Lawn
- Late February through the end of March is the second-best time (the optimum time is late August through mid-October) to overseed your lawn to make it thicker or to cover bare areas. The freezing and thawing of the soil this time of the year actually helps the seed to get good soil contact. Lawn renovation and overseeding
- Be careful to keep ice-melting products off turf to avoid killing your lawn.
- Do not use fertilizer to melt snow. See Melting Ice Safely
Houseplants
- Mealybugs, appear as white fluffy masses on infested plants. (See photo right.) They can be controlled by swabbing them with rubbing alcohol or taking plants outside and spraying with a labeled houseplant insecticide. Don’t do this on a very cold day, or your plants will be damaged.
- Did you receive an amaryllis for the holidays? Keep it in a sunny window. After it is done flowering, the plant will produce leaves. It can be taken outside during the summer and then brought back inside by mid-summer.
- You may notice leaf yellowing and leaf drop on some of your houseplants. This is usually a result of low light conditions or over-watering. Most houseplants should be watered only when the top of the growing medium begins to dry out. Cut back or stop fertilizing houseplants unless they are grown under supplemental lighting.
Insects
- Often in late February termite reproductives start swarming. A swarm seen indoors could mean that a colony is directly under the house and feeding on its lumber.
- By this time in the winter ants may start appearing in the house. The largest is the carpenter ant which is attracted to water soaked wood found in bathrooms, kitchens and sometime attics. The smallest and most common household ant is the small black pavement ant. In most cases bait stations work well to control minor infestations.
The Home & Garden Information Center’s horticulturists are available year-round to answer your plant and pest questions. In addition to gardening questions, we cover houseplants, indoor pests, and more. Send your questions and photos to Ask an Expert!