Quantcast
Channel: CLAYCORD.com
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 29632

Column – The Garden Girl – Every Sunday at 2pm on Claycord.com

$
0
0

kangaroo paw before pruning kangaroo paw after pruning

Attention Claycord garden and landscape lovers, don’t be fooled, it is too early to install tomato, pepper and squash plants into the ground. Many hardware and big box stores are already merchandising their shelves, suggesting that folks should install these summer vegetables now, it is too cold. Please wait to plant. If you come across a hard to find selection, sure pick it up, but keep it in a sheltered location, where the cold nights and mornings won’t affect the plant. You may want to consider replanting your premature purchase into a larger pot as it waits to be installed into your vegetable garden. Ideally, the summer veggies should be installed when the nights no longer dip below 50 degrees. This is very hard for folks to imagine. Do your tomatoes, peppers and squash plants a favor and at least wait to install until the middle of April.

If you have a touch of spring fever, and would like to plant some type of edible, you can install lettuces, spinach, chard, carrots, beets, chard, onion and radish in to your veggie beds and containers. Try planting seeds for many of these selections. You can sow your seed directly into your veggie beds, now. You can also plant any fruit trees and berry plants.

If you truly are a grower of only the summer vegetables, prepare your vegetable area’s soil for planting. Work chicken manure into the soil. A couple of inches should be fine. Add earthworm castings and alfalfa meal to your soils as well. Use a roto-tiller, pick, or shovel to turn the products into the planting beds, and water in. Ingredients like these will create a better growing environment for your plantings.

There is still much to prune in the landscape. This week the Kangaroo Paw plants were taken care of. All of last years-blooming stems were completely removed. You should do this by hand. The stems will snap off like asparagus spears. Grab low, into the foliage. If you remove some of the blades with the past old stems, this is okay. Also work your way around the circumference of the plant, breaking away some of last years leaves. The brown stems of the Kangaroo Paws should also be removed. This is easier to do by hand. Take a moment to pull out any old leaves that have collected in the base of the Kangaroo Paw. You really want to encourage air circulation. Once tended to, the Kangaroo Paw is ready for fertilizing. This plant doesn’t want a fertilizer used that has large amounts of phosphorous. Consider using fish emulsion when feeding Kangaroo Paw or any Austrian plant. They are all phosphorous intolerant.

As you clip and prune your landscape, you should really think about composting your trimmings. Composting is one of the best ways to grow your soil. Nurseries and garden centers are making composting very easy for the homeowner. There are many types of containers to pick from, and various sizes to satisfy every garden lover needs.

Now is also the time to rescue your lawn from crab grass, oxalis and spurge before they starts. Use a Pre-emergent Weed Preventer and Lawn Food combination product. They exist and the results are fantastic. Look at the label for Prodamine, this chemical is highly effective as a pre-emergent. For those that wish to control weeds in their lawns organically, Concern makes a preventative where corn-gluten is the ingredient that helps control weed germination. It is also a great time of year to re-seed, or over seed your existing lawn.

Snail and slugs are making their way back into the gardens. Have your desired bait on hand, and use when needed. Always follow package directions, and make sure you put the snail bait product away after use.

Blooming this week in the garden is the tulip magnolia trees. They look stunning at the Clayton Station.

Happy Gardening.

Nicole Hackett is the Garden Girl at R&M Pool, Patio and Gardens, located at 6780 Marsh Creek Road in Clayton, 925-672-0207.

Nicole writes for the Clayton Pioneer Newspaper, and Claycord.com. She is also the Clayton Valley Garden Club 2012 President.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 29632

Latest Images

Trending Articles



Latest Images