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March 3, 2004 |
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Lions, Lambs,
and Lovin' It...
As I sit here at my desk busily typing this
week's newsletter it has begun to rain.
No ice, no snow, just rain. What a welcome sight. It appears that
March is arriving like a lion. It all began Monday with
ferociously high winds. Showers and thunderstorms off and on
today, tonight and tomorrow. Flooding is possible in some areas.
The lion's roar is being heard. We can only hope that
March's gentle lamb will not wait until
the very last week of March to make her appearance.
Welcome to
all of you new Savvygardener.com subscribers! We are thrilled to
have you receive what we think is one of Kansas City's best
gardening information sources. A
special thanks to all of our existing subscribers, some of whom
we had the opportunity to chat with this past weekend at the
Johnson County Home & Garden Show
(photos).
Kevin and I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to talk
with so many of you.
Spring is
certainly in the air for us. Kevin and I and the rest of the
Marsh clan will be off to Wichita, Kansas to attend the
Wichita Garden Show. This will be our first time so we are
really excited and promise to take plenty of pictures to share.
The following weekend we are headed to Philadelphia to experience
one of the premiere
Flower Shows of all time. The question is "Will we suffer
from garden show fatigue?" Hardly! What a life!
~
Shelly
Springtime Splitters...
Now would be a great time to think about
dividing select perennials. We say this in the fall also.
Don't be confused. Just use the following logic:
Divide fall-blooming plants in the spring and spring-blooming
plants in the fall. Plants to divide now include asters,
mums, shasta daisy, and yarrow (to name a few).
When You Just
Can't Wait...
If you are just dying to do something in the flower garden
try sowing the seeds of asters, bachelor buttons, calendulas,
delphinium, dianthus, larkspur, and snapdragon. These hardy
annuals should weather the remaining cold days and get
your flower garden off to an early start. As insurance against
really cold weather you can always sow smaller quantities at
weekly intervals.
Peas Be With
You...
Peas should be among the earliest crops you plant in your garden,
and can be planted as soon as the soil can be worked. They love
cool weather, grow quickly, produce abundantly for a few weeks,
and then succumb rapidly to our summer heat. More pea stuff:
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Some varieties,
especially snap peas, require trellising, but many modern
varieties do not. Seed catalogs or packets usually will
indicate whether this is required.
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Because plants don't
stand very well on their own, peas may benefit from being
planted in double rows 6" apart that will allow plants to
support each other.
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Peas should be planted
1 inch deep and 2 inches apart with about 2 to 3 feet between
the double row. If trellised, space rows 4 to 6 feet apart.
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Plant several varieties
to make sure you get each type, and to enjoy a succession of
harvests
Source
Digger
Delay...
Rain today and tomorrow means that
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 for digging
(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.
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What's Hot On The Hotline...
With today’s column, we say goodbye to Winter Wisdom for
Gardeners for another year, and mark the return of the column
entitled, What’s Hot on the Hotline?” This coincides with
the opening on March 1, 2004, of the K-State Johnson County
Research and Extension Hotline, a public information service
staffed by Extension Master Gardeners.
Although we
are saying farewell to Winter Wisdom, winter itself can still
hold some frigid surprises, so, as we warned last week, don’t be
too eager and rush the growing season. There
are plenty of late winter tasks for the gardener in this
week's
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... "It seemed to my
friend that the creation of a landscape-garden offered to the
proper muse the most magnificent of opportunities. Here indeed
was the fairest field for the display of the imagination, in the
endless combining of forms of novel beauty."
~ Edgar Allen Poe |