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This
is the time to dream of your next garden and to catch up on things left
undone. Let an armchair, a teacup and catalogs be your tools.
Spraying Orchard
Now = Fewer Problems Later
Defend
your fruit trees against pests and diseases with dormant sprays, which are
applied to dormant, leafless deciduous trees and shrubs. There are typically
two sprays applied at the same time. Dormant oil (horticultural oil) controls
over-wintering insects like aphids, thrips and mites. Lime-sulfur spray helps
control peach leaf curl and fire blight, diseases caused by fungus. Both meet
organic standards. Some diseases respond best to copper sprays, but these
sprays can’t be combined with the dormant oils. Spray separately.
Ideally,
the first spray was done after the trees dropped all their leaves in late
fall. If not, start now. The second round is usually around the New Year, and
the third, just before the trees start to bud, which would make Valentine’s
Day a safe date to remember.
A Disposable
Cold Frame
If
you want a quick cold frame for starting new plants without having to build
something, make one from hay bales. Use six bales to make a rectangle two
bales long and one bale wide. Leave it open in the center and this will just
enough room for a couple of flats of cuttings or seeds. Lay old windows or
clear plastic over the opening to let in sunshine and trap heat. By the time
your seedlings or cuttings are far enough along to need out, the worst of the
cold should be over and you can remove the bales. |
Pot feet |
Pot
Feet
Tired
of containers staining your deck or porch? Try pot feet. Three feet for
each round pot will raise the pot enough to allow air circulation and
help keep soil, water and mildew from staining the surface.
Weatherproof, fired clay feet will last for years and are priced
affordably at about $1 each.
Reach
for the Long Pruners
Between
now and late February you’ll find yourself doing a lot of pruning. To
make the job easier, |
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especially
on thorny roses or other plants that scratch your arms or catch on
shirtsleeves, use long-handled loppers or shears. There are several
brands and styles on the market. You may want a couple — a lighter one
for lighter jobs like roses, and a heavier lopper for bigger woody
plants. |
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Try
Landscape Fabric
Now
is a good time to tidy shrub beds with landscape fabric for weed
control. Most are a polypropylene material that lasts for years. Topped
with a couple inches of mulch, landscape fabric does a pretty good job
of keeping down weeds yet allowing the ground to breathe. The
alternative, black plastic, degrades quickly and doesn’t allow air or
water through. Use fabric only in areas where you won’t be digging
later to plant flowers. |
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Don’t
use with ground covers because the fabric will interfere with their
spreading. The exception to this is any ground cover juniper whose woody
stems creep on top of the ground but don’t root. A layer of fabric and
mulch will help prized plants such as azaleas and hydrangeas endure
another summer of drought, but let’s hope that won’t be.
Fighting
Back Against
Invasives
Kudzu
may the best-known example of invasive plants species, but there are
others advancing through the land. These include Chinese tallow, Chinese
privet, alligator weed, cogongrass and |
Viola Skippy
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others.
If you want to learn more about this problem, join the Alabama Invasive
Plant Council, a non-profit organization bringing together
horticultural, agricultural, recreational and commercial interests
threatened by the spread of invasives. Visit their website at www.se-eppc.org/alabama
for more information. The council was established in 2003 to raise
awareness and provide technical, |
Osteospermum AstiWhite
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advisory
and educational support. You may also contact them at Alabama Invasive
Plant Council; 101 Life Sciences Building; Auburn University; Auburn,
Alabama 36849 or by calling 334-844-1630. To learn more about the
problem of invasives on public lands and on a national level, see the
U.S. Fish and WildlifeService’s Center for Invasive Plant Management
online training at http://www.fws.gov/invasives/volunteersTraining
Module.
2008
All America Winners
This
year an eggplant and two flowers (Osteospermum AstiWhite and Viola
Skippy) won awards for outstanding performance throughout the U.S. All
America Selections has been selecting outstanding varieties since 1939.
You can see this year’s winners and some from previous years growing
in the AAS display gardens at Bellingrath Gardens in Mobile, Birmingham
Botanical Garden, North Alabama Horticultural Research Center in Cullman
and Auburn University.
Lois
Trigg Chaplin is author of The Southern Garderner’s Book of Lists
and former Garden Editor of Southern Living Magazine.
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Eggplant
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