What was with last Saturday’s (and Tuesday’s!) temperatures? Suddenly it was 70 degrees. My response? I watered my vegetable beds. Not much is showing yet, but I have seeded peas, lettuce, spinach, carrot, and onion. Those beds need to stay moist until the seedlings show up, and the last week of dry weather meant I needed to water!
A little bit of warmth woke up our local ephemeral plants. I love the blue chionodoxa in my gardens, as well as the dutchman’s breeches in the woods. Chionodoxa is the upward flower form of Scilla. Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) are the native species of bleeding heart, a favorite ornamental perennial. They look like pantaloons hanging upside down on a clothesline.
That heat sparked my pokey forsythia into bloom, and I finally went after pruning the rugosa roses. Roses can be damaged by winter winds, and it is best to wait to prune until the buds start to break—usually when forsythia blooms. The magical correlation comes from soil temperature. I trimmed out broken branches and crossed branches but also pruned stems back about six inches or a third of the stem length to an outward facing bud. By pruning the stems back now, I am strengthening the stem and encouraging more flower buds.
I also cut out rose galls. These growths form after a rose gall wasp lays eggs in the rose stems or leaves. The gall forms around the feeding larvae. Too many galls can weaken a rose shrub so I cut them out. I have cut out the galls and removed them from the area to prevent another generation from infecting my plants. I cut some open to expose the incubating wasp within. When the shrubs are older and stronger, I will probably let the galls remain since the adult flies are a food source for local birds.
On our recent beautiful Saturday, I edged my asparagus bed. Now is the best time for this task on all our flower borders or vegetable beds, but it can take some time. By starting early in the season, I can attack one bed at a time each weekend. Edging a bed means I create a clear-cut border between grass (and grassy weeds) and the enriched garden soil of my asparagus, perennials, or raspberries. By edging and rooting out perennial weeds now, I remove competition for water as well as soil nutrients that I want to direct to my favored plants.
The warm weather means it is time to remove protected mulch from roses, butterfly bush, caryopteris, and other marginally hardy perennials. My strawberry crowns have been growing under straw mulch protection. I have removed the straw from on top of the crowns but let it remain between plants. The straw mulch holds in soil moisture.
Although bears and other foraging animals have awakened from winter stupor, I have started adding food waste to my compost bin again. Grass and other plants have started to grow, so wild pests can find alternative food sources over my compost pile. Keep burying kitchen food scraps under a layer of leaves, wood ash, or other “carbon” sources like torn newspaper to discourage compost pests.
The cold weather slowed my seed germination, but last weekend I finally saw peas emerging. If your vegetable garden seedlings fail to appear, go ahead and sow additional seeds now. Warmer temperatures and soil moisture will help those seeds germinate and catch up quickly.
Meanwhile, seeds that I have started indoors sprouted but seem to have stalled out and have not changed in size. It is all about water access. In cells where multiple seeds germinated, the seedlings remain small. That is the result of too much competition. I finally bit the bullet and cut back numerous seedlings in each cell. Trim the tops off excess seedlings, but don’t pull out. Pulling will disturb the roots of your selected seedlings.
I don’t need that many seedlings. This is another time to not be greedy. The seedlings will not get larger when there is too much competition. I left two at most in each cell.
Chilly days for this gardener mean I turn my eyes indoors. Once again, I cut back my schefflera. I did it last year and now have four sturdy new plants that I started from those cuttings. I won’t start new plants this year. Who can use that much schefflera? I added the trimmings to my compost pile. Do not be shy about reducing the size of your healthy houseplants. Trimming and repotting can produce a healthier plant with little effort on your part—yup! Another lazy gardener win.
Friday, April 25, is Arbor Day, a time to celebrate the power of trees. Plant a tree for future generations to enjoy!
I call myself the Lazy Berkshire Gardener because I don’t want to work too hard in my gardens. I want to enjoy them. I find it easier to observe my landscape and let the compost happen, the water pool up, or daisies to self-sow. I look for ways to do the minimum task for the biggest impact. For example, mulching is better than spraying and much better than weeding all season. I look for beautiful, low-maintenance plants that thrive in or at least tolerate my garden conditions. Plus, I am willing to live with the consequences if I miss something.
