Over the Garden Fence

March 19, 2005

At Wedels Garden Center this week we are welcoming spring 2005 with our 10th annual Spring Lawn, Garden, and Landscape Expo. All gardeners and plant enthusiasts will be treated to a wonderful breath of spring walking through the beautiful garden in the greenhouse. Trees and shrubs in bloom, water falls, pools, and fountains, spring flowers and soil. There are also 24 of Wedels best vendors sharing product knowledge on the latest garden helpers. Nine societies and clubs are representing their associations and sharing expert information. Visit with Hosta, Rose, Orchid, and Iris Society members and get the latest scoop on these plants. MSU Master Gardeners, Kalamazoo Garden Council, Kalamazoo in Bloom, and Leila Arboretum will be sharing the latest in their fields of horticulture. Starting this morning and running all day are twelve lawn, garden landscape, and water garden seminars. There is no admission charges. Visit Wedels Nursery, Florist and Garden Centers Spring Expo today until 5:00 and get a fresh breath of spring.

I was working in the woods Tuesday and was pleasantly surprised to see on the south side of tree trunks little woodland anemones greening up with flower buds swelling just waiting for a few more sunny days to pop open. Areas in our gardens that are clear of snow show a multitude of green sprouts of tulips, snowdrops, crocus, daffodils and many other spring blooming bulbs. Look closely and the Lenton Rose Heleboris will reveal their white blooms. Red and silver Maples will be shedding their flower shucks any day now, and the branches of the weeping willow by the creek are beginning to turn yellow. Every pond, marsh, and pothole that sports dormant cattails is now alive with the songs of the red-winged blackbird. The unmistakable honk of the sand hill crane is a sure sign of the spring weather that will soon be here. These are just a few of the sights and sounds of another growing season arriving. With a nearly constant blanket of snow, there have been few opportunities to visit our gardens. With the first warm breeze, our gardens season will be off and running. The possibilities are so exciting! Now, before beginning, lets sort out the immediate from the projects that can wait.

The first item on my to-do list this spring will be the necessity to prune damaged trees, shrubs, and evergreens. The strong winter winds coupled with very low temperatures and considerable deer, rabbit, and rodent damage has created many pruning challenges this spring. 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 wound paint. Delay pruning any wind-burned evergreen foliage, both needled and broadleaf, until May. If new growth doesnt appear then, prune or shear before the end of May. Examine deciduous flowering shrubs closely for winter dieback. Prune back all damaged branches to green, live wood. Ive noticed some plants in our landscape that died back farther than usual will need heavy pruning such as Japanese Beautyberry, Caryopteris and butterfly bush.

Fertilizing winter-damaged plants right now will encourage new growth later, which will help plants to fill out to original shape. Feed broadleaf evergreens, such as holly, Lucothoe, and Peris Japonica with Holly Tone. Rhododendrons and azaleas should be fertilized with Holly Tone in late May. Feed needled evergreens, ground cover plants, trees, and shrubs with Tree Tone now.

All dead perennial plant flower stems should be removed as soon as snow has melted before growth begins. 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 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.

Ornamental grass plants need some attention in March. Using a long-handled lopper for some torque, prune back to six inches all ornamental grasses with one exception blue fescue which should be pruned back only 50%. If thinning or dividing is necessary, dig ornamental grass plants up, divide them, and replant at this time. When transplanting, be sure to condition the new planting area well with composted cow manure and sphagnum peat moss. Fertilize established ornamental grass plants now with Tree Tone.

Many lawns will show snow mold damage this spring. Most lawns would benefit from a light raking before green-up begins that will fluff up the matted grass. Raking after snow melt will help dry out turf and stop further snow mold damage. Bare or thin turf areas should be seeded after raking. Grass seed sown soon will get off to a better start than seed planted in warmer weather. Any lawns that were not fertilized last November should be fertilized at half rate with Scotts Lawn Pro Lawn Food as soon as possible to encourage early spring green up. Bumpy, uneven lawns should be rolled as soon as possible while the soil is still moist.

When the snow cover is gone, many lawns will reveal a plowed appearance from mole activity during the winter. These lawns are good candidates for an application of Repellex mole chaser now. A spray of Repellex Mole Chaser on the lawn each October and April will prevent most mole damage.

A reminder; wait to apply lawn crabgrass controls until late April. Crabgrass seeds wont germinate until early May. The combination of early crabgrass control application and a rainy spring will shorten the control period.

Grub controls need to be timed very carefully for satisfactory results. Dylox can be applied April 1st to lawns and immediately watered in. Dylox kills grubs within 24 hours. Grubex, the 12-month grub control, is best applied in June of July. Milky Spore, the more permanent solution to lawn Japanese beetle grub problems, can be applied any time during the growing season. Milky Spore grub control will last in the soil for twenty years or more.

Speaking of mole repellent reminds me of the extensive damage deer, rabbits, and mice have inflicted on many landscape and garden plants. If you havent checked your plants for deer and rodent damage, do so soon. These critters are still feeding. A spray of Repellex Deer and Rabbit Repellent will stop the damage immediately. Next autumn, prevent damage to susceptible plants with Repellex Repellent.

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 grasses, I would recommend spraying Grass Getter. Grass Getter 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. Wedels has replaced Preen with two very efficient products; Eptam granules for dry application and Weed Impede spray weed preventer.

Folks with backyard fruit trees will want to begin their dormant spray program soon. Fruit tree insects and diseases will become active soon and will continue to be whenever temperature is above 40 degrees. Be sure to finish all fruit tree pruning projects as soon as possible. Always cover over all major pruning cuts with tree wound paint, especially on apple and pear trees.

At Wedels Garden Center, we examine hundreds of samples of diseased 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 any bud growth appears. 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.

Some very outstanding summer garden and container plants should be started indoors now. Tuberous begonias, caladium, and calla lilies are all slow growers. By starting these tubers now, they will be show-offs by early June. Start begonia, caladium, and calla tubers in four inch peat pots filled with Fertilome High Performance Potting Mix. Fertilize the tubers every ten days with fish emulsion plant food. Check out the selection of these tubers at Wedels, start them now, and enjoy more and earlier color this summer.

If these projects arent enough to keep you busy, just take a stroll through your garden and landscape. Im sure at least a dozen more projects will make themselves evident! The nice thing about gardening is that you can work at it whenever time allows no need to make reservations, phone ahead, hook it to your car, wait for perfect weather, pay to play, or wait until the entire family is available. I hope you get some time this week to enjoy Americas number one pastime gardening.

Interested in more garden, lawn, and landscape tips? At Wedels there are ten more free seminars today that should be of interest to many green thumbers. As of now, there is still seating available for all of the following. At 10:00 this morning, there will be two seminars presented. Master Gardener, Tammy March, will present Starting Seeds for Flower & Vegetable Gardens. Also at 10:00 will be Professional Walls & Patios That You Can Do Yourself put on by Atlas/Allan Block Company rep. There are two seminars running at 11:15 also. Year-Round Care & Repotting of Orchids will be put on by Advanced Master Gardener, Georgia McWilliams. Also at 11:15 is Gardening with Mini Hostas presented by Hosta Society members and Advanced Master Gardeners, Gary & Lois Neidert. At 12:30, Woody Ehrle, Michigans Champion Tree Coordinator, will be presenting Champion Trees of Michigan. Then at 1:45, come hear A Happy Marriage the Right Container, Soil & Plants for a Glorious Pot of Flowers for the Patio, Deck, or Entrance put on by Gazette Garden writer, Ed Huchison. At 2:00, Hortech Nursery will be putting on Best Ornamental Grasses for Your Southwest Michigan Outdoor Living Area. At 3:00, there are two seminar choices. Nursery Select reps will be presenting Exploring Better Plants for Your Landscape. Andrew Wedel will be putting on a seminar, also at 3:00, entitled Water Garden Success. The last seminar offered today will be put on by Ed Huchison, Gazette Garden Writer, at 4:15 entitled Potpourri of Spring Stuff Tips for Getting Spring Off to a Sane, Sensible Start in the Yard & Garden. Wedels Spring Expo runs until 5:00 today.