The February Reset: How to Spot Winter Damage and Set Your Landscape Up for a Spectacular Spring

February in North Georgia is that peculiar in-between season. The holiday decorations are long gone, spring feels tantalizingly close, and your landscape sits in quiet dormancy—or so it appears. At Pannone’s Lawn Pros & Landscaping, we know this is actually one of the most important months on the landscaping calendar. What happens in your Cumming, Suwanee, or Johns Creek yard during these final weeks of winter can make or break your spring success.

We call it the February Reset. It’s that critical window when smart homeowners assess winter’s toll, catch problems before they escalate, and position their properties for the explosion of growth just around the corner. While your neighbors wait until April to notice their landscape issues, you can be weeks ahead with a healthier lawn and garden.

Why February Matters More Than You Think

At Pannone’s, we’ve spent over a decade observing how North Georgia’s unpredictable winters affect landscapes across Forsyth County. Dormant plants reveal their true structure during this month. Without leaves obscuring the view, you can see exactly what’s happening with your trees and shrubs—dead branches, storm damage, and disease symptoms become obvious.

Soil temperatures are beginning their slow climb, meaning roots are preparing to wake up and absorb whatever nutrients exist in the ground. And perhaps most importantly, aggressive spring weeds haven’t germinated yet, giving you a narrow window to get pre-emergent treatments in place before it’s too late.

Walking Your Property with Fresh Eyes

At Pannone’s, we encourage every homeowner to conduct a thorough late-winter walkthrough. Grab a notepad and your phone for photos, and take your time moving through each zone of your landscape. You’re looking for clues that winter has left behind.

Start with your lawn. Georgia’s clay-heavy soil tends to heave and settle during freeze-thaw cycles. Look for uneven areas where grass seems lifted or separated from the soil. Next, examine your trees and shrubs for branches hanging at awkward angles—these may have cracked under ice weight. Pay particular attention to evergreens like Leyland cypress and hollies, which can suffer significant winter burn from cold, drying winds.

Don’t forget to assess your hardscape and drainage. Walkways and patios may have shifted during freeze-thaw cycles. Retaining walls could show new cracks. Those drainage solutions that worked perfectly in summer might reveal inadequacies after winter rains tested them repeatedly.

Common Winter Damage We See Across Forsyth County

After years of serving homeowners throughout Cumming and the surrounding North Metro communities, we’ve identified the winter damage patterns that appear most frequently in our region.

• Desiccation on Evergreens: Cold, dry winds pull moisture from leaves faster than frozen roots can replace it, causing brown, crispy foliage on exposed south and west-facing plantings.
• Crown Damage on Lawns: Extended cold snaps can damage crown tissue of warm-season grasses like Bermuda and Zoysia, causing delayed or patchy green-up in spring.
• Root Heaving: New plantings and shallow-rooted perennials can be pushed out of the ground by repeated freezing and thawing of the soil.
• Vole and Rodent Tunneling: These critters stay active under snow cover and mulch, creating runway systems that damage grass roots and gnaw bark from shrubs at the soil line.

The Pre-Emergent Window You Can’t Afford to Miss

If there’s one thing we emphasize to our clients every February, it’s the importance of pre-emergent herbicide timing. At Pannone’s, we’ve seen countless homeowners lose the battle against crabgrass and other summer weeds simply because they applied treatments too late.

Pre-emergent herbicides create a chemical barrier in the soil that prevents weed seeds from germinating. The key word is “prevents”—once weeds have sprouted, pre-emergents are useless against them. In the Cumming and Johns Creek areas, soil temperatures typically reach the critical 55-degree threshold between late February and mid-March. We recommend scheduling your application by mid-February to ensure you’re covered when germination triggers.

Soil Testing: The Foundation of Spring Success

February presents an ideal opportunity for soil testing. At Pannone’s, we consider this one of the most underutilized tools in the homeowner’s arsenal. A simple soil test reveals pH levels, nutrient deficiencies, and organic matter content—information that takes the guesswork out of spring fertilization.

North Georgia’s soils tend toward acidic with heavy clay, but there’s significant variation from property to property. Without testing, you might apply fertilizers your lawn doesn’t need while missing nutrients it desperately lacks. Results from February tests give you time to make amendments before spring growth kicks into high gear.

Late Winter Pruning: Timing Is Everything

Late winter is prime pruning season for many landscape plants, but timing depends entirely on what you’re cutting. At Pannone’s, we approach pruning with a clear understanding of each plant’s flowering habits.

For most deciduous trees and summer-flowering shrubs like crape myrtles and butterfly bushes, February pruning is ideal. The plants are still dormant, so cuts heal quickly once growth resumes. However, spring-flowering shrubs like azaleas and forsythia should wait until after they bloom—pruning now removes flower buds that formed last summer. We see this mistake frequently when eager homeowners tidy up azaleas in February and then have no blooms in April.

Getting Ahead on Spring Projects

February is when the best landscaping companies start booking spring projects. At Pannone’s, our schedule fills quickly once warm weather arrives. If you’re considering landscape renovation, hardscape installation, new sod, or drainage solutions, now is the time to start those conversations and get on a contractor’s calendar.

This is also an excellent time to refresh mulch or pine straw in your landscape beds. A late-winter application regulates soil temperature during spring fluctuations, suppresses early-germinating weeds, and gives your beds a clean, finished appearance right as the growing season begins.

Get Ahead of Spring with Pannone’s Lawn Pros & Landscaping

The February Reset isn’t about doing everything at once—it’s about taking strategic action during a window most homeowners overlook. By assessing winter damage now, scheduling pre-emergent applications, and planning spring projects before the rush, you position your landscape for year-round success.

At Pannone’s Lawn Pros & Landscaping, we’ve spent over a decade helping Cumming, Suwanee, Johns Creek, and North Metro Atlanta homeowners get the most from their outdoor spaces. Owner Brad Pannone and our experienced team understand the specific challenges of landscaping in Forsyth County, from our clay-heavy soils to our unpredictable winter weather patterns.

Whether you need help assessing winter damage, scheduling spring treatments, or planning a complete landscape transformation, we’re ready to put our local expertise to work for you. Contact Pannone’s Lawn Pros & Landscaping today at (678) 294-0351 to schedule your consultation and give your property the February Reset it deserves.