GARDEN TIME with DOUG – Let’s Get Ready for Spring!

SPRING IS OFFICIALLY HERE IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS – Yeah!!!!!

To add to all this excitement is that Daylight Saving Time starting this coming Sunday, March 10, and this time change will give us more sunlight hours in the evening to enjoy the outside when we get home from work or school.

With sunshine and the change in our weather, we can begin to put winter woos behind us. We can see plants beginning to break dormancy and leaf out, perennials popping up out of the ground, and some late winter / early spring plants beginning to bloom. Spring really is on the horizon.

True gardeners have already started plotting out – in their minds, at least, if not on paper – what new plants they want to get and where they want to move things. Knowing that these thoughts have begun, here are some gardening and landscaping trends that continue to be strong in 2019 and need to be considered in this thinking process:

REDUCE THE LAWN AREA BY EXPANDING GARDENS

Maintaining a pristine lawn is very costly and time consuming not to mention the hard work. Think about minimizing this costly effort by expanding your gardens.

PLANT MORE NATIVE PLANTS IN THE GARDENS

You may ask “what is a native plant?” The simple answer is that a native plant is a plant that has existed in our area before the settlers arrived. Native plants tend to be sturdy and have adapted to survive in our environment.

THIS SATURDAY, MARCH 9, IS SPRING GARDENERS’ FAIR  –  WE ARE GIVING FREE SEMINARS DURING THE DAY AND ONE OF THE SEMINARS BEING GIVEN IS ON

LANDSCAPING with NATIVES  – come learn more about our native plants from our own expert, Eve Roemhildt.

PLANT PLANTS THAT DO DOUBLE DUTY

Perennials are a prime example of giving us color with blooms and texture with their foliage. Plus, perennials will come back year after year and need much less attention than annual plants, like marigolds or petunias, that need to be planted every year. Other plants that can serve as double duty are Blueberries. Plant blueberry plants in your garden – even as a foundation plant in front of your home (I do and love it!). Blueberries will give you white flowers in the spring followed with their blue fruit, and finish the growing season with beautiful fall color. Yet another idea of double duty plants can be with evergreen hedges. Plant rhododendrons or camellias for screening. Not only will these plants give you year-round privacy but they will give you a beautiful flower color.

KNOW YOUR SOIL

Consider getting a complete soil analysis done. This is a very simple and inexpensive procedure. Improve your soil with organic matter. Do your own composting for organic matter. So, spend time on improving soil and soil management. Healthy plants require much less maintenance.

CONTAINER GARDENING

Container gardening is considered a form of landscaping. To be a successful container gardener you need to keep in mind that basic landscape principles apply to container gardening as well: good soil, the location of the container when determining sun exposure, and using the right plants in the right location. Container gardening lets your creativity flow to create those “one of a kind” container gardens.

MULCHING

Mulch is essential to low-maintenance gardening. Mulch will protect the root system of the plants, keep them shaded in the summer and warm in the winter. Mulch will help reduce the amount of water required by the plants. And, mulch gives a garden a finished look and will help to control weed growth – thus reducing the need for spraying weed killing products.

IT IS NOW MARCH AND THE GARDENING AND PLANTING SEASON IS UPON US. THINK ABOUT THESE TIPS AND SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO TO LESSEN YOUR MAINTENANCE ON GARDENS AND LAWNS

HAPPY GARDENING!!!