Garden Help from the garden

Sometimes our garden provides the things we need to help it look its best. Heavy plants, for example, often need staking. If you have Maiden Grass, the stakes will be provided.  Cut the spikes in late fall or early spring. When dry they are like small bamboo poles.

When it is time to stake your Delphinium, Dahlias or whatever, cut the dry canes to the desired length and push them into the soil. If you have Dracaena palms you have all the twine you need. By shredding a palm leaf you will have strings as strong as twine.

 

Maiden Grass canes tied together make a strong tripod for Bougainvillea and Dipladenia in pots.

Growing Irises

May is the month for Iris lovers. Irises are usually reaching their peak right around Memorial Day. The color variety of Irises is almost limitless. This link is just one of many that shows what years of hybridizing has done with the old fashioned "flags," as they were commonly called.
http://irisfarmer.com/coirca.html

The Iris blooms are so spectacular it is disappointing to see them go after only a few weeks and the spent flowers are unsightly. Sadly, for this reason Irises are often passed over. However, if the spent flower stalk is removed, the remaining foliage is actually quite attractive and there are quite a few cultivars that are termed 'twice blooming.'

This one is in full bloom now (May 19) and will bloom almost continuously through the summer and fall. I have another color that does the same. Most Iris catalogs now have a section of "reblooming Iris."


Irises have a vigorous growth habit and benefit from being divided every three to four years. The Iris growers I know are willing and happy to share.

Dividing Irises:

When--After you have cut the spent flower stalks, let the plants grow for a month or so and dig them any time through July and August

Separate the rhizomes--Dig deep enough to keep roots intact, shake off the soil and separate the individual rhizomes. Cut the leaves down to a six inch fan.
Plant and share--Irises are very hardy and don't need to be planted immediately, but the sooner they get into the ground the sooner they establish a root system for the coming year. Given an early start the new plants will generally bloom the following spring. There are always extras when dividing Irises-a good time to give and receive.
Planting--Dig a hole 6 to 8 inches deep; deep enough to allow the roots to extend their full length beneath the rhizome. Back fill to bury the roots and leave the top half of the rhizome exposed above ground and soak well to remove air pockets around the roots and look forward to new blooms in the spring.

Don't be afraid of Irises. Their display in May is worth the minimal effort it takes to grow them.

W. T. Svedin  

Containing Grass Borders

Everyone loves a flowerbed bordered by a neatly trimmed lawn, but it is also a point of aggravation for gardeners; at least until now. The KWIK EDGE makes easy work of flower bed borders, whether grass or concrete. In fact, it is so easy, the word, work, almost does not apply. I have loved using this tool for years and thought it was time to share it with everyone. It will be available for purchase in mid April 2018. Watch for the announcement.

MORE PLEASURE IN GARDENING

March is the month to turn your 'yard work' into gardening. These two pictures show the difference between the two.

There is a good chance that if you are not finding pleasure in your yard, the plants you try to grow won't find any either. The thing that will make your plants happy is also the thing that will turn your yard work into gardening--SOIL. If working with your soil is a pleasure, chances are it will be reflected in the growth and vitality of your garden. What you do in your garden in the month of March just might mean the difference between gardening and doing yard work for another year. Conditioning your soil will make the garden experience more pleasurable and your flowers and vegetables will be happier too.

The ideal soil is sometimes referred to as, loamy. This means it is a balanced mix of sand, silt [humus or organics] and clay.

Heavy, or clay, soils are lacking either sand or humus or both and tend to bind nutrients in an insoluble state. Sandy soils are low in humus and clay and nutrients tend to leach out quickly. A quick and easy test to determine your soil's texture can be done by simply taking a handful of moist soil and squeezing it into a ball. If the soil ball holds its shape when you open your hand but still crumbles easily, then your soil is more or less well balanced. If the ball does not crumble you have too much clay. If it will  not hold its shape there is too much sand and/or silt.

Silt, aka humus or compost, is often thought of as the fix-all. It will loosen heavy soil and will also add substance to sandy soil. However, humus alone is a short term remedy and needs to be added annually even to well balanced soil. By adding sand to clay soil and clay to sandy soil you achieve a more long term fix and the humus becomes a treat for the soil and the plants and makes cultivating a pleasure rather than a chore.

Nutrients are often plentiful but not available in poor soils. By amending the soil closer to the ideal, nutrients are not necessarily added, but they are made soluble and therefore available to the plants. Fertilizers and fertilization is another topic that becomes important a little later in the season.

March is our transition month. I love to watch the snow melt away to reveal the anxious  Daffodils and Tulips. By the 31st the soil is beginning to show its potential.

I love to cultivate and turn the soil, but I have to be patient and wait for the spring flowers to show themselves so I don't inadvertently chop them out.

A little bit of effort in March creating well balanced soil will yield a season of gardening and a harvest of many pleasures.

People often ask me how many hours I spend working in my yard. That is a hard question to answer since I don't think of my gardening as work in the typical sense. I spend far less time than what most people imagine. I have found that gardening takes much less effort not much more time than the less appealing "yard work."

Happy March everyone!