This week, I want to talk about Forsythia. The bright yellow-flowering shrub, ubiquitous in our landscape, has a botanical name of Forsythia × intermedia, which indicates it is a hybrid. The plant originated in Europe but has a popular stronghold in New England. Easy to propagate and easy to grow, some might call it invasive. It does not have all the qualifications of an invasive plant in that it doesn’t produce over-achieving seed quantities and it does not change the chemical composition of soil. It does grow fast though.
Although a European import, Forsythia has established a gardening foothold by becoming a phenological indicator plant. Phenology is a collection of facts about how certain plants indicate the soil temperature, soil moisture level, or soil acidity based on how they are growing. Forsythia typically bloom in April, although it could be late March or very late in April. The shrub blooms when soil has reached an appropriate temperature for planting or preventing the germination of weed seeds. There are other vibrant and early spring yellow plant choices, and maybe that is where the disdain for Forsythia developed. It is overused. But having one can be a useful gardening tool!
Instead of taking a soil thermometer to the garden every day, we can look at our Forsythia to decide if a pre-emergent weed killer will be effective or if our roses can be pruned. When Forsythia blooms, you can use pre-emergent chemicals on your lawn to control crabgrass or corn gluten products to prevent new weed seeds from germinating. When the soil is warm enough for Forsythia to bloom, rose buds will be swelling, and you can identify what rose canes have died over the winter and which are dead ones to prune out. Once the Forsythia flower petals drop, that timeframe has ended. If you can’t see a Forsythia from your garden, maybe you should plant one!
My gardens have begun to wake up in general. Have you spotted tips of daffodil leaves? Allium? I saw the first sprouts of bloodroot and hyacinth this week. Now is a good time to spread a thin layer of compost around these early bulb shoots and spring perennials just beginning to grow. My garlic has appeared through the protective straw mulch layer as well. I won’t add anything to that now except water if the soil gets too dry.
My vegetable garden soil appears ready for peas and more “early spring” seeding. I screened some compost that was resting from last fall, and after spreading it around my perennials, I added it to the top of my vegetable garden where I will sow pea and bean seeds. I have soaked my pea seeds for 24 hours and will pop them into the vegetable bed after work this week. With the soil already prepared, the actual sowing can happen in less than 15 minutes.
Now would be a good time to divide summer- or fall-blooming perennials like Hosta, perennial Hibiscus, or Rudbeckia. I dug up my Hibiscus moscheutos because it has suffered from ravenous sawfly larvae in the last few years. I decided to dig it up and separate the tuber clumps. I dug up at least six, but I didn’t know I had that many because the plants have not looked that vigorous lately. I then washed off the soil and cut out any soft or rotting pieces of root. Now I will replant the roots in a sunnier location and away from the current growing spot. I am hoping that moving the roots will reduce the pressure from sawfly larvae.
If you have horseradish, dig up and divide these roots now while you reserve some to make a nice horseradish sauce for holiday meals.
Continue to protect susceptible spring perennials or shrubs from deer or rabbit browsing. The weather has not been conducive to spraying repellents, so I improvised a noisy fence to keep the deer away. Four stakes and loose plastic landscape tape worked last year to deter the deer. The tape makes noise and gets in the way of browsing deer, typically creating enough annoyance to send them elsewhere.
Set up and clean the glass of your cold frame if you have one. Seedlings of cold hardy vegetables (with two sets of true leaves) started indoors can be transitioned to a cold frame outdoors where brighter sunlight can help them grow. Over a few days, bring the seedlings outdoors for gradually longer periods (doubling the time each day) until you can leave them in the cold frame overnight. While a cold frame is not a gardening necessity, the interim location can free up growing space indoors and will help avoid leggy, weak seedlings.
I know the last few rainy days have been a puzzle. A misty day doesn’t necessarily produce enough moisture for my gardens. I need to invest in a simple clear rain gauge that I can install near my water-hungry plants. I will put mine where the vegetables are especially water sensitive. That way I will have a clear idea of how much water they actually receive.
My other current task revolves around pulling weeds. April has to be my favorite time to pull invasive weeds. The mosquitoes and gnats have little to no strength. Soil is moist, and the weeds have just started to show. Digging them out is easy and meditative. My first priority is garlic mustard. This invasive herb, if dug up now, can form the basis of a spicy pesto. Remove the plant root and all, but just use the young leaves for cooking. When left in the landscape, the mustard roots can change the very chemical nature of surrounding soil and prevent other native plants from growing. I find it easiest to remove now before anything valuable has really shown up.
Lastly, I want to promote potatoes as a fun and easy vegetable to grow this year because you can start them now. Potatoes need a slightly acidic soil (pH 6 to 6.5) to grow well, a common pH in the Berkshires. But you can also grow potatoes in a large grow bag or even a leaky trash can! Potato plants need full sun. Cover the seed potato (a piece of disease-free potato) with three inches of soil, and as the plant grows, add more soil or hill it up around the stem until the plant flowers. About 24 inches of stem will be covered and your potatoes will grow off that stem. You will get a thrill when you reach down into the soil come August and have a handful of fresh spuds for dinner!
Have you signed up for the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Symposium in Berkshire County this Saturday April 5? Learn more and sign up.
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.
