February
27, 2002
Here
Today, Gone Tomorrow...
So much for that spring-like weather! Mother Nature is
such a tease! How could she even think about dangling that
warm weather in front of us and then just simply snatch it away?
It sure was nice while it lasted and I must tell you that I tried
to be outside every single minute trying to soak it in.
Days like those make me hold onto thoughts of spring. A
nice, slow, warm-up kind of spring. One that gives us days
in the low to mid 70's, gently guiding us into summer.
Hopefully the script will be played out that way and the stage
will become our gardens, a place where we all become actors of
sorts. The curtain will be rising soon!
It's party time! Join Kevin and I Saturday, March 9th from
10 AM - 3 PM for the Grand Spring Opening of The
Barn at The
Kelly Gallery. Kelly Daniels has added several new
pieces to her collection of affordable garden and home accents.
For those of you who have been there, you know that this is a
place to come for great garden accessories. So join us for
an afternoon of garden conversations as well as ideas and
inspiration for ways to create that special place in your garden
or home. Let us know if you're coming. Please
RSVP here!
~
Shelly
Seed
Starting With Structure...
Starting more than three or four different varieties of seed
indoors can get confusing if you're not organized. To keep
from missing the start date for any of your seeds you might try
our simple procedure:
- Organize
your seed packets in piles based on the number of weeks before
"last frost" to start them indoors. This should be
indicated on the seed packet and can be found in our feature When
To Start Seeds Indoors.
- Pick the
date which you feel safe calling "last frost". We
use the first full weekend in May (May 5th this year).
- In our
example we are now 8½ weeks from the weekend we will
transplant our seedlings. That means that by this weekend we
will have already started any seeds that indicate starting
dates nine weeks and higher.
- For the
remainder of your seeds secure them together in their
respective groups with a rubber band.
- For each
group attach a sticky note with the date of the weekend they
need to be started.
- Place the
packets front-to-back, in order by starting date, in a small
box.
- Each
weekend remove the packets at the front of the box for
starting. Next weekend's seeds are now at the front and
awaiting your return in seven days.
This
One's A Cut Above...
When we started Savvygardener.com one of the things we wanted
to provide was information that was truly useful to area
gardeners based on our weather, our climate, our everything.
To that end we are very excited about our newest feature article
- The
Shrub Pruning Calendar.
A Savvygardener.com exclusive, this is the Kansas City area
gardener's definitive guide to when, and when not, to
prune a wide variety of shrubs. Check it out! We'll
bet it answers some questions and clears up a lot of mystery.
A Clean
Start...
Here's another important tip for seed starters. Make
sure you thoroughly wash last year's plastic seed-starting
containers. Believe me it makes a difference! And if
your seedlings have had disease problems in the past, you'll need to use a
mixture containing 10 percent household bleach and water to
really sterilize the containers.
Zoning
Out in KC...
One thing you can count on with this newsletter - we're not
going to make too many assumptions about our readers' gardening
expertise. This is a resource for all
gardeners. That being said you should know a couple of
basics about zones when buying seeds or plants. The most
commonly known zone is the USDA
Hardiness Zone that defines a plant's ability to survive the
winters presented by a particular area. We are Zone 5.
Less well
known is American
Horticultural Society's Heat Zone. The AHS has
developed a Heat
Zone Map that categorizes geographic areas by the
average number of days at or above 86 degrees. We are in
Heat Zone 7 (with between 61 and 90 hot days per year). All
catalogs reference the USDA Hardiness Zones and many have adopted
the AHS Heat Zone data as well. Knowing these numbers is
the first best step in growing the right plants.
Paper Or
Plastic?
Bagworms are evident when you see those funny little brown
bags hanging from Junipers and many other trees and shrubs.
It's actually the bagworm eggs that are over-wintering in those
sacks. In
late May and early June, these eggs will hatch and the very tiny
caterpillars start feeding. Start your control measures now
by removing the brown bags and disposing of them. This is a
very effective, chemical-free way to reduce the damage they might
otherwise cause later this year.
Check Out the
New SavvyChat!
Kansas
City's On-line Gardening Forum
Where Local Gardener's Help Each Other!
Check
It Out Now!
|
Winter
Wisdom...
The Hotline will be officially open soon, but recent weather
and events have the phone ringing a little early. From tree
& shrub pruning to early spring blooming bulbs our Hotline
staffers share some of the early season calls with us in this
week's Winter
Wisdom...
Cold
Season Seeding For Cool Season Grass...
OK, we've said it many times before: "The best time to
overseed cool-season grasses (such as tall fescue and Kentucky
bluegrass) is September." This is because the
turf has more time to mature before crabgrass germination in the
spring and the heat stress of summer. That being said,
wintertime dormant seeding is sometimes appropriate to
help fill in bare spots. (Dormant seeding is not
recommended for large areas due to the possibility of erosion occurring
before the seed becomes mature enough to hold the soil.)
Dormant
overseeding is done during the winter (December through February)
when it is too cold for germination to take place. As with
any seeding program, it is vital that good seed-soil contact is
achieved. There are several methods that are commonly used
in dormant seeding.
- One
method is to seed when there has been a light snowfall of up
to an inch over unfrozen soil (light enough that bare spots
can still be seen). Spread seed by hand on areas that
need thickening up. As the snow melts it brings the seed
into good contact with the soil where it will germinate in the
spring.
- Another
method is dependent on the surface of the soil being moist
followed by some freezing weather. As moist soil freezes
and thaws, small pockets are formed on the wet, bare soil
which are perfect for catching and holding seed. As the
soil dries, the pockets collapse and cover the
seed.
- Verticutting
can also be used as long as the soil is not frozen.
The idea
here is to get the grass seed germinating in the spring as early
as possible. Keep in mind that there are some limitations
on what herbicides can be used for weed control. Tupersan (siduron)
can be used as a crabgrass preventer on new seedings but is
relatively short-lived. Other pre-emergence herbicides
require that the turf be well established before
application. Turf that has been mowed several times is
usually considered mature enough for herbicide application.
Source
Finally... "The
trees down the boulevard stand naked in thought,
Their abundant summery wordage silenced, caught
In the grim undertow; naked the trees confront Implacable
winter's long, cross-questioning brunt." ~
D. H. Lawrence, Winter in the Boulevard, 1916 |