- Author: Mari Moore
We did it! We finally got through the deadheading and the pruning of all the gardens that that applies to. I have to tell you that this is a very hard time for a garden and its admirers. Spring comes in with a blast of blossoms in what seems like a blink. Then a month later, we're talking about deadheading and pruning plants that have spread and / or flopped. It seems like we hardly get to enjoy them. The upside of this situation is that by removing the old blooms, you make room for a fresh, new garden that will pop up in a few months. You will notice that there isn't any pictures this time. That's because the garden has been trimmed to the ground. This heat is very hard on the plants as well as us even though the plants are drought tolerant. We have also been experimenting with the irrigation system. To let you know, we water the All Star Garden one time a week for about 30 minutes. However, the heat has changed the dynamics so we're watering at least 50 minutes a week to be evaluated at the the end of the week. The key is to watch the plants for wilting, drying and general flopping. An example would be the Yarrow. The stems grow very tall with beautiful clusters of white or yellow flowers. The next time you see them, it looks like someone sat in the middle of the plant. We've tried blaming it on raccoons and little kids but the fact is, the plant just flops. Our consultant, Dave W. who is a Master Gardener and owns Spring Fever Nursery, says it may be from too much water in the form of rain this year. I have not found a good resource regarding this problem. If anyone has seen a good article on this problem, let me know. This winter we will be evaluating what can be done to reduce this general floppiness by using some sort of frame that's designed for just this sort of thing. We've also lost several plants to the heat. We'll be replacing them as the temperature cools down. So if you come out to the gardens, just know that this is seasonal and we're on it. I had lots of help on Friday from three new MGs and 3 MGs who are staunch supporters of the garden. Thanks a ton to everyone.
- Author: Mari Moore
I have been diligently writing in my garden journal to remind myself about weather conditions and what we've been doing since January. This hasn't been an especially cold winter with only a short period of light frost so far. And, of coarse in January and March, we had rain off and on with no rain to speak of in February.
February was the time to spray our fruit trees in the Kitchen Garden. Tom H. used a combination of copper and dormant oil on the peaches and nectarines to ward off peach leaf curl (copper) and over wintering insects like scales (dormant oil). Tom mentioned there should be a 48 hour window between storms to administer this treatment. The treatment is administered twice, first in December, and the second one when the bud petals start showing their color. The second treatment is the most important time to spray. For pears and apples, a different product called Serenade was used for prevention of brown rot (fungus) and fireblight (bacterium). If there are any suckers around the trunks of the fruit trees, those will be removed. I think Ken H. will at some point give his popular pruning workshop in the Kitchen Garden. The trees look great so far!
Brent McGhie has an article in "The Real Dirt" about thinning out the fruit once they start collecting on the branches so be sure and catch that here.
As for everywhere else in the garden, we have been weeding like mad. There have been several maintenance days to get caught up with this project. I was out at the garden last week and the weeds are slowly making their way back. Due to the lovely weather, we can expect to be doing marathon weed pulling.
Barbara O. and Candace B. have been planting in the Alternative Turf Garden and are ready to have the irrigation turned on now that the rain is slightly tapering off. Gee, I sure hope this isn't the end of the rainy season. Anyway, the new plants may be needing a little help.
Lyndee S. and Lynda S. have also been busy planting herbs in the Kitchen Garden.
The All Star Garden plants have been pruned down to the new growth and are looking very promising for the upcoming months. We'll also be removing some overgrown plants and replacing them with some new, even more spectacular plants in the next few weeks. The same for the Mediterranean Garden. I can't wait to see what these two gardens look like in all their glory.
The Native Plant Garden is just beautiful in its natural way. That's the good part about this garden. No pruning until the fall and a lot of the plants are in bloom. Since this is the first year when this garden is fully functional, the native plant gardeners did a small amount of pruning to get the spring growth going. I love the Blue Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) and Salvia 'bee's bliss' (Bee's bliss sage). The Wildlife Habitat Garden was just put in a few months ago so is still getting its roots in the ground so to speak.
The Weed Demo Garden is in its glory right now with all this rain and then sun. There was some weeding to do but the mulch in its various forms i.e. depth of mulch and various materials like cardboard and newspaper keep everything under control. I'm going to experiment in the control area with vinegar to see how that will affect the weeds involved. Stay tuned.
Boy, I think that's it for the moment. Let me know if I've missed anything, all you MG's out there.
