Suburban Gardener—

Help Your Garden Wake Up With Spring

By Gerry McCabe

I had just finished grooming my long haired cat outdoors when no sooner did we turn to go back inside that a tiny sparrow swooped down, grasped a large tuft of hair and flew off into the woods! Springtime! A time for rebirth and recycling!

*Flowers: The tiny tulips you see blooming now are Species tulips (not to be confused with the taller tulips, Emperor, which are also in bloom, albeit a bit early this year). Species tulips are the true “perennial tulip,” reblooming and multiplying each year. Their bold primary colors are striking when interplanted with daffodils (Narcissus spp.) and grape hyacinths (Muscari spp).

An added advantage is their foliage. We all know that tulip foliage can go on and on forever, but most Species tulips have attractive, dark green leaves with purple striations, giving the plant an extended period of interest.

Out in the rose garden, the “sweethearts of the summer” are beginning to wake up. Begin to remove the mulch at the base by one half, when you see new growth. On Hybrid Teas, prune winter die back (the part of the canes that show no new buds) to an outward pointing new bud, to encourage fullness in growth.

 When pruning die back on climbers don’t get out of hand. Most climbers flower on last year’s canes so the more live wood you cut, the fewer blooms this summer.

Plant bare rooted roses now. Potted roses may have tender new growth, which could be damaged by frost. If you plant them now, protect them.

The task of dividing voracious perennials can also begin. Daylilies can be easily divided now and replanted or potted up. Sprinkle a 5-10-5 fertilizer over your garden at the recommended label directions. Try to do this just before a good rain is predicted.

*Vegetables: Continue to prepare your veggie and herb beds by deep cultivation with additions of well rotted compost and aged manure.

The key words here are “rotted” and “aged.” Since fresh compost and manure use nitrogen, water and other soil nutrients to activate the bacteria for breakdown, your newly planted vegetables will show signs of nutrient deficiencies (slow growth, yellowed leaves, wilt) and may not recover.

Plant seeds of Swiss Chard (can’t wait to try ‘Bright Lights’), beets (Lutz Green Leaf!) and spinach. To protect against leaf miners, these leafy greens could be covered with cloches of cheesecloth when sprouts appear.

The moth that lays her eggs on these veggies will come from far and wide for her young and you could be discouraged. Here enters IPM, or Integrated Pest Management. The first step in IPM is to establish a level of tolerance for the pest. A few mottled leaves to us is no biggie! We will pick them and destroy them.

To someone else it may be disaster and off they run for the pesticides. Remember, you are eating these plants. IPM teaches a sensible and safe approach to pest management. It includes scouting for pests before they become widespread, then managing them by cultural (buying healthy plants, and then cleaning up plant debris and weeds), mechanical (picking bugs off, cloches, etc), biological such as insect predators including lady bird beetle or lacebugs, and spot pesticide use (the selection of the least toxic, when needed [ex. Horticultural oils]) controls.

 IPM is fascinating and uses nothing more than common sense and observation.

Parsley, sage, thyme, oregano and chives cane be planted in the herb garden now. And don’t forget those Spring Mesclun lettuce mixes. They are soooo expensive in the stores, yet soooo easy to grow at home.

*Trees and Shrubs: Remove the mulch from around your Oakleaf (Hydrangea quercifolia) and Blue (Hydrangea macrophylla) Hydrangeas. Give them about a week to bud out, then cut back any winter kill to the first live bud, just as you did the roses. You can start planting and moving trees and shrubs now.

When preparing the ground hole, be sure it is large enough to accommodate the full expanse of the roots not only vertically but horizontally as well. Nothing can delay growth or even kill a woody ornamental faster than “root girdling” — the curling and winding of roots upon themselves resulting from being stuffed in a hole.

New practice also says not to add amendments to the hole when planting. Just use what soil is there.

Topdress with mulch and sprinkle an appropriate fertilizer at the drip line. Remember to unwrap natural burlap and completely remove plastic wrap around balled trees before planting.

Trees and shrubs to consider for early spring in the woodland garden are Eastern Redbud (Cercis candensis) with its pink, “sweet pea” shaped flower and its bright green heart shaped foliage that follows or Shadblow (Amalanchier canadensis), with 2-inch clusters of white flowers in spring, bronze-red, fuzzy new foliage in early summer, red berries in fall and light gray bark in winter.

(Gerry McCabe, a certified master gardener, can be reached at TNGCATS@aol.com.)