Gardener's Corner

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Comment by Chief Walks on March 23, 2016 at 4:34pm

After they bloom, check your spring perennials, plants that come back every year. Have they gotten too big for your garden, or maybe other plants have grown up around them? This may be a good time to divide and replant.

Dividing means separating the plant at its roots. This rejuvenates old plants and gives you free, new plants. While you can divide most perennials any time, it’s best to do it either in the spring or fall.

To prevent damage and keep flowers standing, stake young perennial plants so they won’t topple over and break as they grow.

HOW TO DIVIDE PERENNIAL PLANTS:

The best time to divide perennial plants is when they are beginning to sprout, but they can be divided almost any time of year.
The day before, water your plants and cut foliage back about 1/3.
Divide on a cool or cloudy day, so roots aren’t exposed to heat or sun.
Use a spade or pitchfork to carefully dig up the plants. To loosen deep roots, work your blade or pitchfork back and forth.
Use your hands to pry apart clumping plants. For big clumps, put the root ball on the ground and cut with a shovel, spade or serrated knife until you have as many new plants as you want.
If your plant has a dense root ball, stick two garden forks, back-to-back, into the center. Pull the handles apart to separate the roots. Or use a pruning saw to carefully cut dense roots.
If your perennial has a rhizome or tuber that grows horizontally, like bearded iris, dig it up and use a sharp knife or pruning shears to cut it into pieces. Leave at least one bud and some roots on each piece.
Replant the divisions at the same depth they were growing.
Water well throughout the season.
If the weather becomes hot, shade your perennials with a row cover until they are established since dividing perennials stresses the plant.

HOW TO STAKE YOUR SPRING PERENNIALS:

Use stakes, bamboo poles, cages or flower rings to help tall perennials, like peonies or lilies, stand strong. If they are bent or have fallen over, be sure to stake.
Use one stake per for plant with just a few stalks and keep the stake close to the stem.
Tie the plant loosely to the stake by making a figure eight, so the materials won’t cut into it. Keep the ties loose, so the plant can move. Pre-made plant ties can be cut and adjusted to any length without knotting.
To make a cage for bushy perennials, put 3 to 4 stakes around the plant and wrap twine several times around the outside of the stakes.
Be sure your supports are anchored securely.

Comment by Chief Walks on March 16, 2016 at 8:31am

The time is now!

What’s tastier on a hot day than a melon from your garden? Fresh, lightly chilled chunks of melon are all you need on a summer day for making smoothies and other refreshing drinks.

Melons come in all sizes, shapes and colors and require a lot of space, full sun and plenty of water. They are also heavy feeders and grow best in fertile, well-drained soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. Vining melons like cantaloupe and honeydew can be trained on a trellis or fence to save space.

Plant seeds directly in the ground when the soil temperature warms to 70 degrees or about 2 weeks after the last frost.

HOW TO PLANT MELONS:

Amend soil with compost manure and any nutrients indicated by the soil test before planting.
Create mounds or hills for melons that are about 2’ high and 5’ in diameter. Dig extra compost into each hill.
Plant 2 to 3 seeds in each mound. Sow seeds ½” deep and about 2’ apart.
Cover the hills with row covers to keep insects, rabbits and squirrels off emerging plants. Remove covers when yellow flowers appear, so pollinating insects can do their job.
After seeds sprout and vines begin to ramble, give plants a dose of boron to help them produce sweeter fruits. Dissolve 1 tablespoon of household borax in 1 gallon of water, mix well, and pour this mixture over one mound with 2 to 3 melons. Repeat for other mounds.
Keep soil consistently moist.

Comment by Chief Walks on March 12, 2016 at 10:45am

Tree fertilization is an extremely important topic. If you have a tree in your yard, then at some point you will need to have that tree fertilized. Trees normally exist in a forest area where they receive nutrients through the recycling leaf litter and other plant material. When you put a tree in a landscaped area they often are deprived of these critical nutrients.

Getting your tree proper nutrition is absolutely critical. One way to get a tree proper nutrition is to recreate the natural environment of the tree. Building a mulch ring around your tree is one way to do this. For some people this may be a problem as they may have so many trees that they would have to mulch their entire yard. Mulch alone will not improve the health of your tree but it is a step in the right direction.

You should also spend some time looking at your tree to see if there are any signs of nutrient deficiencies. There are several symptoms of nutritional deficiencies in trees. A slow rate of growth of twigs and trunk can be a sign of nutritional deficiency.

Look back on weather records when you see this and see if you have received enough rain lately. Having a slowly growing trunk can be a sign of a nutritional deficiency, but it also can be a sign of not receiving enough water. If your tree has not been receiving enough water you can simply start watering your tree more often.

Another sign of a nutritional deficiency is smaller than normal leafs or off-color leafs. If you see this type of symptom you should start mulching around your tree and see if the tree reacts. Hopefully your tree will recover if you start mulching around the tree.

You may also see an increased rate of disease or insects in your tree. This could be a sign of poor nutrition or it could be a sign of something else. You should start by trying to improve the nutrition of the tree by mulching. If that does not improve the overall health of the tree you should not hesitate to call in an arborist.

An arborist will be able to see if the problem is nutritional in nature or if there is a larger problem. If there is a larger problem your arborist will be able to make recommendations to you for further action. If the problem is nutritional in nature and mulch is not helping your arborist will be able to recommend other nutritional treatments. These treatments may be able to save your tree and thus preserve your car. An arborist can be a major asset to your yard, especially if you have a diseased tree in your yard.

Fertilizing your tree can help increase its growth and thus is a great step to take to help your yard. Build up mulch around your yard regularly and if that does not get your trees to remain healthy do not hesitate to call an arborist.

Comment by Chief Walks on March 12, 2016 at 3:48am

People often wonder, "Why do I have so many bugs in my garden but then 'So N So's' garden a block away never has any bugs." It is because your ground is missing something. That is why every where you go for gardening tips, every book you read on gardening, and every TV show you watch says the same thing. Compost Compost Compost! But they rarely explain why.

What is in compost that makes it so valuable to our gardens?

Germs, bacteria, enzymes, fungi, organisms and many types of microorganisms, no-seeums, plus all those other ugly nasty things we don't talk about getting into our mouths when that spade flips up suddenly and fills our mouths full of dirt.

What is compost but rotting material any way? But when was the last time you seen compost full of BUGS? Bad bugs, caterpillars, centipedes, insect larvae, they don't like to live there. Period!
But if you do see many bugs they are the good guys so leave them alone. Or they just may be a bad guy passing through.

Every year we should be working compost into our gardens, flower and vegatable.
And that is why you mow your lawn and leave th clippings lay where they fly - they turn into compost for your yard. Don't catch it and bag it, not even to put onto the compost heap. Your yard will look better and be healthier.

Be it you have a compost pile in the back corner of your yard, or rotating compost bins you have purchased, add compost to your gardens every year.

If you don't have room for a composter at your house, try to purchase and add compost to your gardens at lest every other year. It is as important if not more inportant than trying to firtilize your gardens. Actually more important, as compost is in itself one of the best firtilizers you can get, and only needs a little help now and then.

PLUS COMPOST IS FREE!!!

And ladies!! Leave those garden spiders alone! They are the good guys! They are not there to eat you nor carry away your children at night! They are there to eat bugs!
So are what we all refer to as "Mud Daubers". They are in the wasp family but they only sting as a defense, give them some space, and .... ready? .... they eat bugs!
Mud daubers are not aggressive and stings are very uncommon. Leave those poor guys alone. They are really the good guys!

Comment by Chief Walks on March 9, 2016 at 6:42am

If you raise free-range chickens, by leaving a light on for your chickens for a few hours each evening you can attract tasty bugs into the hen house.

Comment by Chief Walks on March 9, 2016 at 6:37am

I don't know how your weather has been up there in NE Washington Tsoi but if your trees are in buds now like ours are, it is too late.
But ....
You can prune away any broken or diseased branches any time of the year. It's important to get these off and away from your tree so that they don't sap nutrients from the tree.
Wait until just before spring to do any major pruning. Winter pruning is best for any fruit tree.
Make sure you have the right pruning shears for the job. You should have a couple different sizes of shears at your disposal. And make sure they are sharp!
Keep your cuts clean and don't cut so close to the branch or trunk that you gouge it. Also, when it comes to pruning, less is more. You're better off doing more training of your tree early on than pruning a great deal later. If you thinned the pear tree out last year, wait a few years before thinning it again.
Cut back any shoots that spring up around the tree. Also, trim back any branches that are aren't pointing upwards. Branches that seem to be too close to each other and causing friction against each other are troublesome, trim one away to relieve the other.
Get to the inside of the tree. Anything that doesn't get sunshine isn't going to produce fruit. Trim away some interior branches. Your leader, or main top branch, should be solitary. Cut off any competition that has sprung up next to it. Also, watch for whorls and slender spaces between branches. Both should be pruned.
There are a couple good videos on You Tube that you can pull up that will help you get the idea.
Don't be afraid to jump in there and do it yourself. Just be careful and use your own common sense. Follow these guidelines and you'll be a pro after a couple trees. Just remember you'll only have to do this once every five to ten years anyway. Good Luck!

Comment by Tsoi Tawodi on March 8, 2016 at 4:36pm

Chief Walks...thank you for your posts...they help me out a lot...gardening is a love of mine. Do have a question that maybe you can help me with. I have a pear tree that does well each year but the branches are sagging really low...is there a way to prune them without hurting the fruit????
Equa Wado

Comment by Chief Walks on March 8, 2016 at 3:14pm

I am always being asked about transplanting blooming shrubs. The rule of thumb is to move spring bloomers in the fall after they have gone dormant and fall bloomers before they wake up in the spring. Moving a plant just prior to its bloom season usually means that you will sacrifice some blooms. Dig your holes and get your soil ready before you dig up the plants from their old location. It's not good for the roots to be exposed any longer than they have to be. Get them replanted as quickly as you can.

Comment by Chief Walks on March 4, 2016 at 1:46pm

Crop Rotation Made Simple - Rotate Your Vegetable Beds for Healthier Produce

Comment by Chief Walks on February 28, 2016 at 9:42am

Thank you Tsoi Tawodi. One year you might want to leave some of those leaves on the ground to enrich your yard too.

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