Spring Garden Maintenance

Garden maintenance includes all the tasks that keep your garden beautiful and prolific. Contrary to popular opinion a perennial garden isn’t low maintenance because the plants come back year after year, and gardening isn’t just about admiring beautiful flowers and eating organic produce. There is a fair amount of hard work involved in having a garden.

Another misconception is that after the third year your garden will be established and you won’t ever have to do another thing. Wrong!  There are always chores to do in a garden.  Some of the tasks may differ from year to year, but a well maintained garden is always changing and something will always need your attention and perhaps your labor to improve the situation.

Some of the routine garden maintenance tasks include planting of course, raking, weeding (everybody’s favorite), mulching, staking, deadheading, watering, pruning, training, plant division, and propagation.

Early Spring and Fall are times to rake, and my husband and I started raking both the yard and the gardens today.  It is amazing how many leaves collect around the base of my plants and in corners of the garden over the winter, but it is also very rewarding to rake away a clump of leaves and find tiny green shoots underneath just starting to pop out of the ground.

This morning I could see hardly any green at all in the garden,  but 3 hours later and two garbage bags full of sticks and leaves and this is what I saw. Isn't nature amazing?

Weeding is a garden maintenance job that could probably be done every day.  If you really hate weeding (believe it or not some people do), plant a small garden, hire some neighborhood children to help you, or change your attitude about it. 

The earlier in the season you can get out to do some serious weeding the better your garden will look all season. Now in early spring it is easy to pull out grass that has seeded close to the crown of your still sleeping perennials.  Later, your perennials will hide the pesky things and it will be much harder to find the roots.

Weeding is a garden maintenance job that could probably be done every day.  If you really hate weeding (believe it or not some people do), plant a small garden, hire some neighborhood children to help you, or change your attitude about it. 

Most stuff is barely out of the ground, but this dandelion was already growing well!

I have found if I weed about 15 minutes a day, it never gets out of hand and the smaller the weed the easier it is to remove.  Avoiding the task does not make it go away and actually can make the job a lot more tedious.

Using a weeding tool makes the job almost painless and actually a little rewarding, but you can use a hoe also for a faster job on bigger weeds or bigger areas that need weeding.

Once you have done a good job of early weeding, apply a layer of mulch.  Mulching is important for a couple of reasons. It reduces the amount of weeding that needs doing, and helps the earth retain water so you’ll need to water the garden less frequently.  It also gradually breaks down and provides nutrients to the soil.

A good time to mulch is soon after planting, but it can be done anytime.  Sometimes I wait until midsummer to mulch.  This is especially true in my cottage garden and where I’ve planted seeds.  Self seeding plants need a few weeks yet for seedlings to germinate and a thick layer of mulch would suffocate them. Mulching is a garden maintenance chore that only needs to be done once a season.  A three to four inch layer of mulch is usually a good measure of how much mulch to lie down.

Some plants like tomatoes and peonies always need support and the best time to do that is in early spring before the plants get too big and unwieldy.  Put your peony cages up as soon as you see new plant growth and add tomato supports when you plant your garden.

Other plants like delphiniums send up slender flower stalks that are easily damaged by excessive wind.  Stake these plants whenever you notice they need it.  A little preventive staking is always a good idea because nothing is more disappointing than watching a plant grow and develop a beautiful flower stalk only to have it destroyed by wind within hours of having it bloom.

Deadheading like weeding can be a daily garden maintenance job later in the season.  I like to go out every evening with my garden shears and just snip off any wilted flower I see.  This promotes new bud growth on many of your flowers. The later in the season it gets, the more plants you will need to dead head.

This is especially important to do to keep some of your annuals constantly blooming, but not all plants need it.  In fact some newer varieties are sold with a tag that says “No dead heading” needed. Sometimes I still do it though because it keeps plants neater and at a lesser risk of disease, but if you’re hoping to start some new plants from seeds, then you can skip the deadheading.  Instead, let the seeds ripen and dry out.  Leave them on the plants until you can gather the seeds or let them seed themselves in your garden.

Some other plants like poppies have beautiful seed heads and you may want to leave them to dry on the plants just because of that.  In fact, there are many plants that have interesting seedpods which can be saved and used later in dry flower arrangements.

The plants that I dead head the most are all my annuals, coreopsis,  red pincushion, rose campion, rudebeckia, cosmos, and false sunflowers.  These all produce more flowers if I consistently deadhead them.

Unless you have automatic sprinklers, there will always be some sort of watering to do in your garden.  This is especially true if you have container plantings.  Anything in a pot or hanging basket is going to dry out faster than things planted in the ground. 

In hot dry periods these may need watering a couple a times a day.  There are a few things you can do to lessen this situation, though.  First of all look for plants that can withstand a little dryness.  If you’re in love with tropical jungle plants, then I hope you realize they will need lots of water to thrive.

Look for water retaining granules to add to your potting medium, too.  There are mixes that are especially designed for container plantings and it’s probably worth the investment to buy a bag.

Using mostly native plants in your garden is a good way to reduce your watering tasks and soaker hoses on timers are awesome, but you still have to do some watering occasionally if you don’t want to lose precious plants to a hot, dry summer.

Some people have the opposite problem- they water too much and this can kill container pots rapidly, also.   Containers should always have drainage holes and if you get a lot of frequent rain, try to protect your plants by putting them on a covered porch or under an eave of the house so that they don’t drown.

Pruning is a garden maintenance job that needs doing once or twice a season.  The reason you can’t do it all at one time is because spring blooming bushes and trees usually develop buds on year old stems and branches.  If you prune them before they flower in the spring you will have no flowers that season.  Others that bloom later in the year or don’t flower at all can be pruned in early spring.  Regular pruning helps a bush to maintain shape and healthy vigor.

The most economical way to increase the size of your garden or the quantity of plants in it is to grow your own. This is a garden maintenance task that may take a little more know how than other gardening tasks but is very rewarding if you’re willing to experiment and have patience to try again if your first experiment fails.

Plants can be propagated by many methods, some from seeds, some from divisions, and some from cuttings.  As this differs with the plant you best recourse is to research each plant individually.  Many biennials will reproduce from seeds and if you want them to be blooming every season, you have to make sure that you have seedlings in the garden every season.  You can help this process along by deliberately planting seeds yourself in the vicinity of the mother plant if that’s where you want the plant to stay or elsewhere if you want it in multiple places.

Perennials can also be started from seed, but it is a slow process and requires patience, and perhaps a greenhouse (just joking, but you get the point.)  If you don’t have a good place to raise your seeds, you’re better off buying established perennials in pots that can be immediately set out into the garden.

Plant division is done on an as needed basis, but it is another task that is easier to do in the early spring.  Perennials that have died out in the middle need dividing.   It’s easy to see this now when everything is cut down.  It is also easier to remove a chunk of a perennial when it hasn’t started a lot of new seasonal growth.

After you divide a perennial, and until it reestablishes itself, you will need to water it more frequently.  That’s another reason to do this kind of maintenance in the Spring as we tend to get more rain and the temperatures are milder.

Although perennials can be divided almost anytime during a growing season, I would avoid the hottest weather, and maybe wait until flowering is over.

If you are interested in increasing the number of perennials you have plants can be propagated by many methods, some from seeds, some from divisions, and some from cuttings.  As this differs with the plant you best recourse is to research each plant individually.

So as you can see garden maintenance is never ending and we’re just talking about the growing season.  There’s a lot of clean up at the end of a season, too, but that’s a discussion for another day!  In the meantime thank you for gardening with Julie, and now   go out and tackle those weeds. Happy Gardening!

Bare Root Plants

Bare root plants are just that.  Often when you order perennials they arrive as a twisted mass of roots and you may or may not see any green growth on them.  Don’t panic. This is not a mistake and your plants have not died in the mail.  They are just dormant.  Mail order companies have become excellent at shipping their plants, and most likely your bare root plants have arrived when the time is appropriate for planting them. They should, however, be planted as soon as possible after you receive them.

If for some reason you can’t, though (the mail doesn’t take it into account that you have other obligations!), at least take the time to unwrap your plants and soak them for about 30 minutes if they look dry.  If they are still moist, you don’t need to do this, but you do need to keep them damp until you can plant them. 

I usually sprinkle water on the packing material they’re in, usually moss or mulch, and wrap them in paper towels which I sprinkle again and then wrap them in a plastic bag. Leave them this way until you can get them in the ground. In the meantime put them in a cool, dark place.

On the day you are planting your bare root perennials, prepare your site first.  Holes should be approximately twice as wide and deep as your roots. Once you’ve dug your hole amend it first with compost, aged manure or a mixture of peat moss and potting soil.

Now it’s time to figure out how exactly to plant the tangle of roots that is looking a little intimidating right now.  First, gently shake some of the packing material off and then carefully untangle what you can.  Look closely for any green shoots or dried stalks that would identify the crown (top of your plant).

Then try to notice if the roots are trying to grow downward or sideways.  This will help you when you’re putting your roots into their holes. Now hold your bare root plants in the hole and fan out the bottom in the way it wants to grow. Fill in with soil under and around your plant until the crown is just slightly above the surface of the ground.   Water well at this point and then add more soil where the hole has settled and to build up a dam around your planting hole.

Because bare root perennials are dormant, they can be planted sooner than container plants which is why they are shipped in early spring.  The tips (pips) of your perennials already in the ground may just be starting to peak out of the soil, and this is helpful to know so you know where you can plant your new bare root perennials.

Early spring is also a good time to divide many of the perennials that you already have.  The general rule of thumb is to divide perennials that bloom in mid or late summer now and divide early spring bloomers right after they bloom.

Perennials do not need dividing every year and some can go for long periods before it’s necessary, but you’ll probably know when it’s time.  One tell-tale sign is a plant whose center has died out, but is growing well in a ring around what was once the middle.

Another way to recognize a perennial that needs dividing is if you’ve noticed that your plant doesn’t have has many flowers as it once did.  Some perennials lose vitality after a few years and when they flower less they benefit from being split up.

Even if a perennial doesn’t seem to need it, sometimes they just overgrow their allotted space. You’re not hurting your plant to divide it. It is an economical way also, to increase the number of plants that you have. If you are trying to create a matching border of perennials this is probably a really good way to do it.

The season is upon us.  Very soon your bare root perennials will be arriving, you’ll be buying new ones in containers, or you’ll be dividing some of the ones you already own. Whatever the case, it's time to don your gardening gloves and get busy!  Enjoy!

Vegetable Seeds

Vegetable seeds are starting to appear in all the stores and we’re getting close to the time when we can get out and spend time in the garden.  Is this the year you plant a garden?  Yes you say!  Well, it all starts with those luscious vegetable seed packets. The choice can be over whelming too, because there are hundreds to choose from.  It’s easy to just grab and then grab some more, but there is a better way that will help you be more successful and have an easy to grow, productive harvest that lasts all season.

There are a huge variety of vegetable seeds available to consumers.  Seeds have been developed to be more colorful, more disease resistant, tastier, bigger, or have shorter growing times. There are also heirloom seeds available that produce fruits and vegetables that are much more similar to original cultivars.  They may not be perfectly shaped, nor have the uniform colors of newer varieties, but some people contend that they are tastier and are healthier for us. That’s for you to decide.   

So, first of all make a list. What vegetables do you especially like?  What would you like to try to grow?  How much space do you have or are willing to plant?  Once your list is completed, carry it with you and try not to veer too far from your list.  Then after you’ve chosen the essentials maybe choose one or two extra fun things, but don’t buy too many because those tiny seed packages don’t look like much now, but unless you’re planting the lower forty you won’t have room for all of them to flourish.

Now read the backs of the seed packages.  Pay special attention to how long it will take for your seeds to reach harvest stage.  This is very important for a couple of reasons.  The growing season is shorter in the north of our country than in the south and you don’t want to choose a variety that takes a very long growing season to mature.  If you choose your vegetable seeds wisely you will have foods to harvest all season long because harvest times can be divided into roughly three time periods: early summer, midseason, and late summer.

Early summer vegetable seeds (or cool weather crops) would include most greens (such as lettuces, spinach, and kale), snap peas, scallions, radishes and beets. Buy a few packages of any of the greens you like and then stagger your planting times.  In other words don’t plant all your seeds at once.

Lettuce ready to be harvested.

This way you’ll double your harvest.  Field greens and leaf lettuces taste better and are more tender when very young. They tend to get bitter the older or bigger they grow.  So if you only plant some of your seeds, and then later (every two weeks while the weather is still cool) some more you’ll enjoy your greens longer.  You can also pull out your first batch when they start to get tough and use the space for a new crop.  When the weather gets warmer stop planting these crops, but then start again in the late season when the weather gets cooler again.

Vegetable seeds that will be ripe by mid-summer include baby carrots, bush and pole beans, more lettuces, beets, summer squash, and zucchini.

Common vegetable seeds that are harvested in late summer are the winter squashes, pumpkins, melons, eggplant, peppers, and corn.  If your space is limited, be aware that all the squashes and melons need a lot of space because they are vines and will spread out everywhere.

Remember too when you’re buying your vegetable seeds that not everything you plant has to come from a seed.  Many people like to buy some things already started. 

When the season is in full swing, temporary green houses will spring up everywhere. You’ll be able to buy everything as seedlings from tomatoes and peppers (which I recommend in our area) to cabbage, and herbs.  Decide now what you want to buy as plants and what seeds you want start in the garden yourself.

Onion seedlings started inside under grow lights.

Just like your vegetable seeds your tomatoes have many different harvest dates. So don’t buy just one variety.  You’ll stretch out your harvest this way and won’t be so apt to overwhelm yourself with too much produce all at one time.

 

Young tomato plants

A variety of young pepper plants

If you do your homework, you will be more apt to make wise choices come seed buying time (unless you're like me and think: " I can find room for this somewhere...maybe!" 

Have fun as a new growing season begins. Here's to your best garden ever!