Farmers Weekly Review

For the gardener, February brings dazzling dreams of the garden season ahead. By now, your mailbox has been stuffed with all those catalogs bursting with mouthwatering tomatoes and glorious zinnias in every imaginable color.

Perhaps you have even put in your seed orders already. So, you think you are all done, right?

Wrong.

Gardeners often forget the other part of planning for the year to come — evaluating what we already have — and February couldn’t be the more perfect time.

You know that feeling, right? When you are so tempted to start working outside, even though it is way too early. Well scratch that gardener’s itch by getting out there and taking a critical observation of what is working, what isn’t, what needs to go, and best of all, what you need to buy when the garden centers are stocked up.

So, with the leaves gone, you can really see the “bones” of the garden. Start with the trees and shrubs … are they still doing what you had initially planned? Homeowners often lament to me, “Well, when I bought it, it was such a pretty bush with beautiful blooms, but for the last 10 years, I am just not happy with it.”

Definitely time for re-evaluation.

I am no Marie Kondo, that extreme cleaning lady, but I do think her famous quote does apply in the garden: “If it doesn’t bring you joy; time to get rid of it.”

Often people are surprised when I suggest removing a plant for reasons other than danger or disease. They say how could you? Aren’t you a big plant lover? Yes, I am. Then I remind the caller that for every year you keep a less desirable, or sickly or non-blooming plant, is another year wasted of growth of a new more appropriate and useful plant.

Ten years is a long time for dissatisfaction. Some shrubs are billed to have numerous blooms year after year, but sometimes that promise is short lived. Some of the newer hydrangeas, like endless summer, turned out for some to call them “endless bummer.”

They grew and bloomed great, that first year; then few to no blooms in year two and worse after that. And it seems that no matter how much fertilizer and care you give them, still low to no blossom.  And let’s face it, no one grows a hydrangea for the leaves.

Another thing to observe is how your trees and shrubs are doing as they grow on. Even though they were the right size for the right spot, sometimes they outgrow their usefulness, and often it is to the detriment of the plants around them.

Snap some photos of your yard, too, sometimes what we can’t see when we look, often appears obvious when its on film. Remember that time you thought, “Gee, I really look great today,” then someone snaps a picture, and you and you think, “Good grief! How did I leave the house looking like that?” Same for garden photos

Plants I always say are like the three bears nursery story: They are either too big, too small or just right. The latter is what is preferred. But you know Mother Nature … all about growing. When you are looking at your landscape, have some plants overwhelmed others? Is there pruning needed to stop the taller plants from shading out the ones below? Maybe some pruning is in order? February and March are ideal pruning times.

Or what about that patch of Irises that was a nice small clump a few years ago? Well, surprise! That small patch takes up the size of a Volkswagen beetle. And if space isn’t a premium for you, disease and bug prevention should be.

In overly large older beds, gardeners will call me to say their Irises “smell,” not as in fragrant, but as in odor. For someone who can stick their head in a bucket of maggots, this smell even gets me. Behold, the Iris borer.

This is an amazing insect (I think all of them are). Iris borer moths lay their eggs in the leaf of the Iris (yes, that paper-thin iris leaf). It will appear as a water-stained brown mark. The larvae migrate into that large, thick, rhizome, and just like that college student who said they were just coming home “for a couple weeks,” the iris borer sets up house.

So why would I say this causes a plant disease? Because like all larvae, the number one job is to eat to get bigger. The unfortunate part, how do I say this delicately? Well let’s just say an Iris rhizome doesn’t come with a porta potty amenity.

So, the waste of the borer accumulates in the rhizome, creating soft rot. This is what kills the Iris, and it can be devastating to an Iris bed, wiping almost the entire bed before you know it. So put “dividing Irises” on your early spring list if your bed has gotten too big.

Now this next piece of advice is the one people fight me on tooth and nail, especially the gardeners who believe the quality of their turf is the supreme measurement by which all gardening should be judged. It is burning subject of turf under trees.

Here is the truth: Is it possible to grow turf under shade trees, especially maples? Yes. However, it will grow well only for about six weeks, and then start to decline and die. Then you can replant and now are in a perpetual cycle.

Why does this happen? Grass is a sun plant; it needs at least four to six hours of good sunlight. That is strike one.

But the part of turf under trees isn’t’ often considered; we don’t see at all what is going on underground. The root competition. Maples have incredibly high-riding roots. If you have ever seen an upended tree after a storm, you’ll see a thick mat of thousands of roots. The little ones are the real competitors, because this is where trees and all plants take up water. The poor grass doesn’t stand a chance.

So, consider breaking the cycle this year, pull out the area of no/low/poor grass, and consider replacing it with groundcovers — Hosta, even mulch.

And finally, I know I mention this often, but consider raised beds. Even if you don’t need them for physical comfort, by using high-quality potting mix — no hard clay, no weeds from the ground. You will be surprised in these compact systems, how much bigger yield you will have.