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

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

~

Shrub Pruning Calendar
~ Pruning Clematis 
~ Gardening in the Shade
~ Summer-Flowering Bulb Care
~ Drought-Tolerant Flowers for KC
~ Preparing for a Soil Test
~ Changing the pH of Your Soil
~ Growing Herbs
~ All About Composting
~ All About Mulch
~ 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
~ Overseeding A Lawn
~ More...

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

SavvyChat
~ On-Line Gardening Forum

Books We Love
Great Products
Web Resources
Event Calendar

Local Sponsors

~ Earl May
~ Family Tree Nursery
~ The Kelly Gallery
~ Missouri Organic Recycling
~ The Sweet Onion

 

Subscribe
Unsubscribe 
Address Change
Tell A Friend

Privacy Pledge

 

 

 

Click Here for Great Soil and Compost!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 6, 2002

Roarin' Like A Lion...
Well, March came in with the fury of a caged lion.  What a weekend!  Four inches of snow and temperatures in single digits.  To say it was cold was a slight understatement.  After being cooped-up inside for a few days it sure was nice to get out and enjoy those warmer temperatures.  You gotta love the weather here.  If you don't look out it will change on you!  It is exciting to see flowers popping up out of the ground.  I can hardly wait to see all of my bulbs in bloom.  Kevin and I planted between nearly 800 of them last fall so I am anxious to see how many of them will actually survive.  We do have a squirrel problem in the neighborhood so I am sure that some of them have been dug up and eaten.  Those squirrels, they drive me crazy!!!! 

Don't forget the event this Saturday at The Kelly Gallery from 10-3.  It sounds as if the weather will be cool so bring a jacket and it might be a good idea to wear a pair of mud shoes.  It is a beautiful place and the shopping at The Barn is fabulous!  I look forward to seeing you there! 

I am proud to announce that we have a couple of new sponsors.  For those of you who have sent me e-mails in the past asking about Family Tree Nursery as a sponsor, well wait no longer.  They have agreed to support Savvygardener.com so the next time you are shopping at one of The Family Tree locations, tell them how much their support is appreciated!  Our other new sponsor is Gard'n Wise Guys.  They have chosen to sponsor SavvyChat - our local gardening forum.  Tune in to hear John Bruntzel and Jan Olson every Sunday morning from 7-8 AM on 61 Country WDAF.  I have been asked to be on the show soon so I will keep you posted as to when that is.  It is going to be an exciting spring!

~ Shelly  

Digger Delay...
Last weekend's melted snow and this week's potential rainfall mean garden soils are wet, wet, wet.  I know you are tempted to start working that wet soil, but there are some serious consequences to consider.  Digging in the dirt now means soil structure may be destroyed, forming large clods that take weeks or months to break up with natural weathering.  Use of a roto-tiller is especially damaging in soils that are too wet.  A gentle spading will cause the least soil damage but is still a risky proposition.  It is better to delay planting a few days or weeks than to try to till wet soils.

Crown Jewels...
Once the soil is suitable (see above) you may be thinking about planting some asparagus crowns.  Don't dig too far down when planting them.  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.

Patience...
Be careful not to jump the gun on your seed starting!  Seedlings, especially tall plants like indeterminate tomatoes, will grow leggy or "climb to the moon" if started too early.  Making sure they get plenty of light close to the plant will also be a big help.  Need some guidance?  Don't forget about our Seed Starting Calendar
!

 


Don't Miss The Garden Party
Of The Season!  

Join Shelly & Kevin this weekend for a special gardening event at The Kelly Gallery.  

Click Here for Details...

 

 

Pruning Perfected...
Many Savvygardeners wrote in appreciation for the Shrub Pruning Calendar we just published.  A few had questions however.  One that bears repeating concerns the different pruning requirements of climbing roses.  We put the question to our rosarian Al Karsten who responded, "Climbing roses are different in their procedure of pruning.  Many climbers bloom on new growth and if you prune in early spring, you are cutting off the spring blooms.  I usually suggest a person not prune a climber unless it is getting out of control of its growing habit.  Cut out only dead canes - or wait until after the first blooms in the spring , then prune back."  Thanks Al!  By the way Al's regular rose tips will return here in a few weeks.

Gentle Grooming Promotes Early Blooming...
As the snow melts and depending on specific microclimates you will soon see adventurous bulbs pushing through the ground - especially snow drops, crocus, and early daffodils.  Keep an eye out!  Matted leaves and dead grass left over from fall may create a barrier to these upstarts.  Help them a little by gently raking away any debris and allowing the foliage and flowers to break through the soil more easily.

 


Come Join the Party!

Presenting Family Tree Nursery's 7th Annual 
Open House and Spring Flower Show "Garden Party" 
March 15th - 17th in the greenhouses at the Overland Park Garden Center, 8424 Farley.


 Savvygardener.com's Kevin and Shelly Marsh will be on hand Sunday the 17th from 11- 3PM.  
Don't Miss Out!

 

 

What's Hot On The Hotline...
All gardeners have their own personal cues they use to indicate the arrival of spring.  As far as we're concerned the opening of the K-State Johnson County Master Gardener's Hotline is a pretty good sign that spring is upon us!  We welcome the return of the hotline and urge you to check in each week to find out What's Hot on the Hotline...

Head 'Em Off At The Pass...
Though cultural practices are the most effective crabgrass controls, herbicides are often necessary to really get the job done.  Crabgrass can be controlled through an application of a pre-emergence herbicide between mid-March and mid-April.  The herbicides available on the market have been shown to be very effective crabgrass controls, but often control suffers when the product is not applied correctly or when the lawn is not maintained properly.  When using pre-emergence herbicides, keep in mind: 

  • Maintain a healthy dense lawn. 
  • Closely read and follow all label recommendations.
  • Apply the herbicide accurately and uniformly over the lawn. 
  • Apply the herbicide early because they will not affect crabgrass already germinated.  Early would be mid- March in the greater Kansas City area.
  • After application, apply enough water to move the herbicide off the leaf blades to the soil surface for maximum control. 
  • Do not apply these products over newly-seeded areas or try to seed into areas where these products have been recently applied.

Source

Finally...
"Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow."

~ Alice Mackenzie Swaim - Poet

 

 

Click For Earl May Garden Centers

© 1999-2002 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