We’re on the downhill side of February; March is only eight days away! As the plants ramp up, I probably should, too.
A pot of long-blooming Kalenchoe or cool season annuals, like a bright Gerbera daisy, will cheer you up as we wait for the cold weather to end.
If you need to do some gardening (it is a type of addiction, this need to grow things), start your broccoli, cauliflower, or Brussels sprouts indoors now to set out by mid-April and have early season crops. Otherwise, plant these seeds outside in July for a fall harvest. Go ahead and start annual herb seeds, too, if you have a place to grow the plants indoors. Basil, parsley, cilantro, and dill seed will germinate, and you can grow pots of these herbs on windowsill. They should not go into the ground until late May.
I cleared my shelves where fluorescent lights are suspended and made way for some seeding boxes. Since the shelves are out of the way in my chilly basement (around 50 degrees). I opted not to use the usual 48-cell seed trays and clear domes this year. I don’t usually plant that many seeds of plants that have the same growing needs.
I decided to use the clear boxes that I have saved from green salad mixes from the grocery store. These boxes have room for two six-pack cells. Once the seeds germinate, I can move just these boxes to a sunny and warm shelf out of the basement. They won’t need the warmth until then. I will leave the others under lights that take longer to germinate. I have my lights on a timer, and they stay on for 18 hours a day. That is the boost they need to get growing. In late March or early April, I may want to use the full 48 trays for zinnia or cosmos, annuals that I plant everywhere but don’t need starting yet.
When was the last time you tried growing something new? I usually purchase new types of annual flowers to see how they grow through the season. Growing a new seed will be less of a monetary commitment, though I need to follow instructions—not always my strong suit. Anyway, among the plants started in my planting boxes are bunching onions and oregano. The onions take time to germinate and will need all season to achieve a good size. The oregano plants are perennials, and perennials usually take longer to get to transplanting size.
Quick primer on annuals vs. perennials: Annuals start, grow, flower, set seed, and die in one growing season, while perennials will be baby plants in the first season, basically germinating and starting some branches. In year two, perennials may or may not flower but mostly establish roots and grow branches. In year three for perennials, you will get your first good flowers and shape where they start to grow into their new home.
If you want to add new annual flowers, consider starting a cutting garden. A cutting garden is almost like a vegetable garden in that you aren’t planning the garden as part of schematic garden design. For a cutting garden, you most likely need full sun and rich, well-drained soil. Plant annual flowers of unusual shapes or colors that you intend to cut and use in bouquets. Reasons to have a cutting garden: 1) You don’t care if the plants flower in time with other plants because you will cut them anyway; 2) you can grow flowers in a row with unique watering needs independent of surrounding plants; 3) you can try something new that wouldn’t fit in to any of your usual garden beds or borders.
My cutting gardens have typically been spots on my property that were good for growing but not where I can see the plants from where I sit outdoors or indoors. They have also been problematic weedy locations where I thought flowers would be an improvement. Use one as a place to experiment with a flower to see how well it grows in your microclimate.
My houseplants have started to put out new growth, and since they are big enough for me, I decided to trim back that new growth. They will continue to branch out and become bushier as a result. I have taken the four big cuts and put the stems in water. I will dip them in rooting hormone to see if I can get four new Schefflera plants. My hothouse Hydrangea has been dormant for a few months, but new growth has started. It reminds me that I need to wait to prune some landscape plants like butterfly bushes and roses. Once I see the new growth of leaves on these landscape plants, I will prune back the dead stems to the growth.
Also, now that spring is only one month away and lawn maintenance about two months away, schedule your lawn mower repair, tune ups, or sharpening now. Actually, any outdoor gardening tools could use a winter spa treatment. Sharpen edges, oil handles, tighten screws. When you have good, effective tools, gardening is much easier.
In the next few weeks, I will be watching the forecast for days with temperatures above 40 degrees that are also clear, dry, and not too windy. That is the weather to spray fruit trees with horticultural oil at dormant rates. Dormant oil spray on fruit trees will smother overwintering pests and reduce the potential for fungal outbreaks once warm spring days come. Depending on the number of trees you intend to spray, you can get the oil as a concentrate to mix in a sprayer or as a ready-to-use spray bottle. A little time spent on prevention saves a lot of time and frustration later.
Mature fruit trees, blueberries, and grapevines can be pruned now too. Like houseplants, these fruiting plants will put out loads of new growth, and you need to control their enthusiasm. I pruned my peach tree pretty hard last year to spur some good branching, and it worked, but I had no fruit. The late frost in May 2023 knocked out any fruiting flowers that may have been left. This year, I won’t prune until after the flowers bloom. Once I see the blooms and fruit set, I will thin the branches and reduce the fruit volume. Fewer fruiting buds will mean the remaining fruits grow larger and the stems or branches will not break due to overabundance.
Final tip for this week: Start saving things now that you could use in the vegetable garden later. I already mentioned the plastic boxes that work as great seed-starting containers. I save sturdy, reflective plastic bags (like from coffee), toilet paper cardboard tubes (or paper towel tubes), Velcro straps used on lettuce heads from grocery stores, sturdy rubber bands, and twist ties. Reflective material will go under my squash vines to prevent squash bug and white flies that lay eggs in the shadows. Paper tubes will be collars around new seedlings to prevent cutworms and slugs from attacking young stems. Velcro, rubber bands, and twist ties all come in handy for making trellises and stakes in the summer garden.
Other household things I start to stockpile now: eggshells rinsed, crushed, and put in the freezer now to add to root zones of tomato plantings and wood ash from the wood stove! We put cooled ash in a designated pile or bin to use as a mineral soil additive in small doses. You can also save gallon milk jugs to use mini greenhouse cloches that protect newly planted seedlings in spring from pests and cold. All these gathered items can help protect my plants and can make the gardening easier on me!
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’m willing to live with the consequences if I miss something.
