Savvygardener.com

Click Here For The Sweet Onion Nursery & Garden Center!

 
Visit Our Website
Previous Issues
Buyer's Guide  
Tell A Friend  

Bookstore  
Magazines 
Gardening Catalogs

Site Search
Contact Us
Submit A Tip

Feature Articles

~ When to Start
Seeds Indoors
~ Seed Starting Indoors
~ Vegetable Garden Calendar
~ Seed Starting Tomatoes

~

Shrub Pruning Calendar
~ Pruning Clematis 
~ Summer-Flowering Bulb Care
~ Drought-Tolerant Flowers for KC
~ Preparing for a Soil Test
~ Changing the pH of Your Soil
~ Growing Herbs
~ Composting
~ Worm Composting
~ When to Harvest Vegetables
~ Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
~ Cold Frames & Hot Beds
~ When to Divide Perennials
~ Dividing Spring Blooming Perennials
~ Forcing Bulbs Indoors
~ More...

Rose Tips
What's Hot... 
Turf Tips...
Winter Wisdom

SavvyChat
~ On-Line Gardening Forum

Books We Love
Great Products
Web Resources
Event Calendar

Local Sponsors

~ Earl May
~ The Kelly Gallery
~ Missouri Organic Recycling
~ The Sweet Onion

National Sponsors

Subscribe
Unsubscribe 
Address Change
Tell A Friend

Privacy Pledge

 

 

Click Here for Great Soil and Compost!

 

 

 

 

Click Here for The Kelly Gallery!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 21, 2001

Spring Has Sprung!
Spring is here, and I must say, in all its glory!  What a day!  The kids and I treated ourselves to a day at the zoo and what a great time we had.  It was so much fun to watch the kids eagerly run from one habitat to another, totally enjoying themselves and looking at the animals as if it had been years since they had seen them last.  I think we were all trying to release that pent up "winter" feeling in one day.  Needless to say we spent the entire day outside and at the end of the day everyone in the family was exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep.  It is amazing how one perfect Spring day can erase the horrible memories of Winter.  I certainly hope that there are many more "perfect" Spring days ahead of us.  Happy Spring! 

I would like to welcome The Kelly Gallery as our newest sponsor.  Kevin and I were introduced to owner Kelly Daniels and her husband Mark at the Metropolitan Lawn & Garden Show.  Kelly is a professional photographer and uses her beautiful gardens as the setting for her portraits.  And if that is not enough they also operate "The Barn" where visitors can purchase all manner of unique home and garden accents.  I encourage you to take a closer look at Kelly's work.  She has a distinct eye for capturing your children or family in a setting that is quite spectacular. 

Now is the time to be visiting garden centers and nurseries in preparation for this season's gardening.  Earl May is a great place to shop for selection, service and price.  The Sweet Onion offers an unforgettable shopping experience because of its history and Yvonne Garmen.  Yvonne is The Sweet Onion's Master Gardener and is very knowledgeable and quite creative.  Visit these sponsors soon and don't forget to tell them how much you appreciate them sponsoring Savvygardener.com!

~ Shelly  

Clipping Clematis...
Clematis can be a confusing group of plants to prune, since they are not all pruned the same way.  In fact there are three methods that can be applied to major groups depending on the time of year the plant flowers.  The earliest flowering clematis bloom on old wood, while later flowering types must produce new growth in order for flower buds to form.  Prune carefully, since vines are usually well entangled.  The complete directions are a bit long to fit in this space so we published them in our Features section.  Check out Pruning Clematis...

Mix It In...
Your garden soil is probably dry enough to allow for some digging and tilling.  (Remember if it crumbles like cake when squeezed, it's ready for work.)  While you're working the soil in your vegetable garden go ahead and mix in some fertilizer and organic material.   Unless a soil test has suggested otherwise, use 1 to 2 pounds of 12-12-12 (or equivalent) fertilizer per 100 square feet of garden.

Crown Jewels...
Planting asparagus?  Don't dig too far down when planting those crowns!  According to the Virginia Cooperative Extension asparagus yields improve dramatically when crowns are set at a depth of 5 to 6 inches - not the commonly advised 12 inches.  Contrary to the standard practices of deep planting and not harvesting for up to three seasons, recent studies show that harvesting shallow-planted asparagus after the first year boosts yields 40 percent over three years.  That's good news for all of us fresh asparagus lovers!

Source

 

Gardening Questions?
Get Answers from Savvygardeners!
Post Your Question on SavvyChat and Let Area Gardeners Help You Out.
Click Here Now!

 

Rose Tips by Al Karsten...
After a long winter's rest your roses are ready for some attention.  Our rosarian Al Karsten has returned from his winter rest with a comprehensive look at what you should be doing in your rose garden now and for the next 4 - 6 weeks.  There's also advice for new plantings.  Give your roses what they need!  Read Getting Started on the Growing Season...

Do Not Disturb...
Our bulbs are popping up all over.  I'll bet yours are too!  Look closely at your bulb beds.  Are there weeds popping up as well?  If so remove the weeds by gentle hand pulling.  Removal with a cultivator or other weeding tool may disturb the bulbs unnecessarily.

Show Starter...
Don't miss the Flower, Lawn & Garden Show this weekend at Bartle Hall.  It opens Thursday at 11:00 AM and runs through Sunday at 6:00 PM.  No, Savvygardener.com is not exhibiting (one show each Spring is plenty, thank you) but our sponsor Missouri Organic Recycling will be.  Drop by and introduce yourself! 

What's Hot On The Hotline...
Now that St. Pat's Day is safely behind us and the ground is more suitable for potato planting the hotline has been getting plenty of calls for information on 'taters.  A salute to the Irish potato is in this week's What's Hot on the Hotline... 

Get A Cue...
In gardening and lawn care timing is very important and not always predictable.  Sometimes the best cues for specific actions come from nature and not the calendar.  Application of pre-emergent weed stoppers is a great example.  For summer annual weeds and grasses, Savvygardeners should apply the pre-emergence materials after the forsythia blooms but before dogwoods bloom.  You'd rather watch your forsythia than a calendar wouldn't you?

Finally...
"I am fully and intensely aware that plants are conscious of love 
and respond to it as they do to nothing else."

~ Celia Thaxter, 1835-1894, Author

 

 

Click Here for Earl May Garden Centers

© 1999-2000 Savvygardener.com, Inc. All rights reserved.  If you wish to copy, transmit, or otherwise duplicate any of the material from our website please ask us first.  Thank you.o