Tuesday, May 27, 2008

CHORES FOR JUNE


JUNE

Plant your window boxes

Prune spring flowering shrubs when they have finished blooming

Thin seedlings

Use balanced, organic fertilizers around flowers

Be sure to fertilize your annuals with liquid fertilizer. They'll thank you for it by blooming continuously!

Stake tall perennials and tomatoes

Use a pine needle mulch for blueberries

Be sure your lawn mower is set to cut the grass HIGH

After the iris are done blooming they can be divided

Gladiolus corms can be planted

Dead-head (prune off) spent flowers from plants and shrubs

Cutting back perennials such as dianthus, veronica and other similar shrubby varieties, will possibly produce a second blooming. How great would that be? They'll also look better!

You may still plant container grown shrubs

Plant broccoli seed for fall harvest.

If you have a water garden, there's still time to plant water
lilies.

House plants can soon be moved outside to a shady, protected spot.

These same houseplants can be lightly fed with half strength
fertilizer.

Mulch perennials and roses to keep down weeds and conserve moisture.

Look for Jap. beetles either early or late in the day and shake them into a bucket of soapy water. The reason you don't do it mid-day is because they'll out run you!

Any annuals can be safely set out now.

If you have an amaryllis, now would be the time to move it outside.

Pinch the leading stems of your chrysanthemum's to encourage them to
be bushier and have more blossoms. Continue doing this every 6 inches
or so, as they grow.

If you have apple trees, hang red sticky-ball traps to control apple maggot flies. Small trees can get by with 2 balls. Larger trees should probably have 4-6 balls.

Stop cutting asparagus when the new spears get pinkie-finger thin. Let them grow into ferns instead. It will feed the roots.

Side-Dress Veggies to give them a little boost

Have you got Hosta's? Are there slugs chewing them? Try this solution, if you haven't already.
Combine 9 parts water to 1 part common household ammonia and spray it on the hosta just before dark. When the slugs hit this, they will dissolve!

Are you remembering to turn the compost every once in a while? You should also wet it down if the hose is close by.

Any questions about June?
Wayside Gardens

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Pollinators

Good morning! It appears that research has shown polluted air affects the pollinators in that they cannot smell the plants they are trying to find! This may account for the bee die off, or Colony Collapse Disorder. This is not proven, but seems logical as the bees don't see well. They utilize the odor to find the plants.
You will notice many of these plants are in the category of wild flowers, or naturalized plants. They are very easy to grow since they don't require much care. If you've been reading my recent articles, most of them are good candidates for Xeriscapes and Rain Gardens.
I guess my point is that perhaps we should try to utilize this list of plants as we replace plantings in our gardens.


Vulnerable Plants-Monday, May 5, 2008 Washington Post
Written by Juliet Eilperin

Ozone pollution not only affects pollinators but also directly harms many plants and flowers, according to a recent report.

Vulnerable Plants

Gary M. Lovett of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and Timothy H. Tear of the Nature Conservancy listed a wide variety of East Coast vegetation that is considered vulnerable to air pollution in a paper titled "Effects of Atmospheric Deposition on Biological Diversity in the Eastern United States."

Tear said the effects of ozone on ecosystems "have been underestimated by society and conservation, as well." The list of vulnerable plants they found on National Park Service or Fish and Wildlife land includes:

· Evening primrose

· Huckleberry

· Loblolly pine

· Jack pine

· Pitch pine

· Table-mountain pine

· Monterey pine

· Jeffrey pine

· Red elderberry

· Blue elderberry

· Yellow poplar

· Tall milkweed

· Mugwort

· Virginia creeper

· Quaking aspen

· American sycamore

· Black cherry

· Choke cherry

· Ponderosa pine

· Thimbleberry

· Cutleaf coneflower

· Sassafras

· Goldenrod

· Speckled alder

· American hazelnut

· Sweet mock

· Spreading dogbane

· Yellow buckeye

Dutch Gardens, Inc.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

THE WATER WISE GARDENER

I have written about Rain Gardens and Xeriscapes. I'd like to do a posting on "Water Wise Gardening". I'll bet all of you reading this blog have little methods that help YOU save water in, around or on your gardens. I'd LOVE to hear about them, so PLEASE write me here and tell me your ideas!
When I've collected a bunch, I'll share them with all of you! My idea is to combine the Rain Garden and Xeriscape ideas under the general title of "Water Wise Gardening". I'll put them into a Power Point Presentation and use it as a presentation for groups looking for something like that. What do you think?

Park Seed

Thursday, May 01, 2008

MAY GARDENING CHORES



MAY

Tulips should be dead-headed(remove spent flower)

The grass can be mowed when it reaches 3-4 inches (sorry, but
it IS that time again!)

Hold off mulching until the soil is warm, or you'll just keep
the cold in!

You can now plant lettuce, beans, corn and carrots right in the
soil.

Tomatoes can be planted when the lilacs bloom. You might sprinkle
a teaspoon of Epsom salts into the hole where they go to provide magnesium.

Marigolds, zinnias and even nasturtiums are good to plant in and around
your vegetables as well as the flower beds. They repel insects!

You can begin to plant gladiolas at 2 week intervals

You can fertilize any bulbs that are up.

Stake your peonies before they get too big. This applies to other tall growing plants. Get the stakes in the ground before they get too tall.

Cut back your tall perennials like bee balm and phlox to control their height.

Harvest rhubarb by grabbing it at the base of the stalk and pulling firmly away from the crown, twisting just a bit. Be sure to throw the leaves into the compost as they are poisonous!

You can prune your spring blooming shrubs just as soon as the flowers have faded.

Dead head your lilacs.

Don't forget to dead head your bulbs as well. Leave the foliage, but take out the spent flower heads.

Have you got Hosta's? Are there slugs chewing them? Try this solution, if you haven't already.
Combine 9 parts water to common household ammonia and spray it on the hosta just before dark. When the slugs hit this, they will dissolve!

Check the apple, cherry, and other fruit trees for nests of tent caterpillars. As soon as the tender, new leaves emerge, so will the caterpillars. Their destruction is just awful! Try blasting them with a strong stream of water from the hose. Bt will also work if you can get it up there. Maybe the use of a sprayer will be practical in this case. I also understand that the Praying Mantis is a big time enemy of tent caterpillars. Perhaps you should order some of those! They should be released into the affected tree at the same time the caterpillars emerge. If you place them before their dinner appears, they will find another yard to in which to chow down.

Plant Annuals no sooner than May 30th!

Any questions about May?

Gardener's Supply Company