Wash and sterilize seed-starting containers.
  • Read garden magazines and books for new ideas for your garden.
  • Visit an arboretum to see plants with winter interest.
  • Plan to grow extra vegetables to share with the needy.
  • Provide fresh water for wildlife.
  

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February
Week 1 Week 2
  • Force paper white narcissus bulbs.
  • Look though seed and nursery catalogues for gardening ideas.
  • Draw your vegetable garden plan on paper.
  • Clean and sharpen garden tools.
  • Share seed orders with a friend and save money.
  • Use sterilized soil or soilless mix when starting seeds indoors.
  • Avoid walking on the lawn during thaws.
  • Provide food and water for wildlife.
  • Give your Valentine a plant or a gift certificate for garden supplies.
  • Consider planting some fruit this year.
  • Cool colors, such as blues and purples, give a small area a more expansive feeling.
  • Know your USDA plant hardiness zone before ordering plants.
  • Cottonseed meal can lower soil pH.
  • Cool temperatures extend the life of cut flowers.
  • Start tuberous begonias for June bloom.
  • Use dwarf plants where space is limited.
Week 3 Week 4
  • Repot rootbound houseplants.
  • Get pruning tools sharpened and ready for use.
  • Review your gardening plans for the year.
  • Replant frost-heaved plants.
  • It is too early to apply dormant oil.
  • Make plant labels from plastic bleach and milk bottles.
  • Give unwanted garden catalogs to teachers and childcare workers.
  • Start garden plants from seed indoors.
  • Provide food and water for wildlife.
  • Purchase vegetable seeds from your favorite suppliers.
  • Purchase nursery stock for planting next month.
  • Get pruning tools sharpened and ready for use.
  • Repot rootbound houseplants.
  • Prune grapes and blueberries.
  • Plant shade-loving plants in the shade.
  • Propagate dracaena, rubber plants and dumb cane by air-layering.
  • Consider adding ferns to the garden.
  • Food sources are limited; continue to provide food for wildlife.

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March
Week 1 Week 2
  • Purchase trees and shrubs for planting later this month.
  • Clean and sharpen pruning tools.
  • Repair fences and trellises.
  • Prevent damping off by using sterilized soil to start seeds.
  • Wash and sterilize seed starting containers in 1-part bleach to 9-parts water.
  • Enjoy the blossoms of vernal witchhazel.
  • Grow compact varieties where space is limited.
  • Take cuttings of geraniums for new bedding plants.
  • Continue feeding the birds; natural food sources are scarce.
  • Prune woody landscape and fruit plants when the temperature is above freezing.
  • Plant woody plants as soil conditions permit.
  • Sow seeds of dahlia, snapdragon and verbena indoors.
  • Sow seeds of broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower indoors.
  • Rake debris from the lawn when the soil is fairly dry.
  • Before planting have your soil tested at a lab recommended by your Extension office.
  • Repot houseplants as needed.
  • Digging in wet soil causes compaction.
  • Provide food and water for birds and other wildlife.
Week 3 Week 4
  • Prune shrubs, landscape trees and grapes before the plants break dormancy.
  • Sow seeds of petunia and salvia indoors.
  • Plant woody plants when the soil and weather conditions permit.
  • Remove winter protection from rose bushes.
  • Soil that sticks to the spade is too wet to work. Wait to dig until it drys a bit.
  • Remove mulch from established strawberries before growth begins.
  • Look for snowdrops blooming under the snow.
  • Use the pruning waste of grapevines to make grapevine wreaths.
  • Provide food for wildlife.
  • Seed new lawns as weather and soil conditions permit.
  • Sow seeds of eggplant and pepper indoors.
  • Sow peas outdoors as weather conditions permit.
  • Apply lawn fertilizer as weather permits.
  • Remove tops and dead leaves from asparagus and rhubarb.
  • Sidedress asparagus and rhubarb with nitrogen fertilizer.
  • Prune trees and shrubs.
  • Plant pansies.
  • Propagate houseplants.

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April
Week 1 Week 2
  • Plant carrots, Swiss chard, peas, collards, kale, kohlrabi, leaf lettuce, onions, parsley, parsnips, radishes, salsify and spinach as soil and weather conditions permit.
  • Sow seeds of hardy annual flowers (calendula, clarkia, larkspur, California poppy, and sweet pea).
  • Apply pre-emergent herbicides to control crabgrass
  • Fertilize the lawn.
  • Sow tomato seeds indoors.
  • Fertilize woody plants, raspberries and roses.
  • Finish pruning fruit trees, grapevines, raspberries and roses.
  • Plant pansies.
  • Provide food and water for wildlife.
  • crabgrass pre-emergent control while the forsythia are in bloom.
  • Fertilize woody plants.
  • Plant early cabbage and broccoli plants outdoors.
  • Start tuberous begonias and caladium indoors.
  • Sow seeds of beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and radishes in the garden.
  • Plant trees, shrubs, ground covers, and perennials as soil and weather conditions permit.
  • Allow the soil to warm and dry a bit before applying mulch.
  • Add composted organic matter to soil to improve soil tilth and drainage.
  • Continue to provide food and water for wildlife.
Week 3 Week 4
  • Apply pre-emergent herbicides to control crabgrass.
  • Start tuberous begonias and caladiums indoors.
  • Plant a second crop of beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and radishes
  • Plant woody plants and perennials as soil conditions permit.
  • Begin fertilizing houseplants.
  • Apply horticultural oil to trees and shrubs that had mites, scale or aphids last year. Read the label.
  • Divide perennials that need it.
  • Add organic matter to improve soil tilth.
  • Fertilize asparagus with nitrogen-rich fertilizer.
  • Plant a tree for Earth Day
  • Plant trees, shrubs and perennials as soil conditions allow.
  • Check roses for black spot and insect pests.
  • Spread aged manure and humus around woody plants, keeping it at least four inches from the trunk.
  • Create a grass-free zone around trees in the lawn and apply organic mulch over the roots.
  • Plant scab-resistant varieties of potato.
  • Use horticultural oil to control spruce spider mites.
  • Remove tent caterpillar nests from fruit trees.
  • Plant a row for the hungry in your vegetable garden.

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May
Week 1 Week 2
  • Give someone you love a bouquet of flowers for May Day.
  • Apply straw mulch to or cover with a frost blanket strawberry plants when frost is predicted.
  • Plant hardy perennials.
  • Thin early seeded root and leaf crops.
  • Dig, peel and grind horseradish root.
  • Divide overgrown herbs.
  • Place row covers over beets and chard to protect them from leaf miners.
  • Weed the garden before weeds go to seed.
  • Plant a row for the hungry in your vegetable garden.
  • Plant strawberry plants as soon as possible.
  • Sow sweet corn.
  • Plant gladiolus corms.
  • Begin to harden-off tomato plants.
  • Sow cucumber and melon seeds indoors for transplanting into the garden in mid-May.
  • Place row covers over beets and chard to protect them from leaf miners.
  • Sow a second crop of beets, carrots, radishes, leaf lettuce, and chard for continuous harvest.
  • Harvest rhubarb by pulling off leaf stalks rather than cutting them.
  • Plant a row for the hungry this year.
Week 3 Week 4
  • Remove spent blossoms from spring-flowering bulbs.
  • Prune spring-flowering shrubs as the blossoms fade.
  • Enjoy green onions, leaf lettuce and rhubarb fresh from the garden.
  • Seed cabbage for a fall crop.
  • Plant more gladiolus corms for continuous bloom.
  • When fruit trees are in full bloom, avoid spraying insecticides that will kill honeybees.
  • Grow vining crops on trellises to save space.
  • Control euonymus scale.
  • Plant seeds of bush and pole lima beans, corn, pumpkin, and watermelon.
  • Plant sweet potato slips.
  • Plant annuals.
  • Inspect the garden and landscape regularly for developing problems.
  • Remove flowers from newly established strawberry plants.
  • Apply a “starter” fertilizer to help vegetable transplants get off to a good start.
  • Cover tender plants if late frost is in the forecast.
  • Prune spring-flowering shrubs after flowers fade.
  • Plant a row for the hungry this year.
Week 5  
  • Pinch garden mums back for full, bushy plants.
  • Sow cabbage, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower for fall garden transplants.
  • Apply mulches to woody plants once the soil has warmed up and dried out a bit.
  • Remove spent rose blossoms and fertilize the plants.
  • Mow the lawn regularly, removing no more than 1/3 the total leaf blade.
  • Transplant peppers, eggplant, and okra into the garden.
  • Thin beets, carrots, and leafy vegetables.
  • Harvest mature asparagus beds for 6 to 8 weeks.
  • Control weeds before they go to seed.
  

 

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June
Week 1 Week 2
  • All vegetable crops should be in the ground by now.
  • Remove yellowed foliage of spring-flowering bulbs.
  • Protect ripening strawberries from birds.
  • Apply mulches around woody plants, including roses.
  • Remove spent blossoms from roses and perennials.
  • Hill soil up against potato plants when they are 8 to 12 inches tall.
  • Suppress weeds in lawns by mowing at a height of 2 to 3 inches.
  • Thin apples, pears and peaches for larger fruit.
  • Weed the garden regularly.
  • Thin fruit on fruit trees to get larger fruit.
  • Deadhead perennials as the flowers fade.
  • Sow more carrots and beets for continuous harvest.
  • Remove blossoms from newly established strawberry plants.
  • Fertilize perennial flowers using a 5-10-10 formulation.
  • Water lawns and gardens during the morning if possible.
  • Sidedress asparagus and rhubarb with compost or a 10-10-10 fertilizer.
  • Shave off weeds in the garden using a sharp hoe.
  • Share your vegetable harvest with a hunger center.
Week 3 Week 4
  • Fertilize perennial flowers with a 5-10-10 fertilizer.
  • Prune older canes from climbing roses after roses have bloomed.
  • Remove radish, spinach, and lettuce plants when they send up seed stalks.
  • Store unused seeds in a cold, dry location.
  • Fertilize hybrid tea, floribunda, and grandiflora roses as the blossoms fade.
  • Never leave pesticides sitting unattended for even a few minutes.
  • Replace the spark plug in your lawn mower.
  • Take softwood cuttings of shrubs.
  • Pull weeds before they go to seed.
  • Loosely tie grape vines to the trellis using soft twine or plastic ties.
  • Protect ripening fruit from animals.
  • Plant buckwheat in vacant areas of the garden to supress weeds.
  • Fertilize roses after their initial flush of flowers fade.
  • Prune hedges so that the bottom is wider than the top.
  • Divide and replant iris.
  • Bt will control cabbage worms if the larvae are small.
  • Share your harvest with a hunger center.

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July
Week 1 Week 2
  • Remove spent annual blossoms daily for continued blooming.
  • You can still sow beets, beans and carrots.
  • Hanging plants often need daily watering.
  • Water deeply when needed. Avoid light sprinkling.
  • Lightly fertilize onions, tomatoes, peppers and other long-season plants.
  • Remove faded flowers and over-ripe fruit that attract Japanese beetles.
  • Prop branches of heavily loaded fruit trees.
  • Stir mulch to improve aeration and water movement.
  • Enjoy a safe Independence Day.
  • Keep weeds out of the garden.
  • Renovate overcrowded strawberry beds.
  • Plant late-season cabbage transplants in the garden.
  • Sow another row of bush snap beans.
  • Put a net over blueberry plants to keep birds from beating you to the harvest.
  • Cut lavender for drying just as the flowers begin to open.
  • Never apply pesticides to stressed plants.
  • Pinch mums for the final time of the season.
  • Share your garden's bounty with a hunger center.
Week 3 Week 4
  • Enjoy fresh vegetables from your garden and farmers' markets.
  • Plant rutabagas for harvest in early autumn.
  • Cut back vigorous shoots of wisteria to check their growth.
  • Sharpen mower blades if lawn appears brown after mowing.
  • Examine trees after severe thunderstorms for damaged limbs.
  • Sow parsley, dill and basil in pots for use indoors during winter.
  • Allow broccoli to develop side shoots after central head has been harvested.
  • Pinch mint, oregano, and savory to promote bushy growth.
  • Share your harvest with a hunger center.
  • Keep annuals blooming by removing spent blossoms.
  • Prune suckers and water sprouts from apple trees.
  • Enjoy local peaches.
  • Plant Chinese cabbage, endive, snap beans, kohlrabi, lettuce and radish for fall harvest.
  • Cut back mints, oregano, and savory to promote bushy growth.
  • Harvest summer squash when they are young and tender.
  • Blanch celery a week before harvesting by wrapping stalks with paper.
  • Change your mowing pattern weekly.
  • Inspect your garden daily.
Week  
  • Enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables from your garden and local farm markets.
  • Apply supplemental water to the garden if there has not been an inch of rain in the previous week.
  • Plants in hanging baskets dry out faster than plants in the ground.
  • Fertilize roses for the last time this year.
  • Sow seeds of biennials, such as Canterbury bells and foxglove.
  • Cut down raspberry canes that produced fruit earlier this summer.
  • Allow a few green peppers to turn red before harvesting.
  • Ripen tomatoes on the vine, not the windowsill.
  • Share the bounty of your garden with those in need of food.
  

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August
Week 1 Week 2
  • Take cuttings of begonias, coleus, and impatiens for winter houseplants.
  • Cut gladioli spikes with as few leaves as possible.
  • White flowers shine in the moonlight.
  • Handpick Japanese beetles and drop them into a jar of detergent and water.
  • Dig, divide, and move daylilies after they have completed their bloom.
  • Harvest tomatoes when their color is fully developed.
  • Plant collards, kale, and turnips for the fall garden.
  • Control weeds before they go to seed.
  • Share the bounty of your garden.
  • Control weeds before they produce seeds.
  • Kill weedy perennial grasses in the lawn so you can reseed early in September.
  • Begin soil preparation for seeding a new lawn.
  • Do a soil test before seeding a lawn or planting a new garden.
  • Sow seeds of leaf lettuce, radish, turnip (for greens), and spinach for fall harvest.
  • Dig potatoes after vines have died.
  • Do not cut your grass too short during hot weather.
  • Harvest the vegetable garden every few days and share your harvest with those in need.
Week 3 Week 4
  • Enjoy locally-grown fresh fruits and vegetables.
  • Dig and divide garden lilies when the foliage yellows.
  • Watch for wasps when working near rock piles, old tree stumps and stone walls.
  • Harvest cantaloupe when the stem separates from the fruit with gentle prodding.
  • Cut down stems of hollyhocks if rust-colored spots appear on the underside of leaves.
  • Plant a cover crop of winter rye in spaces vacated by harvested vegetable crops.
  • Weed the garden before weeds go to seed.
  • Don't bruise tree trunks with lawn mower or string trimmers.
  • Donate extra produce from your garden to a hunger center.
  • September is the ideal time to seed a new lawn.
  • Plant trees, shrubs and perennials now.
  • Plant garden mums for fall color.
  • Continue to cultivate around vegetables and flowers to discourage weeds.
  • Deadhead annuals and perennials.
  • Do not fertilize woody plants until they go dormant.
  • Sow spinach for fall harvest.
  • If you have too many zucchini or tomatoes, reduce the number of those plants you put in the garden next year.
  • Donate extra produce to a food bank or hunger center.

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September
Week 1 Week 2
  • Plant trees, shrubs, and ground covers this month.
  • Establish a small grain cover crop on empty vegetable garden space.
  • Begin moving houseplants indoors.
  • Compost non-diseased garden debris.
  • Potatoes are ready for harvest when their tops begin to turn brown.
  • Order spring-flowering bulbs now.
  • Have your soil tested before applying lawn fertilizer.
  • Test grapes for ripeness by tasting.
  • Purchase spring-flowering bulbs.
  • Allow gourds to remain on the vine as long as possible without exposing them to frost.
  • Water evergreens when the soil dries.
  • Ripen green tomatoes away from the sun.
  • Harvest seeds of dill, coriander and caraway by hanging stems with the seed heads enclosed inside a paper bag.
  • Aerate the lawn where soil is compacted.
  • Cure pumpkins for two weeks at 75 to 80 degrees F before storing them.
  • Broken and diseased branches may be removed; delay other pruning until early next spring.
  • Record gardening successes and failures now for reference next growing season.
Weeks 3 & 4  
  • Harvest green tomatoes before a killing frost.
  • Ripen green tomatoes in a warm place away from direct sunlight.
  • Purchase spring-flowering bulbs while supplies are in-stock.
  • Dig and bring in gladioli.
  • Note where fall color would add to the landscape.
  • Harvest Brussels sprouts, carrots, and parsnips after they have been exposed to frost.
  • Continue to weed.
  • Share your harvest with those in need.
  • Provide food, water, and habitat for wildlife.
  

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October
Week 1 Week 2
  • Enjoy local apples fresh from the orchard.
  • Transplant roses if necessary.
  • Watch weather forecasts for possible killing frosts.
  • Harvest frost-sensitive produce (squash, pumpkins, and gourds) when frost is forecasted.
  • Plant tulip, daffodil, hyacinth bulbs and crocus corms.
  • Dig dahlias after the foliage is killed by a frost.
  • A clean garden will have fewer diseases next spring.
  • Eat imperfect fruits; store perfect ones.
  • Place chicken wire on the ground over newly planted bulbs to deter animals from digging.
  • Plant snow drop, hyacinth, and star of Bethlehem bulbs.
  • Enjoy locally grown apples.
  • It is not too late to plant trees and shrubs.
  • Pot and force bulbs for winter enjoyment.
  • Repair garden fences and tools.
  • Dig and pot up chives and parsley for winter use.
  • Prune everbearing raspberries.
  • Watch weather forecasts for frost warnings.
  • Leave seed heads on asters, sunflowers, and cosmos for birds to eat.
Week 3 Week 4
  • Plant tulip, daffodil, hyacinth bulbs and crocus corms.
  • Dig gladiolus corms when leaves turn yellow. Store corms in peat moss, sawdust or sand in a cool part of the basement.
  • Keep leaves from accumulating and smothering the lawn.
  • Shred fallen leaves for faster composting.
  • Clean and store tomato stakes, cages and garden hoses before winter.
  • Call an arborist for serious tree troubles.
  • Store leftover seeds in a cool, dry place for next year.
  • Remove weeds and debris from the garden.
  • Edge garden borders if you haven't already.
  • Rake and compost fallen leaves.
  • Make a jack-‘o-lantern for Halloween.
  • Continue to plant trees and shrubs.
  • Do not prune spring flowering shrubs.
  • Destroy slug egg masses found under garden debris and mulch.
  • Cut perennials to the ground.
  • Plant garlic and horseradish.
  • Start your “want” list for next year.
  • Provide food and water to attract wildlife.

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November
Week 1 Week 2
  • Clean the garden and compost plant debris.
  • Order fruit trees for next year.
  • Apply trunk wrap to trees likely to be damaged by rubbing deer.
  • Bring garden hoses in soon.
  • Get your spring-blooming bulbs planted soon.
  • Wash dust from your houseplants.
  • Don't over-water your houseplants.
  • Reduce or stop fertilizing houseplants for the winter.
  • Provide food and water for wildlife.
  • Make sure your snow blower is ready for winter service.
  • Winterize the lawnmower, rototiller, and other summer tools.
  • Bring in garden hoses.
  • Remove fallen leaves from the lawn.
  • Store outdoor furniture.
  • Clean and store garden tools.
  • Order flowers for Thanksgiving.
  • Drain outdoor faucets.
  • Share your bounty with those in need.
Weeks 3 & 4  
  • Purchase a live holiday tree and have it delivered just before Christmas.
  • Prepare planting hole for a live tree now.
  • Store pesticides in a safe place.
  • Decorate window boxes before the soil freezes.
  • Tune up the snowblower.
  • Wash garden gloves.
  • Check houseplants for pests.
  • Turn houseplants regularly for even growth.
  • Have a Happy Thanksgiving Day!
  

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December

Weeks 1 - 4  
  • Shredded materials decompose faster in the compost pile.
  • Winter squash can be stored 3 to 4 months.
  • Keep off the lawn when the soil is frozen.
  • Inventory left over seeds.
  • Look for exciting new cultivars of poinsettia.
  • Prune evergreen shrubs for holiday decorations.
  • Choose a cut Christmas tree while the selection is good.
  • Make a holiday wreath.
  • Provide food and water for wildlife.
  

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