|
The Garden Notebook....
January Garden Notes
- Things are pretty well frozen as we go into January, but there are always thaws and spells of relatively warm weather.
Those are the wonderful "windows" of comfort that bring gardeners outside to prune, clean and prepare for spring
planting. Most home gardeners are very nervous about pruning and often allow plants to grow without shaping until they
are "out of control", oversized and unwanted. Rather than ripping plants out - take the time to shape them up each
winter. Remember the pruning basics: take out any branches or areas that are dead or damaged or diseased. Then
survey what's left (we hope something's left!) and shape that up.
Organic
Gardeners - It's Time for Dormant Sprays!
If you are working to develop a garden that does not require pesticide
spraying all summer, your best friend may be Dormant Oil Sprays. Take advantage of the warm spells this month to apply
liberally to most plants - but read the directions carefully and do not use on needled evergreens or any plants listed on
the don't spray lists.
These inert oils act to smother over-wintering pests and disease spores,
including scale insects, one of our most irritating pests. The light oils are applied with a sprayer and liberally
coated all over the branches, buds and bark of trees and shrubs. The spray must coat the plant thoroughly to be effective. Oils
apply most easily in 60+ degree weather with little wind. Because our spring warms up fast and most of the warm
spring days are very windy, you want to be ready with your spray for an opportune moment, so have the oil product
and sprayer on hand. Early morning is usually a good time. The sprays provide the additional benefit of protecting tender twigs
and buds from the "rollercoaster" warming/freezing temperature swings of early spring and of "sealing"
pruning cuts.
Dormant oil products may also contain Neem oil, sulfur, copper or other insect/disease
preventives. In general, these are considered organic materials but always check the product label carefully to make
sure other chemicals have not been added. Always clean your sprayer thoroughly afterward - the oil can clog the nozzles.
Want to make your own spray, by recycling used cooking
oil and avoiding petroleum-based products? Simple instructions: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/a-less-toxic-dormant-oil.html
October
Garden Notes - Enjoy the fabulous fall weather in Virginia! October is always a month that reminds us why we
love living and gardening in Virginia. Crisp air, deep blue skies, slow growing weeds and lawns... it's all good!
And it's perfect weather to start cleaning up all the fading annuals. Pull the ratty plants out and put in
your fall bulb gardens (with happy anticipation of spring sooner than you think). Make sure you yank out the weeds and grasses
that are merrily going to seed this month -- don't let those seeds land in your garden beds or you'll have a summer's
worth of work ahead of you to remove them. Add a good, clean layer of mulch to protect plant roots over the winter....
and head out for a lovely stroll on the beach in the autumn sun.
September Garden Notes
- Pull out those garden plans you made on those sultry evening in August and get ready to plan a full "off season"
garden! As you prepare to plant your cool season garden, remember that garden beds need to be refreshed after
the summer. Before planting and after removing the spent plants from summer harvests, I recommend that you turn the
bed soil over, adding compost and amendments such as bone and/or blood meal or any of the slow acting organic fertilizers
before you put in new plantings.
Leafy table greens and salad greens (collards, kale, all
the leafy "pot" greens), like to get a head start while the days are still warm. Any of these can be planted
from seed but you should still be able to find seedling plants at local garden centers. You can get a jump on cool season
salads by planting starts of lettuce, endive, raddichio and other salad greens but the cost can be prohibitive. Salad
greens do very well from seed in the fall. In our garden, they fare better than spring plantings because we have less insect
damage.
If you plant broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower - and of the cruciferae family - it's
a good idea to cover the young plants with one of the lightweight "floating" row covers. The cabbage butterflies,
lovely little white butterflies, are still active into the fall but the cover will protect the plants until early frosts
discourage the butterflies.
Couple of additional thoughts - don't try to make fall/winter
gardens into fast-growing harvests. There is less heat and sunlight so excessive nitrogen doesn't benefit the plants.
Go easy on fertilizer or use a very balanced formula (5-5-5). Also, remember that Hampton Roads fall months, especially
October, can be very dry. Gardeners tend to forget about watering once the air temperatures get comfortable. Those
young plant roots need just as much water as they did in May, so keep the hose handy and keep the beds moist .
|
 |
Garden Planning
Gardeners develop a schedule for their plantings, often based on a combination of what grows best in
any given month or weather and what they like to eat. Since most vegetables are annuals, the yearly planting cycle becomes
the base for all garden planning. Especially for gardeners who only have - or who only choose to use - a small area
for vegetable gardening, planning ahead is essential. The goal is to have vegetables fresh from the garden as close to year
around as possible. And here it is possible!
Some varieties are best sown directly into the ground.
Others are best started ahead of time, in the house or greenhouse - even purchased already started from a garden center or
grower. If you have a planting schedule that works well for you, please share it and we'll compile them into
a generalized master planner for our area.
September-October: Fall Garden
Planning
Garlic, Onions, Leeks, Shallots
Cabbage, Chard, Kale (table greens)
Spinach, Bok Choi
Beets, Carrots, Parsnips, Turnips (root veggies)
Lettuce, Mesclun mixes, Arugula (salad greens)
Broccoli,
Brussels Sprouts, Rapini, Cauliflower
Fava Beans
June Garden Planting
Succession Bean Plantings
Last Minute Melons
May Garden Planting
Tomatoes
Sweet and Hot Peppers
Cucumbers
Summer and Winter Squash
Okra, Eggplant
Bush and Pole Beans, Runner
Beans, Soybeans
Basil, Dill, Cilantro, summer herbs
Sweet potatoes
Early Spring Planning
in Our Garden
Onions & Garlic (planted late fall) still in the beds
Cabbage (ditto)
Asparagus
- perennial in it's own dedicated bed
Potatoes
Planting (February-March)
Snow Peas
Sugar Snap Peas
Lettuces (both romaine and buttercrunch types)
Mesclun mix (for cutting
salad greens)
|
