Spring Brings Helpful Hints For The Garden
Spring brings warm rains, budding plants and a passel of challenges. The following are a few selected gardening tips covering a little bit of everything:
Aluminum foil can be used as a heating blanket and an insect guard for peppers and tomatoes. Lay it on the ground, shiny side up. As the foil collects heat and warms the soil, the reflected light repels aphid and thrips. But foil can get a bit costly if you have a large area to cover. You might try using a piece of black plastic with one side painted with silver-colored paint.
To keep potting soil from escaping out the drainage holes of planters, cover the holes with a coffee filter, a piece of woven weed barrier or a piece of row cover such as Reemay.
Contrary to some opinions, containers do not have to be emptied each spring and filled with new soil. However, if the prior plants in it were infected with a disease, this task will be necessary.
If you are using the same soil as last year, you may find that you’ll need to add a few inches of new soil simply because large chunks of soil were removed along with the dead flowers. Fluff up the old soil while mixing in the new.
Pastel colors such as white, shades of pink, lavenders and yellows are illuminating in the evening hours. Many pastels are also fragrant. Plant them near the deck or patio where they can be enjoyed.
Pinch back petunias, salvia, coleus and other such annuals to ensure bushy, stocky plants. Simply use your thumb and forefinger and snap out the growing tip of the main stem just above a leaf or pair of leaves. You may find removing the only flowers on the plant a bit difficult, but trust me, you will be rewarded with dozens more flowers.
It’s not necessary to loosen the root ball of annual bedding plants, but it doesn’t hurt. Breaking up that tight mass of roots simply gives the plants a better chance to pull up water and nutrients. But because they are such short-lived plants, scruffing up the root system really isn’t necessary.
Sometimes seed houses treat seed with a pink fungicide, which helps prevent the seeds from rotting in cold soil. Never handle them without wearing latex gloves and never let children handle them. Alway wash your hands after working with these seeds.
Protect bees by applying pesticides in the late evening after the bees have finished foraging. Try to avoid spraying when the plants are in bloom. This includes flowering plants (including weeds) underneath or near the targeted plant. If possible, wait until all the blossoms have dropped before spraying. If you must spray while plants are in bloom, use Bt or insecticidal soap, both of which are both harmless to bees.
Bee stings can be treated with a wide variety of home remedies: meat tenderizer or soda and water. A slice of raw potato or onion also works well.
To help prevent powdery mildew from developing on begonias, spray the leaves about every three weeks with a solution of baking soda and water - 1 teaspoon soda to 1 quart of water. Soda will change the pH of the leaf surface, making it inhospitable to fungus.
Leave the leaves of tulips growing for three weeks, then cut them to the ground. Don’t braid them or fold them over with rubber bands. This defeats the photosynthesis process.
To create a beautiful wildflower garden, a few steps must be taken: Kill off all weeds and grasses. Till under all the dead plant material. Scatter the seed (specific wildflowers are better than those found in cans mixed with grass seed) and then cover the seeds with a light blanket of soil or lightly rake the seed into the ground. Keep the ground moist until the seed germinates. After that the plants will sow themselves.
On a hot summer day, a bath of water is necessary for the health of our little feathered friends, but so is a bath of dust. Many birds love to roll and flop their wings in a dust bath. Fill a flat container with fine soil, sand or wood ashes. Place it in a sunny location near a bush where they can retreat to safety, if necessary.
Algae can make wood paths quite slippery. Scrub the wood with a strong bleach solution - 1 part bleach to 1 part water. Control weeds on sidewalks, driveways and curbs with a dousing of bleach solution.
Homemade concrete edging is a relatively simple project. Simply dig a trench 4 inches wide and 4 inches deep. Line the trench with benderboard (an inexpensive product found in most lumber yards, commonly used as an edging material). Pour concrete into the trench. After the concrete sets up, remove the bender board. The edging can be highlighted by adding stones or colored dyes to the concrete.
If you have special tips that you would like to share with other readers, please send them to me at The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA, 99210-1615.
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Phyllis Stephens The Spokesman-Review