Although it doesn’t seem like the optimal time to be gardening, February is actually a great time to be out pruning your trees and shrubs to make them more structurally sound and aesthetically pleasing.

Why prune now? Whenever you prune, you create wounds that potentially can serve as entry points for disease-causing fungi and bacteria. If you prune in the spring and summer (when it’s warmer and often wetter), these organisms are very active and more likely land on fresh pruning cuts and infect. When the weather is colder and drier (as it tends to be in February in Wisconsin), disease-causing organisms are much less active and the chances of them infecting though pruning cuts is much reduced.

How do I go about pruning? Check out University of Wisconsin Garden Facts XHT1013 (Pruning Evergreens), XHT1014 (Pruning Deciduous Trees) and XHT1015 (Pruning Deciduous Shrubs) for pointers on how to prune.

Prune only when it’s dry, and decontaminate pruning tools between cuts (or at a minimum between each tree or shrub) by treating them with 70% alcohol (e.g., rubbing alcohol right out of the bottle, spray disinfectants containing ~70% alcohol) or (in a pinch) 10% bleach. Decontaminating tools kills off disease-causing organisms that you might pick up as you prune. Once done pruning, if you’ve used bleach, be sure to thoroughly rinse your tools, and oil them to prevent them from rusting.
​
By pruning regularly and taking a few simple precautions as you do, you will end up with trees that are beautiful, structurally sound and healthy.

​If you garden organically, you know that weeds can be a real problem. In this video, Kevin Schoessow breaks down all of the types of organic mulches that we use in the Teaching & Display Garden. He explains the pros and cons of several types of mulch and how to properly apply them. Give this a watch--you'll gain a new understanding of the whole mulching process!

You are invited to a Zoom program.
When: June 17, 2020 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://uwextension.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJItdu2rrj8tGNDgxypQ0RI5qru1cxUYKOvn
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Composting is where it all begins.  Learn the basics of composting to enrich your soil to benefit the plants you nurture whether they are flowers or vegetables. The program will cover the benefits of composting, ingredients for a compost pile, the types of compost bins, and how to use the finished compost. 

Kevin Schoessow, UW Extension Area Agriculture Development Educator provides a short video on growing garlic. 

​Easy steps for a successful Victory Garden 2.0…(with recommendations from the 1943 Victory Garden Manual by James Burdett, adapted for today’s world.)
1. Know your growing zone!– Just enter your zip code here to find your zone.

​Garlic is part of the Onion family. It is a herbaceous perennial that we grow as an annual in Wisconsin. Garlic can be grown in Wisconsin’s Zone 3 and warmer to Zones 6-7; however, you need to make sure the cultivar is hardy for your zone.  Garlic is a monocot with basal leave formations. Garlic is comprised of multiple cloves. Cloves arise from an axillary bulb. Leaves are solid, flattened and folded.