Winter Chores, Winter Blooms

I have been very busy in the garden lately. "Busy in the garden, at this time of year?" you might say. This is a perfect time of year to get many important garden chores done. I have been focusing on pruning my fruit trees (apple, peach, pear and fig) and getting all but the fig trees sprayed with an organic dormant oil to smother overwintering pests (the figs do not need it). I did another clean up of the "orchard floor," that is I raked up all remaining leaves, peach pits and twigs, again to get at overwintering pests and diseases. I also made sure all remaining "mummies" (dried, dessicated fruits that harbor fungal spores) were off of the trees and in the trash. My next set of chores involve turning and "waking up" my compost pits, cutting back any post-fruiting raspberry canes and WEEDING- this has been a terribly warm winter and the weeds have loved it. Other general garden chores at this time of year include general clean up and preparation for planting peas (which intend to do as soon as I can!)
In the meantime, think of shrubs you can plant for an early floral show next year. If you want some early blooms to chase winter woes away, here are some plants I see blooming early in the spring in central VA, and even earlier this year due to our warm weather:
Fragrant wintersweet
Camellias
Daphne (very fragrant)
Flowering quince (photo above)
Hellebores (Christmas or Lenten rose)
Edgeworthia
Witch hazel

Thanks to The Washington Gardener to remind me of early spring bloomers for the mid-Atlantic states (go to:
http://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2012/02/early-season-bloomers-for-mid-atlantic.html ) This is a lovely, free online publication and the current issue has a more complete listing.

Happy gardening!

Tips from NBG http://www.norfolkbotanicalgarden.org/home

From the Norfolk Botanical Garden:
February Tips

by Director of Horticulture Brian O'Neil at

• The word for the month of February is "prune." Any time this month, as weather allows, is the time to prune back the spent stalks of perennials and ornamental grasses. Shrubs that bloom on current season's growth such as butterfly bush, beautyberry and roses may also be cut back now.
• Prune watersprouts and suckers from fruit trees, flowering plums and cherries. These stems tend to clog the inside of trees reducing air flow and promote weak growth and disease. Prune for an open center that a bird can easily fly through.
• Now is the time to apply a slow release organic fertilizer or a compost topdressing to beds and borders. A light covering of your favorite mulch helps keep spring weeds at bay.
• Take a look at your winter garden to determine where you lack some evergreen structure or winter interest. The bones of the garden are readily apparent now.
• Complete your catalog seed orders this month to be ready for planting the vegetable garden. Some seeds, such as English Peas, can be planted toward the end of the month.
• Happy Gardening!
  

Chill...brrrrr....

Winter chill

My husband and I finally got to some outdoor tasks yesterday, 12/16/09. I had been busy with end of semester grading (I teach at a university part time), hosting Thanksgiving, and making preparations for Christmas and had neglected some of my winter chores. Well, I was inspired by a chill that is coming to central VA and the mid-Atlantic states this weekend! I checked that the cold frame and row tunnels were OK, built a new cover for my lettuce pallet bed (bamboo sticks in the ground supporting lengths of garden hose from an old, broken hose, covered in plastic, water bottles inside to warm in the sun) and used two old plastic bins from an old fridge to act as cold frames for some small chard. I also picked some arugula that was unprotected, and pulled some carrots (I love buried treasures like these!). My husband very thoroughly wrapped up a potted Japanese maple that is too heavy to move indoors to our garage and is in a ceramic pot (see photo above). It might not look beautiful, but burlap does melt into the visual landscape better than the colorful, flowered sheets I sometimes use! He also began clearing out the tomato bed, which will rotate to root crops next season (which will be here sooner than we think). Over the winter break from school, we will tackle pruning our fruit trees, so stayed 'tuned" for that...
Happy gardening and Happy Christmas!

Gardening in the Winter Doldrums

Gardening in the Winter Doldrums

OK, OK, so there just isn’t as much to do in the garden in the winter, but here are some tasks and ideas:

Pruning: January is a great time to prune trees and shrubs, esp. fruit trees. The trees and shrubs are dormant, so they won’t bleed sap and won’t send out new growth to be killed of by the cold. This Saturday, Jan 10th, we pruned the peach trees, pear trees, figs and our apple tree. I also removed the branch spreaders from the pear trees to give them some breathing room and to make sure I did not strangle the branches. I will put new, roomier, spreaders on in a month.

Transplanting: if a small tree or shrub is in the wrong place, this is the time of year to move it, as long as the ground is not frozen. You can plant your balled and burlapped Christmas tree now, too.

Bed prep: to avoid that rush in early spring to get beds ready, get them ready early. As long as the ground isn’t frozen (which is a lot of the time here in central VA) you can dig, or do the easy bed prep method I posted earlier. Mulch them with leaves or pine straw to protect your hard work and to protect any amendments you put in from being washed away by heavy rains. Again, this weekend Jan. 10th I did some digging in a new veggie bed, adding compost, pine straw, and coffee grounds from a coffee shop.

Turn that compost heap: yes, it probably has cooled down and is not breaking down much, but you might be able to get a little more decomposition going, esp. if you water it with fish emulsion solution. Did that today too, and found a huge number of happy earthworms chomping away!

Plan: plan out your garden beds. Figure out your rotation so you don’t plant veggies from the same family in the same place year after year. Plan new flower and fruit beds too.

Indoors: start up some paperwhite narcissus or amaryllis bulbs, esp. ones you get on sale after the holidays (check these bargains for dried and desiccated bulbs before you buy-sitting in an overheated garden center for a few months is not good for bulbs, but I have found some bargains this way). These are very easy to start, just place the paperwhites on a bed of gravel and water in a saucer or bowl; bury amaryllis about 2/3 the way in soil. Water and watch-they are a real pleasure.

Seed starting- see that entry for full details. Some seeds take a long time to start, so read the seed packets and start them accordingly.

Rake up stray leaves, pine straw, general detritus. Compost it.

Wash out flower pots or seedling flats that you used last season.
Sharpen your garden hoe and spade. Oil it afterwards.

Read seed and nursery catalogs and dream!

Happy winter gardening!