GARDENING NoNo's
or Try Not too's |
Nada, No No, Hmm Hmm, OOps ? |
Gardening
like life, is full of do's and don'ts.
The following are suggestions that will make your garden stronger
and a better producer. |
Don't work the soil while it's wet. Tilling or working the soil while it's wet destroys its structure, and it may take months or even years
before it has a chance to recover. If you do, it will leave a bunch of dirt clods, which get hard and are not ideal
for growing your new plants. - Test the moisture by taking a handful of soil, squeeze
it in your hand. If it drips water, it is too early to work. Or if you are daring, squish your toes into the soil,
you will find out very quickly if it is too soon to work the soil.
| NO tiptoeing through the tulips. Resist the temptation to take a shortcut through your garden
bed or at least try to minimize the amount of walking. Walking compacts the soil. Plants resist growing well in
compacted soil. If you cannot avoid walking in your garden beds, use a board to walk on to reduce compaction. Soils with a different particle sizes and
lots of organic matter don't compact as easily, they drain a lot faster yet have more water-holding capacity, contain
more nutrients and oxygen, and as a bonus, they're easier to dig in.
| | Don't fertilize trees, shrubs or other landscape plants during the late summer or fall.
Why, you ask? when you fertilize landscape plants, you encourage new growth and that new growth is extremely susceptible
to freeze damage, which may not appear until the following spring. By late summer they're ready for a
rest and to prepare themselves for dormancy. | Mow
the lawn, don't scalp it. Even if you're getting ready to re-seed, scalping stresses the turf, and it encourages more
weed growth by allowing the sun to reach more soil and allows more pesky bugs to dig into the soil and lay more eggs, like
May Beetles and Japanese Beetles. | | Tree
staking, research has shown that staking isn't necessary. In fact, staking actually results in a
weaker tree. The trunks of unstaked trees are allowed to sway or bend in the wind, signaling the roots system to develop creating
a better root system. If you need to stake, because of high winds, place the ties 6" above the lowest
point where, when you hold the trunk, the top will still return upright after being bent to the side on the trunk to allow
it to sway in the breeze and remove within the first year. |  
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| | | - Straw
& Hay is used primarily in the veggie garden. But,note straw often contains seeds of
various weeds and prairie grasses.
Leave it out for a
year so that heat and cold have a chance to destroy most weed seeds. Open the bale and let birds gobble up the seeds. Or,
put the straw on a compost pile, making sure the pile heats up to at least 160 degrees, a temperature that destroys nearly all weed seeds.
| - Grass clippings are fine, do not
apply more than one inch thick. Grass clippings form a dense mat that water and air can't penetrate, which is bad
for both soil and plants.
Do not use grass clippings from a lawn that has been treated with herbicides, it will
transfer to your plants and may kill them. Know where you get your clippings from.
| - Wood products (chips/shredded
wood) are the most popular, but they can be misused also. If piled on top of emerging
perennials in early spring, the mulch can cause the plants to rot.
Do not place too close to the base of a
tree or bush trunks, it provides a safe haven for mice and voles to feed on the bark and roots. When piled high around the
base of trees, it creates conditions that could lead to rot even in mature trees.
Applying too much mulch, more
than two to three inches will prevent water from seeping through the mulch.
| - Fresh wood chips as
it decomposes, will suck nutrients from the soil, mainly nitrogen. The nutrients your plants need. Either compost the chips
for several months prior to appling and apply a high nitrogen fertilizer such as blood meal over the chips.
Also make sure you know the source of the chips because some may actually come from diseased
trees or worse yet, from construction sites that do not lend themselves well to an organic/natural garden.
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- Finished
Compost (my personal favorite) is a valuable soil additive that can be used as fertilizer throughout
the landscape wherever you grow plants.
Working
it into the soil before or during the growing season increases the microorganisms in your soil help extract existing nutrients
from the soil and pass them on to plants. The result is great-tasting fruits and vegetables, beautiful flowers and healthier
plants. Compost has several uses, one as a mulch.
By spreading several inches
of compost on top of the soil around plants as mulch will aide in preventing erosion, shields the soil from the drying effect
of sun and wind and discourage weeds.
** We carry Winterwood Farm 'Shellfish
Compost' by the bag and bulk.
| - Pine straw and oak
leaves make great mulches, but they increase the acidity the soil over time, so use them only in
and around plants that require acidic soil, such as azaleas or blueberries.
| | Weeder's TIP:
Periodically fluff the mulch with a rake to
avoid a dense mat. Also, too much mulch can prevent the soil from warming up properly in early spring, affecting
plant growth. It's better to wait to apply mulch in late spring and again the end of Fall beginning winter to serve
as an excellent insulator. |   |
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If you think of anything that you think would be useful information for this page, drop me a note. I would love to hear from you.
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