TIMELY GARDEN TIPS FROM

OVER THE GARDEN FENCE

March 18, 2006:

I am grateful for God's promise of spring. Barren days and dormant branches soon will be behind us; green grass and the flowers and the fruits of the vine are before us. What a wonderful hope and joy we are blessed with.

As we start the 48th year of Over the Garden Fence, I hope God blesses each of you, my green thumb friends, with a great gardening season, an abundant harvest of flowers and vegetables, and with many sunny, enjoyable hours in your gardens.

The first item on my to-do list this spring will be the necessity to finish any dormant pruning of trees and shrubs. Prune out all cracked branches on shade and ornamental trees. Where branches have been torn off the main stem, smooth the wound with a sharp knife, then apply Tanglefoot pruning would paint. Delay pruning any wind-burned evergreen foliage, both needled and broadleaf, until May. Examine deciduous flowering shrubs closely for winter dieback. Prune back all damaged branches to green, live wood.

Folks with backyard fruit trees will want to begin their dormant spray program soon. Fruit tree insects and disease will become active soon and will continue to be whenever temperatures are above forty degrees. Be sure to finish all fruit tree pruning projects as soon as possible. Always cover all major pruning cuts with tree wound paint, especially on apple and pear trees.

At Wedel's Garden Center, we examine hundreds of samples of diseases and insect-injured plant leaves, stems, and fruits for our customers. Often, the plant parts are brought in to us during the growing season for diagnosis. Many of the plant problems could have been prevented with a dormant spray. Of course, summer is not the time for dormant spray, so a more extensive control program must be prescribed at that time. I mention this now, because now is the time to dormant spray many ornamental and fruiting plants in our landscape. Dormant spray must be applied before bud growth. For dormant insect control, spray Saf-T-Side horticultural spray oil. For dormant disease control, spray Hi-Yield Lime Sulfur. If both are needed, use oil spray ten days after the Lime Sulfur. The following plants are good candidates for dormant spraying; flowering crab trees, rose bushes, fruit trees, berry vines, euonymus vines, and lilac shrubs.

All dead perennial plant flower stems should be removed now before growth begins. Remove all tree leaves in flower gardens now before they smother spring-flowering bulbs and less vigorous perennials. If chickweed or other cool season weeds are thriving in your perennial garden, quick action is called for. Cultivate out and remove all annual broadleaf weeds. Feed all perennial plants now with a mix of Plant tone, composted cow manure, and bone meal. My formula for healthy, vigorous perennials is as follows; mix into a garden basket one cup bone meal, five cups Plant tone, and ten pounds cow manure, then mix well. Use one cup of this mixture around each plant spring and autumn. The next thing to do is shake on Miracle Gro garden Weed Preventer or spray soil with Weed Impede to prevent more weed seeds from sprouting. Lastly, apply a fresh layer of cedar bark mulch. Its amazing how much less work it takes to freshen up perennial flower beds early than when it is put off until mid-April or May.

If groundcover beds are given attention early, the time savings will be tremendous. First, remove all perennial broadleaf weeds, including roots. If your groundcover beds are infested with perennial grasses such as quackgrass, I would recommend spraying Grass Getter. Grass Getter applied at first green-up, will kill the grass plants, roots included, without harming the groundcover plants. Next, fertilize groundcover beds with Tree Tone. If soil is poor, top dress with a mixture of 50% sphagnum peat moss and 50% composted cow manure. Lastly, apply a weed preventer. Preen for groundcovers is no longer manufactured. Wedel's has replaced Preen with two very efficient products; Eptam granules for dry application and Weed Impede spray weed preventer. One application of Eptam or Weed Impede now will prevent weed seeds from germinating in groundcover beds for a complete season.