Garden Solutions - December 2015

The month of December brings the holiday season and warm thoughts of family, friends and community. I would like to say “Thank You” and wish you and yours a “Blessed Holiday Season” with all the best in the New Year!

Fall will turn into winter this month. It may not always be the most comfortable time to be planting anything in your landscape, but it is a great time for the plants. Trees and shrubs are completely dormant now, so the concept of transplant shock does not apply. 

Trimming or pruning of some of your trees and shrubs can be done now. Basically, it breaks down like this, if the tree or shrub flowers before the 1^st of June don’t touch it now. If it flowers after the 1^st of June, you can safely cut it now. Resist the urge to cut back everything. Most perennials benefit from adding a layer of mulch or dead leaves. If you had any fungus or disease problems in an area, go ahead and cut back the plants in that area and rake up the debris. Keep your ornamental grasses up until mid-March.

Roses: a winter “hair-cut” can be given, but don’t cut them back all the way. Some winters can be so cold that the roses could get winter die-back which would need to be removed in the spring anyway, so plan on your heaviest rose trimming in spring in early April. Apply a thick layer (10-12”) of mulch at the base of your roses now.

Plants get “chapped lips” too. Cold, dry winter winds and bright winter sun make our skin chapped and unhealthy. Those winds have a devastatingly similar effect on your plants, which are out in the winds all winter. No wonder your evergreens don’t look so great come spring. This drying effect is called desiccation. To fight desiccation, choose the right plants for windy, dry areas. Make sure to water your evergreens well through early December, before the ground freezes. Mulch your plants for winter to retain soil moisture as well as soil temperature. Use an anti-desiccant like Wilt Stop by Bonide. These products coat leaves and needles to slow down the loss of moisture.

Here are a few tips on winter houseplant care. When the heat goes on and the daylight becomes shorter, it may be necessary to move the plants to a different place in the home and to give them different treatment from that given during the summer. Flowering plants need at least half a day of direct sunlight. Cacti and many succulents require a sunny location, and crotons need direct sun to maintain the decorative color. The ideal temperatures for foliage plants are 68-70 degrees during the day and slightly lower at night. Remember, windowsill locations are much colder during the winter and plants may need to be moved to prevent them from getting chilled. The amount of water the houseplants need declines during winter, so increase the amount of time between watering. Reduce fertilizing as well.

Some of the plants in your landscape can help you decorate for the Christmas season as you prune them for next year. Holly and Boxwood can be trimmed now with some of the cuttings used to accent wreaths or live indoor plants. Additionally, some of the growth of evergreens such as White Pine, Norway Spruce, even some of the seed heads of ornamental grasses can be used to make a harvest wreath or basket for your front door or porch. Talk about recycling! After Christmas, you can take them to your compost bin for future fertilizer! Along with these Holiday tips, here are a few other ideas for the month:

·                     Use caution when spreading salt or calcium on ice or snow packed walks or driveways. Salt can damage lawns and plantings, calcium is much safer to use. Be sure to designate areas to for piling snow from plowing in advance to prevent damage to trees, shrubs and lawns.

·                     Continue to feed our fine feathered friends and place heated birdbaths with fresh water out for them.

Again, I wish you and your family a very Blessed Christmas season. Let’s get to work on planning that beautiful garden scene for next year!

 

See you in the Garden…………..

Sandi Hillermann Mcdonald

 

 

Garden Solutions - November 2014

           It is hard to believe we are ending another summer and fall season. Below is a list of things you can do on warm fall days to prepare for winter.  The days are quickly getting shorter, so dig into these tasks listed below and enjoy the outdoors as much as you can!

ü      The most important step is to make sure all plants--perennials, shrubs and trees--are well watered throughout November to insure adequate winter food reserves. That final, thorough soaking before the last frost is essential, but not enough. Soak evergreens and new plantings again in midwinter during a warm spell if moisture is not abundant.

ü      Mulching is an important step but the purpose is not to keep plants warmer, rather to keep soil temperatures from fluctuating so much.

ü      Protect the trunks of newly transplanted or young thin barked trees to minimize frost cracks when temperatures fluctuate wildly. White plastic roll covers and paper wrap, rolled from the bottom up, are good choices.

ü      Till up the vegetable garden to expose many insect pests to winter cold and reduce their numbers in next year’s garden.

ü      Continue mowing lawn grasses as long as they keep growing, a height of 2-3” is good.

ü      Apply Winterizer fertilizer to lawns to strengthen plant stems and roots for winter growth and early spring green up.

ü      Plant tulips and other spring bulbs now through December.

ü      Dig and store tender bulbs planted this spring such as Dahlias, caladiums, and elephant ears.

ü      Start paperwhite, narcissus, and amaryllis bulbs indoors now thru December.

ü      Roll up and store garden hoses on a warm, sunny day.

ü      Towards the end of the month, be sure to shut off and drain any outdoor water pipes or irrigation systems that may freeze during cold weather.

ü      Cover garden ponds with bird or pond netting to prevent leaves from fouling the water. Oxygen depletion from rotting organic matter can cause a winterkill of pond fish.

ü      Take steps to prevent garden ponds from freezing solid in winter. Using a floating garden heater in the pond will lessen the chance of ice damage and provide an area for gas exchange that is needed to sustain fish.

ü      After the first hard freeze, mulch rose bushes heavily to a depth of 12” to cover the plant graph area properly using bark, compost, or straw with rose collars. Prune back longer canes to 24-36” to prevent whipping from wind in the winter. Hold off on heavy pruning until April of next year. Mulch strawberries with straw for winter. The best time to do this is after several nights of 20° F, but before temperatures drop into the teens. Apply straw loosely, but thick enough to hide plants from view.

ü      Set up bird feeders. Birds also appreciate a source of unfrozen drinking water during the winter. Use one of the many styles of birdbath heaters or heated birdbaths available at garden centers.

ü      When feeding the birds, set up a variety of feeder types to get the best assortment of birds to come to your yard. Tube feeders are good for songbirds, platform feeders are good for cardinals and larger birds, and suet is a great source of fat and energy for woodpeckers and all bird types.

ü      Winter houseplant care: reduce or eliminate fertilizer until spring, shorter days mean slower growth, slower growth means less frequent watering. Plants in plastic pots need less water than those in clay pots. Plants in cooler rooms need less water and will have slower growth than those in warm rooms. Creating additional humidity is always beneficial. An easy way to increase humidity is to use trays filled with water and large pebbles. Place the plants on the pebbles so they will not sit in the water, but they can get the benefit of a higher humidity level as the water evaporates.

ü      Leave ornamental grasses standing tall for winter interest in the garden and for feeding the birds. Cut them down to 2-4” in early spring.

 

            It is hard to believe how fast November has arrived. From November 1, there are only 26 more days until Thanksgiving, 51 days until the first day of winter, 55 more days until Christmas and 62 more days until January 1, 2015! In addition, you know how fast the next 62 days are going to fly by! So fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the outdoors as you prepare for winter….Enjoy your yard and garden in every season!

Time to go….See you in the Garden....

Sandi Hillermann McDonald

 

  

Garden Solutions - January 11

Winter is upon us in full force. Only 78 days until spring arrives! A combination of sleet and snow has made many food sources impossible to reach for many of the wild birds in mid Missouri. In normal winter conditions, most birds have ways of coping with the cold. To help survive cold nights, Chickadees can lower their normal 108-degree body temperature by 12-15 degrees to conserve energy. By dawn, they, like many birds, will quickly dart to a food source to fill their empty stomachs. That is why early morning and late evenings are some of the ‘largest crowds’ at bird feeders. Because most normal food sources are now either ice encrusted or covered by snow, wild birds need and greatly benefit by mid Missouri residents feeding them during times like this.

A good thing to feed the wild birds is hi-energy foods like black oil sunflower seeds, tree nut pieces and suet that give birds more energy per ounce consumed. While something is better than nothing, there is problem with cheap mixes full of oats and wheat or things like bread and cereal that people sometimes throw on the snow. These foods are not only low in energy, they are also the favorites of nuisance, non-native birds like Starlings and English Sparrows that compete, not only for food, but also nesting cavities that many native birds utilize in winter to stay warm. Several Central Missouri songbirds like Bluebirds and Chickadees often sleep in groups on extremely cold nights in cavities or nest boxes transferring heat from one body to the next. It is not uncommon for 6-9 Bluebirds to emerge from one box. A challenge of feeding suet is that Starlings love it. Feed suet in upside down suet feeders and hang them high as Starlings have a hard time hanging upside down to feed and Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatches, and other desirable songbirds can easily hang upside down for feeding.

One need of wild birds often overlooked by consumers in cold weather is the need for ‘open water’. The main reason water is needed is that to keep warm, birds fluff out their feathers so they can better capture a ‘layer of air’ that acts as heated insulation. Matted, dirty feathers can’t be fluffed out, making a bird feel much like how a human feels that wears a down insulated jacket that’s all matted up and not very warm. That is why they need water throughout winter to bathe as well as drink. There are many birdbath heaters and heated birdbaths for as little or less that $20 to help keep water available for wild birds and cost pennies per day in electricity to run.

Does the weather keep you from getting out to your feeders? Just fling a spray of black oil seeds or a good quality wild bird mix out of a bucket or trash can and let it fly out across the top of the snow. Dozens of your feathered friends will soon add brilliant flashes of red and blue, and gray and white across the snow and you’ll hear their melodious songs as they sing ‘thanks’ to you for helping them survive.

If you can tolerate the cold weather, there are a number of things that you can do this month in your landscape that will lighten your workload for the rest of the season. The main item is pruning or thinning of your woody ornamentals. Deciduous trees such as maples, oaks, ash, etc., can be pruned at this time. Interior, broken, or crossing branches should be removed now while you can see exactly what you are removing. The general rule of thumb is that you should not touch spring flowering trees and shrubs at this time of year.

If the weather is extremely bad this month, then snow and/or ice removal are going to be the big tasks for this month. Heavy accumulations of snow or ice can easily damage plants. Dump a snow shovel full of wet snow on top of some of your shrubs and you may end up replacing the broken mass next spring. Snow plows can also do quite a bit of damage to plantings and lawn areas. Use location stakes with flags to show where your driveways and walkways are as well as where to “dump” excess snow. If you have to deal with ice, be extremely careful with the melting compound you use. Rock salt is the most widely used compound and it has the least temperature range for its effectiveness. In addition, rock salt will destroy concrete sidewalks, driveways, and concrete pavers. It will also kill most shrubs, perennials, and lawns. There are many other compounds used for melting ice that won’t damage your concrete or kill your plants. I recommend Calcium chloride or potassium chloride products. If you choose to use these, please read the labels thoroughly. Some work in very low temperatures, but are harmful to pets and wildlife. Others only work when the temperature is between 20 and 32 degrees. You can also use products such as birdseed, sawdust, and non-clumping cat litter to provide traction. Of course, these will not melt the ice, but they will not kill your plants, pets, or concrete.

If you have all of your pruning done, the snow or ice has been removed, and you still have time left to work on your outside to do list, don’t forget about your tools. If you haven’t already done so, it is time to thoroughly go over your lawn mower and make sure that it is already to go and will start on the first pull next spring. The same goes for all outdoor power equipment. Clean all of your hand tools, (pruners, shovels, rakes, etc.), removing any dirt, leaves, sap, from them. If they have wooden handles, inspect the handles for cracks, nicks, or splintering and either replace or repair them as needed. If they have a metal handle, check the welds for signs of breakage and have them repaired. If the tool is a cutting type, sharpen the edges as needed.

Time flies fast, so enjoy this winter preparing for spring, and we will “See you in the garden.”

Sandi Hillermann McDonald