Frank's Senior News

Spring Garden Reminders

By Frank Ryan

The Tulips, Daffodils and spring flowers are watching the warm sun and grabbing every ray as they jump from the ground.  This year with warmer than usual bursts of energy from Old Sol the Teensy  Daffodils in our back yard are right there with the Crocus though mini in size are mighty in effort as they stretch the little blooms to the light.  The growers gong has sounded!

It is time for backyard gardeners to get the jump on the season and make a move to get the dicot weeds under control right away.  If you have lots of time and patience the old fashioned way of using a weed probe or thin garden trowel and getting the little weeds when they first pop up.  That is good exercise, and starts the gardeners tan, but is very tedious and requires a person to be in pretty good shape to get the job done and get all the little grasses and broadleaf weeds out of the beds and rock paths etc.  Another way is to use a total weed killer and your local garden store can help with that and give exact info on doses, coverage and local requirements.  I recommend you only spray with a controlled method, and only exactly where the chemical is needed.

On small areas, or places where drift could harm adjacent plants I usually use a sponge and put the weed killing solution on a wand sponge and dab it on weeds.  That eliminates over spray, drift and though tedious it kills only the weeds you want to eliminate and minimizes the chemicals in the yard and in the system.  It also saves a great deal of money over years of application by being careful, and frugal in the use of chemicals.  Make sure the weed killing chemicals you use are approved for the particular use.  Use broadleaf weed killers on the lawn and where you don’t want everything killed off.  Again you can use the sponge dip method to do only plants and areas that have weeds in them. It is “green” and also common sense application.

One spring tip. If you have not checked mowing, edging equipment and garden hoes, clippers,

Rakes, etc. now is the time.  If you are able to sharpen, oil and clean your own tools great. Take them to a pro and get them sharp and ready to use.  There is nothing worse to work with in the garden than a dull shovel or hoe.   All your Chain saws and saws should also be cleaned, oiled and ready to go for the season.  Fertilizers should have been sealed in moisture proof plastic containers over the winter.  Spring is a good time to apply organic fertilizer to give root systems a good start.  A mild mix of 10-10- 10 or similar blend with low numbers is good.

Once the season kicks off you can apply your regular lawn fertilizers.  Check with your local garden store for best local blend.  I recommend that you NOT over use weed and feed. I almost always never use it more that once every 2 or 3 years, and just use localized weed control the rest of the time once lawn weeds are under control.  Spring is time to add extra peat moss, sand, compost to flower beds and saggy blank lawn areas and get cleanup done.  The ground should be ready for late spring and early summer planting.  Also don’t forget to line out your containers for those great container flowers and vegetables & Tomatoes for your yard!  Make sure they are brimming with new potting soil.  Happy gardening!                                                                 #                                                                            March 1.10 revise