Garden Calendar for the New Year
December 2017
by Dr. Joe White,
Honorary Master Gardener & Founder of NWLAMG
Many gardeners keep gardening calendars which mostly serve as reminders of things to do in their gardens, flower beds and landscapes. The following suggestions are not meant to replace any good gardening calendars or books such as Dan Gill's "Month by Month Gardening in Louisiana." Only use these ideas as supplements to any gardening calendars which you already have. Please now that these few ideas and suggestions only cover a small part of the things gardeners routinely do.
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
November
January
- Plant selected vegetable and flower seed in greenhouses, cold frames or hot beds for transplants to use in the weeks ahead.
- Bed preparation is in order for those cool season flowers.
- Plant new roses of the most disease resistant types.
- Check out your stock of agricultural chemicals including pesticides and fertilizers. Restock as needed.
- Plant onions and lettuce in the garden. Choose the smallest onion plants or use sets.
- This is the prime time to plant woody ornamentals. Choose from some of the Louisiana Super Plants whenever possible.
February
- Continue to plant cool season vegetables that were not planted last month.
- Prune and fertilize fruit trees.
- Prune and fertilize rose bushes.
- Prune only the ornamental plants that won't flower until summer. Fertilize all ornamentals.
- Apply pre-emergence herbicides for unwanted summer weeds such as crabgrass. Use post-emergence herbicides on existing annual winter weeds
March
- Finish fertilizing both landscape plants and small fruits such as strawberries.
- Finish planting most woody ornamental plants including trees, shrubs and vines.
- Last chance to plant cool season flowers and vegetables.
- If you have a yard to mow, get your lawnmower serviced and ready.
- Prepare beds and gardens for warm season flowers and vegetables. Plant after last frost.
April
- Plant warm season vegetables. Wait until near month's end for those sensitive to cool soils, such as okra and sweet potatoes.
- Plant warm season flowers in beds that are clear of cool season varieties.
- Prune trees and shrubs that have finished their spring bloom. Azaleas should be pruned within six weeks after shedding their last flower.
- Harvest your cool season vegetables as soon as they reach full maturity.
- Fertilize lawns with a 3:1:2 ratio fertilizer such as 15:5:10. Mid-month is a good time to begin.
May
- Plant sweet potato slips and okra. Peanuts may also be planted now.
- Establish or renovate lawns.
- Harvest vegetables as they mature. This is when home grown produce excels in flavor compared to shipped produce.
- Watch for insect pests. The bagworm will be beginning to appear on junipers and other similar evergreens. Lace bugs will be invading azaleas. Control them by whatever method you want to use; but do control them.
- Plant heat-tolerant tomatoes.
June
- Enjoy the locally grown blackberries, blueberries and peaches that are currently available in area farmers' markets.
- Irrigate any and all of your plants if the weather becomes dry for an extended period.
- Groom beds of annual flowers.
- Continue to pick ripening vegetables.Check local farmers' markets for vegetables and fruits that you don't grow.
- Take frequent breaks from your chores if the weather is hot; drink plenty of fluids.
July
- Renovate and replace flower beds with new plants if grooming is not possible.
- Plant pumpkins early in the month for a harvest around Halloween.
- Now is a great time to make cuttings from azaleas, camellias, etc.
- Last chance to pinch off tips of chrysanthemums for improved form and flowering. Complete this task by the middle of the month.
- Top-dress your lawn with a light application of a high nitrogen fertilizer.
- Do limited pruning of hydrangeas.
August
- Some of the vegetables that do well in fall gardens a can be planted now.
- Prune out excessive growth from the center of peach trees.
- Prune most bush roses back to about 30 inches and remove weak growth. Fertilize with an appropriate fertilizer to promote a great October bloom.
- Good insect control and plenty of water are keys to success for fall gardens, both flowers and vegetables.
- Check out local nurseries and garden centers for spring flowering bulb flowers, such as tulips and daffodils, that you intend to plant during the last four months of the year. If you can't find what you want locally, order from a reputable catalog.
September
- If you're planning to winterize your lawn, its best to do it before the 15th of the month. Fertilizers high in potassium are generally best.
- Be sure to irrigate pecan trees and azaleas if the weather is dry and hot. (The pecan nuts are filling and the azaleas are still maturing flower buds for next spring.)
- This is the time to set out strawberry plants...not spring months.
- Clean and sanitize greenhouses while the weather is still favorable.
- Enjoy muscadine grapes in both August and September. If you don't grwo them, others in the area do and you will likely find them in area farmers' markets.
- Here's another opportunity to set out strawberry plants.
- Treat lawns with pre-emergence herbicides to control common winter annual weeds such as henbit, spur weed and chick wee.
- Plant any spring-flowering bulbs not already planted except tulips and hyacinths that are still undergoing their needed 45 days of pre-chilling.
- Plant your favorite cool season flowers such as pansies, dianthus, violas and snapdragons plus ornamental cabbage and kale. Other cool season annuals you might wish to consider include Louisiana Super Plants. These are the swan series of columbine, the Amazon series of dianthus, the Camelot series of foxglove, Redbor kale, the Sorbet series of viola and Diamonds Blue delphinium.
- Many wildflowers may be planted this month.
- Condition container plants which have spent the summer outdoors for their return to an indoor environment. You do this by gradually giving them less light over a several weeks period.
November
- By this time, leaves should be falling from your deciduous trees and shrubs. Don't waste them! Use them to make a beneficial compost pile.
- Continue planting cool season annual flowers that didn't get planted last month.
- Plant onion seed.
- This month marks the beginning of the prime planting season for nearly all woody ornamentals. Replace or plant desirable species as desired. check out the Louisiana Super Plant list for outstanding species that may fit your needs.
- Prepare equipment and tools for winter storage.
- Harvest berried branches from hollies and other suitable plants for use as Christmas greenery.
- If using a natural tree for Christmas, select one of good form and that is fresh. The various firs tend to be long-lasting as are Leyland Cypress trees that are grown in the area.
- Drop some hints to family and friends about what you would like to have for use in your gardening efforts. Equipment? Tools? Supplies? You might get lucky.
- This is the opportune time to get some rest. Snuggle down in a plush, comfortable chair, take a vacation, watch some football bowl games on T.V. or attend one of the games. Go fishing or golfing. Take a long siesta after one of those big holiday meals.
- Read some gardening magazines or books. You might get some useful ideas you would like to try or discover a plant that would look good in your landscape.
- While I realize that not everyone is a gardener, horticulture does indeed touch almost all of us in one way or another. If you've never attempted your hand at any type of horticulture, you just might enjoy it and may find that it's quite relaxing.
WHAT TO DO WITH FALLEN LEAVES
November 2017
BY
Joe White,
Honorary Master Gardener & Founder of NWLAMG
Although leaves have been falling from our deciduous trees for some time already, mostly it’s because of the weather we’ve had this year. Now, as our trees (and many other plants) slip into their fall colors, it won’t be long until those leaves that have already accomplished their primary goals begin to turn loose and blanket the ground. In both major forests and small woodlands this is a good thing. It is a re-cycling of organic materials that capture and hold water, reduce erosion and eventually return valuable minerals (nutrients) to the soil to be used again by the plant life. However, many residents who maintain lawns are not too happy to see these leaves accumulate on the ground. Left in place for too long of a time they can damage the lawn grass, but if raked up into piles they present a most unattractive appearance.
So what should a homeowner do about this problem? As you might expect there is more than one option. Probably the worst thing you can do (in my opinion) is to rake them into a pile and burn them…if that’s even legal where you live. A second option which is far better is to rake them up, stuff them into big plastic bags and put them out on the curb for disposal. If city workers pick them up, that’s not good. However, with a growing population of people who garden in one form or another and who recognize the value of leaves, there’s a good chance that some of that group may come by and claim the bags of leaves for use in their own horticultural practices.
Yet another way to deal with the fallen leaf problem is to re-locate them on your own property. Although it’s best to run them through a shredder/chipper before moving them, they certainly can be moved without “processing”. Persons who have a currently vacant vegetable garden can scatter them as a thin to moderate layer over the soil surface and till them into the soil. This is an important soil enrichment process which, as the leaves decompose, returns minerals to the soil, increases organic matter content and improves the soil environment for beneficial soil microorganisms. So you still have some crops growing in your garden. In that case, scatter the leaves among your growing vegetables as a mulch to reduce erosion, to smother winter weeds that begin to appear and later at a convenient time to be tilled into the soil for enrichment.
So you don’t have a vegetable garden, but you do have flower beds and a variety of shrubs on your grounds. Fallen leaves, particularly when shredded, make a great mulch at the base of both winter annuals and perennial flowers and are excellent for placing under shrubs to protect the roots of these plants against very low winter temperatures. As with their use in other locations, they help suppress weeds, stabilize soil moisture and can add an attractive quality to the plants.
A final option (and possibly the best of all) is to compost the leaves. Here is not only an opportunity to deal with the leaves, but also to get rid of grass clippings along with organic wastes from both the garden and kitchen. While the best way to do this does involve some work, composting doesn’t have to involve any work at all…just moving the materials to the site of the compost pile. While I don’t have the space to give the details of composting, there’s a world of free literature on that subject. Simply said, you need a space 5 feet square of larger and it should be located in a place that’s convenient, but least visible from both the home and street.
So what should a homeowner do about this problem? As you might expect there is more than one option. Probably the worst thing you can do (in my opinion) is to rake them into a pile and burn them…if that’s even legal where you live. A second option which is far better is to rake them up, stuff them into big plastic bags and put them out on the curb for disposal. If city workers pick them up, that’s not good. However, with a growing population of people who garden in one form or another and who recognize the value of leaves, there’s a good chance that some of that group may come by and claim the bags of leaves for use in their own horticultural practices.
Yet another way to deal with the fallen leaf problem is to re-locate them on your own property. Although it’s best to run them through a shredder/chipper before moving them, they certainly can be moved without “processing”. Persons who have a currently vacant vegetable garden can scatter them as a thin to moderate layer over the soil surface and till them into the soil. This is an important soil enrichment process which, as the leaves decompose, returns minerals to the soil, increases organic matter content and improves the soil environment for beneficial soil microorganisms. So you still have some crops growing in your garden. In that case, scatter the leaves among your growing vegetables as a mulch to reduce erosion, to smother winter weeds that begin to appear and later at a convenient time to be tilled into the soil for enrichment.
So you don’t have a vegetable garden, but you do have flower beds and a variety of shrubs on your grounds. Fallen leaves, particularly when shredded, make a great mulch at the base of both winter annuals and perennial flowers and are excellent for placing under shrubs to protect the roots of these plants against very low winter temperatures. As with their use in other locations, they help suppress weeds, stabilize soil moisture and can add an attractive quality to the plants.
A final option (and possibly the best of all) is to compost the leaves. Here is not only an opportunity to deal with the leaves, but also to get rid of grass clippings along with organic wastes from both the garden and kitchen. While the best way to do this does involve some work, composting doesn’t have to involve any work at all…just moving the materials to the site of the compost pile. While I don’t have the space to give the details of composting, there’s a world of free literature on that subject. Simply said, you need a space 5 feet square of larger and it should be located in a place that’s convenient, but least visible from both the home and street.
COUNT ON PANSIES FOR WINTER COLOR
October 2017
BY
Joe White,
Honorary Master Gardener & Founder of NWLAMG
Certainly, there are other choices of plants for color in your winter flower beds and containers, but you can sure count on pansies to provide that color…even when the temperatures are frigid. They are one of the few plants that can sustain low temperatures for multiple days and retain their beauty. Unlike many older cultivars that had poor heat tolerance and therefore could only brighten our landscapes from late October to late March, many of the newer cultivars can be planted in September and will generally (under good conditions) last until the summer of next year.
If you’re looking for a flower that offers a wide range of colors, pansies may be your best bet with the possible exception of chrysanthemums. The colors of purple and gold were always favorites among the older cultivars and that is probably still true with the newer introductions. Do you think that these LSU colors could be a factor? So you’re not an LSU fan. Not a problem. There are many other colors from which to choose.
So now that you have decided to plant some pansies you need to go shopping for them…if your beds are ready. Hopefully, you have chosen a location that is well-drained and in full sun. While peak performance can be expected in maximum light, they do surprisingly well under a deciduous tree that has shed it canopy of foliage. If the leaves are still clinging to the tree, be sure to keep them cleared from the planting of pansies as soon as they fall. There’s another aspect of location. For greatest enjoyment they should be placed where they can be viewed at all times. This might be in planters or pots on a porch or patio, on a deck or open balcony or perhaps near a major water feature that is visited frequently. Ground beds near the home’s front entrance or close to the entrance of your driveway are other places that are seen as you come and go. Border beds and beds that are islands in your landscape which can be seen from a window also make good choices for locating pansies.
One important key to successfully growing pansies is a well-prepared soil. The best approach is to get a soil test. And while there are available kits that allow you to do your own testing, a more accurate evaluation of your soil can be done by the LSU Soil Lab at Baton Rouge for only a $10 fee. You can get the shipping box and forms at your closest LSU Extension office or you can download the forms from your computer.
Making the bed: Adjust the pH (relative acidity) of the soil to somewhere between 5.5 and 6.0. with either lime or sulfur...if needed. An LSU Soil lab report will tell you which of these (if any) you need and how much of the material to use. The next step is to spread a generous amount of an organic material over the bed, top that with a suggested or recommended amount of an appropriate fertilizer and mix these with the soil to a 6 inch depth. For long lasting nutrition, use one of the slow-release fertilizers programmed to last at least 6 months. As a means of keeping flowering at a high level, apply a small amount of blood meal once a month. Pinching off spent blossoms (dead-heading) will keep your bed or container looking its best, but can get tedious on large plantings.
Pansy cultivars with small or medium size blossoms often give a better appearance as the large blossom types tend to bend the slender stems and face the ground. Close spacing will create a planting of a more solid color, but should probably be limited to container plantings due to the increased cost.
By Joe W. White, Ph.D.
Extension Horticulturist, (ret.)
LSU AgCenter
SAVING SEED
September 2017
BY
Joe White,
Honorary Master Gardener & Founder of NWLAMG
At this time of year many gardeners (certainly not all) have put away, or thought about putting away some of their gardening tools and are taking a respite from the baking sun. For some, fall flower bed and fall vegetable gardens haven’t even crossed their minds or have been canceled altogether. Now, men are setting their agendas around watching football games, doing more fishing or planning for the upcoming hunting season while the ladies may do some of the same or may have a multitude of other things to do that there wasn’t time for during the early gardening season.
Out in their respective gardens unharvested seed from both vegetable crops and flowers are clinging to their mother plants and drying in the sun, or if an unlikely wet spell occurs, are absorbing water and starting to germinate. These seed are the bridges that link one generation of plants to the next and true gardeners tend to get restless as they watch them perish in their gardens, knowing that left too long, many will not be viable in the next season. Even though they know that fresh seed bought annually invariably have a higher rate of germination and usually produce seedlings that are more vigorous, they still can’t resist saving some of the seed from their favorite vegetable or flower.
Commercially produced seed is often better choices because the companies that grow the plants know exactly when to gather the seed, how much to dry them and the best way to store them to allow the seed to maintain the highest possible rate of sprouting. There are, however, some instances where saving your own seed is important. One instance, for sure, is to maintain an old family line of plants that have been passed down for several generations. Such seed is simply not commercially available.
Probably one of the best reasons for not saving the extra seed from your own plants is that we grow now, so many species of both vegetables and flowers that are hybrids. Typically, hybrids are more vigorous than open pollinated plants, but their seed contains a mixture of germ plasm. What this simply means is the seed saved from these hybrid plants will produce only a few plants that resemble their parent plants while the rest of the seed will favor plants back along the two lines that were involved in producing the original hybrid plants. In short, you will have no idea of what will come up when you plant the seed collected from a hybrid plant in your garden.
There is another reason why saving the seed from your mature garden and flower bed plants may not be the best practice. Plant breeders and geneticists are constantly developing new cultivars of both flowers and vegetables that are superior to anything we might have in our gardens. In the case of vegetables, it might be better flavor, more insect or disease resistance, greater yield, better tolerance to wet conditions, dry conditions, etc. With flowers, the advantage could be longer or earlier season of bloom, added colors, disease tolerance, heat tolerance, longer life as a cut flower, a more perfect size for a particular need, etc.
But if you have decided that those extra seed now residing in your garden or flower bed merit saving, here are some suggestions:
Be sure the seed fully matures before picking them and then air-dry these seeds in the shade for several days. At the end of the drying period place them in containers with tight-fitting lids. Store these containers ideally in a refrigerator, but if such space is not available, choose as cool a location as you can find. As long as the storage temperature stays in the range of 35 to 50 degrees F., most seed will store very successfully for at least one year. Label each storage vessel very clearly with ink or a special pencil that will not smear being sure to note the kind of seed, the cultivar or variety and the date the seed were put into storage
SAVING SEED
BY
Joe White,
Honorary Master Gardener & Founder of NWLAMG
1998
Out in their respective gardens unharvested seed from both vegetable crops and flowers are clinging to their mother plants and drying in the sun, or if an unlikely wet spell occurs, are absorbing water and starting to germinate. These seed are the bridges that link one generation of plants to the next and true gardeners tend to get restless as they watch them perish in their gardens, knowing that left too long, many will not be viable in the next season. Even though they know that fresh seed bought annually invariably have a higher rate of germination and usually produce seedlings that are more vigorous, they still can’t resist saving some of the seed from their favorite vegetable or flower.
Commercially produced seed is often better choices because the companies that grow the plants know exactly when to gather the seed, how much to dry them and the best way to store them to allow the seed to maintain the highest possible rate of sprouting. There are, however, some instances where saving your own seed is important. One instance, for sure, is to maintain an old family line of plants that have been passed down for several generations. Such seed is simply not commercially available.
Probably one of the best reasons for not saving the extra seed from your own plants is that we grow now, so many species of both vegetables and flowers that are hybrids. Typically, hybrids are more vigorous than open pollinated plants, but their seed contains a mixture of germ plasm. What this simply means is the seed saved from these hybrid plants will produce only a few plants that resemble their parent plants while the rest of the seed will favor plants back along the two lines that were involved in producing the original hybrid plants. In short, you will have no idea of what will come up when you plant the seed collected from a hybrid plant in your garden.
There is another reason why saving the seed from your mature garden and flower bed plants may not be the best practice. Plant breeders and geneticists are constantly developing new cultivars of both flowers and vegetables that are superior to anything we might have in our gardens. In the case of vegetables, it might be better flavor, more insect or disease resistance, greater yield, better tolerance to wet conditions, dry conditions, etc. With flowers, the advantage could be longer or earlier season of bloom, added colors, disease tolerance, heat tolerance, longer life as a cut flower, a more perfect size for a particular need, etc.
But if you have decided that those extra seed now residing in your garden or flower bed merit saving, here are some suggestions:
Be sure the seed fully matures before picking them and then air-dry these seeds in the shade for several days. At the end of the drying period place them in containers with tight-fitting lids. Store these containers ideally in a refrigerator, but if such space is not available, choose as cool a location as you can find. As long as the storage temperature stays in the range of 35 to 50 degrees F., most seed will store very successfully for at least one year. Label each storage vessel very clearly with ink or a special pencil that will not smear being sure to note the kind of seed, the cultivar or variety and the date the seed were put into storage
SAVING SEED
BY
Joe White,
Honorary Master Gardener & Founder of NWLAMG
1998