Maintenance

GARDENING WITH CONFIDENCE™

THIS MONTH IN THE GARDEN

Mid-Atlantic

June Garden Maintenance Guide

INTRO
June is a good month in the south; the humidity has not likely arrived, the days are long and school is out putting us on summertime. A change in the daily routine is a welcomed change indeed!
May 2009 GBBD 010
ANNUALS

Tender annuals can still be planted: begonias, basil, coleus, impatiens.

BULBS

If your daffodil foliage is lying on the ground, it is now OK to cut back.
How well did your daffodils perform this year? Great? then leave them be; poorly?, then dig up the bulbs and divide once they finish maturing (as indicated by the died back leaves.) They are probably overcrowded. Daffodil bulbs can be planted immediately or stored in a shade, well-ventilated location.
Remove the Amaryllis bloom stalk.
Remove German bearded iris bloom stalk to tidy up the plant.\’a0 During the 6 weeks or so after bloom time, next years flowers are forming. Best to wait until the fall to transplant or otherwise disturb these plants or risk next years show.
The soil has warmed enough to plant caladiums and elephant ears.
Late spring is the time to plant autumn crocuses.
Dahlia tubers can still be planted.

HERBS

Rosemary can take a hard pruning. Now is a good time to shape, shear it, prune to manage its size.
Its easy to plant more herbs than you can use plan to share with friends and neighbors.

PERENNIALS

Up until about the 4^th of July, many plants can be pinched back to maintain shape, delay bloom time, and keep from getting leggy. Give your garden Nip and Tuck; Plants that benefit from a nip include: Asters, Basil, Joe-Pye weed, heliopsis, Mint, Mums, Salvias, Sedums.
Keep flower heads deadheaded.

ROSES

Remember to cut your faded rose blooms to encourage more growth. Cut the stem just above the first 5-leaflet leaf below the bloom.
Remember, roses are a thirsty and hungry bunch. The watering rule of thumb is to water each plant 5 gallons per week. Fertilize every six weeks with a complete rose fertilizer.

PESTS

This is also the time for the Japanese Beetles to fest on your Roses. At Helen’s Haven, we practice mechanical pest control of Japanese Beetles we hand pick them when you are out cutting or pruning the Roses. This is my practice. Wearing gloves, I just put the bug between my thumb and forefinger and squeeeeze. Too squeamish for that, prepare a bucket of soap[y water. Tip the flower head with the Beetle over a bucket or soapy water and shake into a bucket.

Another technique is what is referred to as keeping the roses in the green. What this means is to cut your Roses and bring inside. Or at the very least, keep the roses pruned, reducing the amount of color in the rose garden. The Japanese Beetles are attracted to the bright and happy colors. Actually, so am I. While I do occasionally bring in cut flowers, I have a Rose garden to enjoy them in the garden; thus, I had to overcome any questions of how to dispose of these nasty little critters. So I just squeeeeze and voila, they are gone.

MULCH

Often I am asked how to get rid of that yucky yellow blob in the mulch. It may look distasteful, but it’s not harmful. None-the-less, I get it up as soon as I see it. I have tried to ignore it, but can’t. One mulch supplier is no more prone to it than another, as I am often asked. I like using a hoe to get it up. It also works well to scrape up the mold with some attached mulch removing any trailing bits. I first learned the name of this slime mold as dog puke! When you tell people that, they actually think it is dog puke. Then if you tell them it is slime mold, they want a name of a new mulch supplier. There’s just no good name for it.

WEEDS

Hopefully you mulched nicely and do no have a huge problem with weeds, but weeding is a reality of gardening: they know a good thing with the see it. My approach is to use a good hoe and just come along and chop their heads off down to their feet. I don’t even have to bend over. But from time to time, when looking at my garden beds, I’ll see this big green thing. Yep, it’s a large crab grass. I use to wonder how it got there, but now I don’t even wonder, I just reach in and pull it out. My least favorite weed is nutsedge Are-you-ready-to-weed

WATER
As summer begins, so do summer vacations. This also arises the need to have your garden looked after while you are gone!. There is no need not to have container gardens just because you are going on vacation and don’t want to be bothered. Why let a week or two away keep you from coming home to some nice plantings? Here are some tips to caring for your container gardens and houseplants while you are on vacation. These tips are for those with and without automatic irrigation systems.

Bring houseplants outside under the cool of the porch or eves of the house.
Get a neighbor kid to come over everyday to check on things and to water. Most pots will need watering everyday.
Pool you pots together near a water source and out of the afternoon sun.
Add extra mulch to the base of the plant.
Add water lines to your containers from your irrigation system.
Don’t have an irrigation system? The big box stores sell automatic systems that hook up to your spigot such as Mister Mister.

WILDLIFE

Cow birds, bunnies, fox, grackles, copperheads, voles, moles, squirrels, deer. They too, are part of our wildlife. Let’s learn to all get along.
Continue to fill feeders, provide clean water daily, and refresh humming bird feeders with fresh sugar water.

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Helen Yoest is a garden writer, speaker and garden coach through her business Gardening with Confidence™.

Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenYoest and her facebook Friend’s page, Helen Yoest; or facebook Like page, Gardening With Confidence™

Helen is a field editor for Better Homes and Gardens and Country Gardens magazine and she also serves on the board of advisors for the JC Raulston Arboretum.

Filed Under: Garden Maintenance - Mid-Atlantic Region Tagged With: Garden Coaching, Garden Maintenance, Garden Maintenance - Mid-Atlantic Region, gardening, Maintenance

Mid-Atlantic Garden Maintenance – May

April 30, 2009 By HelenYoest 5 Comments

INTRO

May brings the end of pollen and summer begins \’96 at least Memorial Day weekend – the official kick off of summer.

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CONTAINERS

Every garden has room for container gardens. Find some fabulous pots and fill them with whatever you fancy. Know the amount of sun you get and when. It matters when you select your plants. Remember they need extra watering and fertilizing.

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BULBS\

It\’92s safe now to plant the Amaryllis from Christmas. It will not likely bloom again this year, but should do so next year. Mine from previous years bloom mid month.\’a0 Here’s a little Amarylis planting how-to.

Now that the soils have warmed, plant Caladium bulbs or those potted and already in leaf. They like it warm and can be damaged by a cool weather, not just a frost. They are also big feeders so they will need consistent watering and fertilizer during the growing season.

Actually, any tender summer bulb such as cannas, dahlias, ginger lilies, and tuberoses can be planted now.

Oh, the Irises are blooming their little heads off. Recently, I cut some for a friend. She took a whiff and realized for the first time, bearded Irises have a lovely scent. They are nice to bring inside to enjoy the smell. After blooming, cut flower stalks to tidy up the plant.

Cut the flowers stalks of daffodils. Try to ignore the leaves as they die a natural death.

Add Bacillus\’a0thuringiensis\’a0(Bt) as a natural way to rid this pest.

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ANNUALS\

With the frost behind, annuals can be planted with abandonment.

Visit public gardens to see the variety available for planting in our area. The JC Raulston Arboretum is an All-American Selection (AAS) display garden exhibiting the most recent selection winners.

Direct sow zinnia seed at intervals to have cut flowers through frost.

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PERENNIALS\

May is not the ideal time for planting perennials, but they are oh, so available. Plan to plant, but pamper. They will require extra watering to help get established.

English Ivy is leafing out. English ivy sure seemed like a good idea at the time it was introduced to the USA, but this non-native is very invasive.

Seeing the Chinese wisteria escaped in the wild brings a feeling of wonder. Yes, the color and flowers cascading down from the trees is beautiful, but they ain\’92t supposed to be there. Think twice about planting one. Instead, the American wisteria, \’91Amethyst Falls\’92 blooming a little later, is a good choice.

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TREES AND SHRUBS\

May is Southern Magnolia\’92s bloom time. They give so much and we need to do so little for them in return. I like to pluck a Magnolia bloom and float it in a bowl of water near where I read or enjoy the garden at the end of the day. It last but a day, but what a day it is.

The Endless Summer Hydrangea is the first Hydrangea to bloom on old and new growth with the ability to rebloom all summer long. I planted my Endless Summer in 2005 and I find the reblooming ability to be weak. Perhaps it will improve with age. To encourage reblooming, cut the blooms for drying or to put in vases for a fresh arrangement. This will also encourage the plant to set new buds.

Prune rhododendron and azaleas right after flowering.

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ROSES\

Roses are in full swing right now. Let your roses flush out and take shorter pruning tactics in May so they grow taller. This is usually good advice for the first couple of cuttings. Then you can prune at will remembering to cut at an angle at the next 5 leaflets. Remember, Roses are heavy feeders \’96 both food and water. I fertilize once a month and give each rose about 5 gallons of water each a week or about an inch a week. Water at the base of the plant and in the morning to help discourage black spot.

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HERBS\

Plant an herb garden! If not for you, then for your garden friends. The Tiger Swallowtail butterfly larvae love parsley and fennel. Let those \’91green worms\’92 eat it all. Or plant enough to spare. If you don\’92t want them, call me at 781-0199 and I will rescue them to my gardens.

May, in my garden, is Lavender peak bloom time. Each May, I\’92m reminded of why I grow Lavender. It can look ratty many month of the year. After it flowers, cut back and shape.

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FERTILIZER\

To encourage flowering, a fertilizer low in nitrogen and high in phosphorus is best. The fertilizer\’92s 3 main ingredients are N-P-K with N for Nitrogen, P for Phosphorus and K for Potassium. 10-10-10 means there is an equal proportion of each N-P-K. Hydrangeas like a low N and a high P, thus a combination of 10-40-10 would be ideal. My general rule of thumb to remember what the numbers mean is to start with the first number and apply from the top of the plant to the bottom. As such, N \’96 is for the green; P \’96 is for the bloom; and K- is for the root.

To refresh your understanding of pH, pH refers to the acidity of the soil and is measured by the number of Hydrogen ions present in the soil. pH is a logarithmic scale based on the power of ten. As such, pH of 6.0 is 10 times more acidic than pH of 7.0! Thus, even a little change in pH can make a big difference. A pH of 7 is neutral, less than 7 is acid, greater than 7 is alkaline. Most plants like a pH between 6.5 and 7. All hydrangeas like it more acid than most plants.

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MULCH\

Keep your gardens cool, less thirsty, and reduce the amount of weeds,\’a0 top dress your garden beds of mulch. I can write volumes on the benefits of mulch. I am really mulch crazy. I believe in the power of mulch.

For my Roses, I use mini-nuggets, but for my perennial gardens, I used composted leaf mulch.

Picking up a load reminds me of how important it is to make sure your yard waste is separated from your trash. This is not only good stuff once it is composted, but the conservation practice is in all our best interest! Confessions of a Stainable Gardener – Part 3 Mulch

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WEEDS\

Spring is prime growing time for weeds too.\’a0 The best advice is to stay on top of them with a weekly weeding event.

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WATER\

Now that we are past the last frost, irrigation systems are firing up. My appeal to you is not to water if you don\’92t have to. Most people OVER water, not underwater.

Remember, don\’92t water because it\’92s Tuesday or Saturday or any particular day of the week. Water when the top 2 or 3 inches of soil feels dry and then only if the plant looks thirsty.

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WILDLIFE\

Keep your wildlife coming back for more. Fill your feeders, replenish the water in the birdbaths, don\’92t spray pesticides.

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FOR YOUR CONTINUAL EDUCATION\

For Your Continual Gardening Education, look for garden tours going on this spring, summer, and fall. There is also a fantastic winter garden tour at the JC Raulston Arboretum in February each year. Garden tours are a great way to see how others use certain plants and garden accents, and they can give you endless ideas. If you are new to this area, this is a must for practical purposes and pure pleasure. Garden owners opening their garden are putting their hearts on their sleeve to share with you their passion and giving back to the gardening community.\’a0 Support our local gardeners who are giving us so much. During the Garden Conservancy\’92s Open Days tours also benefiting the JC Raulston Arboretum, you may be surprised to know all the notable gardeners and garden writers who come. Even some the most veteran gardeners attend, those who are smart enough to know there is always someone new to learn from and new pleasures to be found.

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Guide and photos by Helen Yoest\
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Gardening With Confidence