It’s About Thyme
by CHRIS WINSLOW
Mother’s Day is approaching fast this weekend. As a nurseryman, please allow me to make this observation: Mothers love to garden! A few gift ideas for readers:
Mixed plantings of culinary herbs. Pick a beautiful ceramic pot or hanging basket. Fill it with good potting soil and then plant four 4” potted herbs. Pick some that will cascade from the top of the pot. Creeping herbs like thyme, oregano and rosemary can also be mixed with popular, upright herbs like parsley, sage and chives. Then tie a bow around the top of the pot.
A European basket. Start with a nice woven basket with a handle. Then place potted flowering herbs and tropical plants inside. Add some packets of flower seed, a hand trowel, and some colorful (and useful) gardening gloves, some ribbon, and a card. Another beautiful homemade gift.
A living rose bush. There are some magnificent roses available that bloom all year and require little attention. Look for the “knock-out” series, and “home run.” They will add beauty to the landscape all year long.
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Try these tips for enhancing your green thumb as spring gets underway.
1. Plant flowers: This is a perfect time for flowering annuals and perennials. Begonias, zinnias, marigolds, moss-roses, purslanes and vinca are all good choices. Perennials might include lantanas, salvias, and verbenas.
2. Tend your vegetable garden: Water deeply to encourage a deep, drought tolerant root system, especially since 2011 continues to be a year of very little rain. Still time to add a few warm season crops: sweet and hot peppers, green beans, okra, eggplant and black-eyed peas. Fertilize tomatoes.
3. Mulch: Place around all plants to conserve water and keep the temperature around the plant roots comfortable. Mixing some compost with the mulch will help replace nutrients as the plants grow.
4. Care for roses: Dead-head spring flowering roses to encourage a new flush of flowers. Apply fertilizer to produce new flowers. Watch for powdery mildew, black spot and western flower thrip. Treat with organic sprays: Neem oil and wettable-sulphur.
5. Move houseplants outside: Put them out for a spring breather. Move them slowly toward their new light exposure. Too much sun too fast will burn the leaves. This is also a good time for transplanting.
6. Control insects: All this new spring growth is attractive to every kind of critter imaginable. Be nice to the environment (and to yourself) and only use organic sprays. If you have larvae (caterpillars) eating holes in your plants and trees, look for products that have B.T. as the main ingredient. If sucking insects like aphids, spider mites, whitefly, scale, and mealy bugs are the problem, use Neem oil or Spinosad.
7. Maintain irrigation: If you own an automatic sprinkler system, it would save water and money to have it tuned up. Set the controller for deep, infrequent watering to encourage a deep, drought-resistant root system. Install a rain sensor.
8. Fertilize lawn: Use an organic blend with a 3-1-2 ratio. Ten pounds per 1,000 square feet of turf area should be adequate.
9. Feed the birds: With lots of new birds in the area, keep those feeders full.
10. Grow basil: The top herb for the summer months is basil. With the nights getting warmer, this wonderful herb should finally have the temperatures it needs to take off.
Happy Gardening Everyone!
