March 26, 2019

Hi gardeners

This tulip is called 'Orca'

It’s a lovely spring day with lots of sun and birds singing here today.  It’s a bit chilly, just above freezing, but we have a warm up coming.  The robins are back now and our summer resident flock of turkey vultures are soaring in the blue sky.  I still haven’t heard any frogs and our pond is still mostly frozen.  And still no outside flowers! Some people to the south a few miles are reporting snowdrops and crocus in bloom but not here!

Last year the crocus didn’t bloom until April 2^nd so I guess we aren’t behind last year. But in 2017 they bloomed March 21^st and in 2016 by March 9^th so the trend appears to be later springs. The amur honeysuckle is showing green bud tips, and grass is starting to green up so progress is being made.

If you live in the country, you know how bad the roads can get in the spring.  Ours are the worst I have seen in many years. The mud is a foot deep in places. Our driveway is just soil- in summer it basically looks like lawn as it doesn’t get used a lot. This spring the ruts are so deep I have gotten stuck backing out.  I hate to add gravel because it shoots all over when you drive over it with the mower.  I’m hoping it dries up enough this week to fill in the ruts with soil.

My garden chore this week will to be to get posts in for the electric wire I am going to run across my front flower beds, so the deer won’t eat the tulips, hosta and daylilies coming up.  I’ll use small fiberglass posts and thin wire and it won’t be too visible after things get growing.  I can usually take it down later in spring when the deer have plenty to eat. 

I may have to use black netting in some beds to keep deer out.  Wednesday and Thursday are supposed to be mild and sunny, so I’ll be outside starting that project and doing some light clean up.  It’s nice to be able to work outside again but I wish I didn’t have to devout so much time to deer protection.

I also have to cut out some black walnut trees from various beds and trim back the wisteria.  Which leads me to: is it time to prune yet?

Spring pruning and clean up

It’s been a long hard winter but some of us are finally getting outside and starting to clean up the garden.  Gardeners may be thinking of pruning off those dead looking branches and cutting back stems of perennials left over winter.  But don’t be in too big of a hurry to do that pruning and removal protective mulches.

It depends on where you are of course, but we still get some winter weather in April here in Michigan (zones 3-6) from time to time. If you remove winter killed wood from plants too early a hard freeze may further damage the plant. The dead areas have a protective effect on the live wood below them. Some of you are lucky enough to live in warmer planting zones and maybe your freeze danger has passed. So, when is it safe to prune off winter damaged plant material?

Redbud blooms before most of it's leaves emerge

A good indication of when to remove winter killed wood on plants is when you see buds swelling on similar plants or on that plant itself. Consider where the plants are- plants by the house may have buds swelling earlier than those out in the open for example. And remember, all species of plants don’t leaf out or flower at the same time. Amur honeysuckle and some willows for example, leaf out very early.  Catalpa and walnut trees are late leafing out. 

Some plants bloom before you see leaves.  If the plant is young and not blooming age, you may see swelling buds on older plants before the non-blooming age plant. Many fruit trees, ornamental pears and crabapples, maples, redbuds, witch hazel, and magnolias are examples of plants that bloom before they get leaves. (In some years weather may cause leaves and flowers to emerge together.) Compare the same species at the same maturity if possible. 

If you have no similar plants, you could also ask an experienced gardener in the area if your plant species should have swelling buds or leaves at this time.  If the trees are leafing out and the grass needs mowing in your area most plants should at least have swollen buds. It’s probably safe to prune off dead parts.

Determining dead wood/stems

Winter killed woody stems may look dark brown or black and shriveled. If there are buds, they are brown and shriveled. Healthy areas will have green stems or have light brown but firm, smooth looking stems/branches and should have buds swelling if temperatures have been above freezing for a few weeks.

You can take a bud off and open it, if its green inside – or has a flower inside- it’s alive.  You can also scratch a small area of stem with your fingernail and see if there is green tissue underneath. A branch that snaps instead of bending is dead. 

If you are unsure what is dead, leave the plant a little longer and examine it a week or two later. Some plants are just hard to determine as to whether there is life left in them. Patience is the key to gardening. Pruning a little late is better than pruning too early and taking off healthy wood or causing further freeze damage below where you cut.  You can always prune dead wood off later, but you can’t replace the living parts you pruned off.

When you do begin pruning you may want to prune short pieces off at a time, checking the end left on the plant to see if any green tissue shows just under the bark layer. If you see green the branch is alive at that point.

No matter how careful you are there may be some years where you will experience more dieback after you’ve pruned.  That’s just part of gardening.

Roses

For roses, look at rose canes closely.  If you see some buds swelling or even little green tips of leaves emerging it is usually feel safe to remove all canes, (rose stems), that appear to be dead, those that are brown or black and have no swelling buds. Cut back to just above a bud on a green area of cane or cane where you see swelling buds. Use sharp pruning shears and cut on a slant.

For roses that are grafted- (most tea roses and roses that aren’t sold as shrub or landscape roses), you’ll see a thickened area on the stem near the ground where the graft union is.  If there are no living stems above the graft you have probably lost that rose.  Some growth may come back from the roots, but it will be what is called rootstock and usually won’t produce pretty roses.  Roses that are grown on their own roots, however, could be cut back to the ground if all the stems above that are dead, and most will regrow from the roots to their original form.

Pruning to shape or control plants

If the goal is to simply make the plant smaller or to remove odd protruding branches then you don’t need to worry if buds are swelling, simply remove the unwanted parts.  Some plants will bleed a lot in the spring as the sap is rising.  This may not seriously harm the plant, but it may be best to prune those plants before the ground thaws and buds swell.  Maples are an example of trees that bleed a lot from pruning cuts.

Bleeding sap may not harm oaks, but it will attract oak picnic beetles, which can carry oak wilt, a deadly oak disease.  Prune oak trees before buds swell, while they are dormant.

If you prune spring blooming plants like forsythia and lilacs before they bloom you may lose a lot of the flowers because you will be cutting the flower buds off. That won’t hurt the plant, but if you want the flowers prune the plants after they bloom.

Branches that have been broken in winter storms should be neatly cut off to prevent further damage to the tree.  Use the three-cut method on larger branches- one cut on the branch underside close to the trunk about ½ way through, then cut a few inches out from that cut all the way through.  The first cut prevents the bark and wood from tearing along the trunk as the branch falls.  After it’s off trim the stump just beyond the second cut on a slant away from the trunk.  Don’t use pruning paint or sealer on the cuts.

Early spring is also a good time to cut down tree saplings that may have invaded flower beds and remove any unwanted trees and shrubs.  Some plants do better with hard pruning in the spring.  I prune my bamboo to the ground, to keep it in control.  Buddleia plants seem to do better if pruned to the ground also.  Vines like wisteria and trumpet vine, which can get out of control, can also be cut back in early spring.  You may lose flowers on wisteria in the areas you prune back.

Pruning evergreen winter dieback

After a hard winter some evergreens, usually boxwood, arborvitaes/cedar, yews and junipers may have browned or reddish areas. This is sometimes called winter burn.  Don’t be quick to prune these discolored areas off. Usually they will produce new needles/leaves that will gradually replace the browned areas.  If by mid-summer the areas show no sign that new buds are appearing, you could prune then.

Pines and spruces that show yellowed needles all along a branch may not recover needles on that branch.  Sometimes new growth will appear at the tip of the branch, however.  Wait for a while before pruning off damage.

Broad leaved evergreens like holly and euonymus may also experience winter burn.  In these cases, the dead leaves may fall off and be replaced with new if you are patient.  If they haven’t recovered by mid-summer they probably won’t recover and branches should be removed.

Pruning back the stems of smaller perennials

If you left the dead stems of perennial plants on in the fall you may want to trim them in the spring.  I like to leave a couple inches of stem. It shows me where the plants are if they haven’t begun emerging and I won’t damage them when planting or working in the garden.

Be very careful when removing dead stems from mums.  New stems emerge from the base of the old ones and they may be removed with the old if you aren’t careful to leave about 3 inches of old stem standing.  Cut, don’t pull or break off stems.

Some plants like lavender can look like they are dead, with dried leaves hanging on stems.  Yet if left alone these stems may pop out new leaf buds. This is true of semi-shrubby plants that are normally evergreen in milder climates. With these plants take a wait and see attitude.

Removing mulch, fallen leaves and so on

It’s very tempting to get out there in spring and rake those flower beds clean.  But once again patience will bring rewards.  Remove deep smothering layers of old leaves and debris but leave a light covering if you can. Dead leaves from the previous year’s growth and tree leaves that blow into beds protect the tender new growth from frosts.

I personally remove only the heaviest coverings of leaves and let the rest rot in the spring rains and enrich the soil.  In a month you won’t know they are there.  If you do succumb to the “neat” garden theory be careful when raking beds so that you don’t damage emerging plants. Some emerging foliage that has been under mulch may look yellow, but don’t worry, it will green up quickly.

If you mounded soil up around roses or other plants remove it in stages, a little at a time. If you used frames around a plant and filled them with straw or leaves, do the same, remove the coverings over a few days.  However, if it suddenly gets very warm- above 75 degrees- remove it all.  Keep something nearby to cover the exposed plants if the temperature then falls below freezing over the next few days.  That can happen here in Michigan anyway.

Burlap wraps and screens should be removed when weather is regularly above 40 degrees in spring.  Rose cones should also be removed then.

I know we are all eager to get out there and garden and it seems logical to clean up the garden and prune off dead looking stems.  But a little patience and living with “messy” conditions a little longer makes for a healthier garden later.

Making syrup from black walnut trees

In my area the maple trees are being tapped for maple syrup now.  It’s a late season, many times syrup is being made in February. The best time to make maple syrup is when days are sunny and above freezing, but nights fall below freezing.  Once leaves start appearing the syrup season is over.

Here’s something a lot of people don’t know.  While maple trees, particularly sugar maples, offer a sap high in sugar that makes distinctive tasting syrup, many other trees can be tapped for their sap and the sap made into syrup.  In Alaska they make syrup from spruce trees, in some states syrup from birch is made.  Birch syrup is made after maple syrup in some places because the sap flow starts later.

Two universities- University of Kansas and Cornell University- did some research on making syrup from black walnut trees.  A few people have been making it for years and the universities wanted to see if consumers liked it and if it could be profitable to make.  The research found that most people liked the taste of black walnut syrup; it’s lighter in color and has a slightly nutty taste along with the sweetness.  It’s a bit more time consuming to make as black walnut sap has more water than maple sap.

The same equipment and procedures that are used to make maple syrup are used to make black walnut syrup.  It’s collected at the same time too.  The bottled syrup is being offered in a few places now, but it sells for about twice the cost of maple syrup.  The two universities say there is no reason that black walnut syrup couldn’t become a profitable farm market niche product.  By the way- it’s totally safe to eat black walnut syrup. 

Plants hear bees

Can plants hear?  Researchers say yes.  Animals use vibrations in the air to hear and so do plants.  A study found that when plants “hear” the buzz of their pollinators they quickly increase the sugar level in their nectar.  This would improve the chances of a pollinator visiting and sticking around long enough to pollinate the plants flowers.  It might also make them seek out similar flowers.

Researchers at Tel-Aviv University in Israel found that flowers functioned like ears in animals, which they suggest may be why many flowers are cup shaped. When they recorded the buzz of bees and played it near flowers the plants upped the sugar content in the flower’s nectar in about 3 minutes.  Other sounds did not cause a sugar increase in nectar.

This research still needs to be replicated but it fits with all the new information we are discovering about the senses of plants.

More reading

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/507319v1

Mushrooms might help prevent mental decline in aging

A new research study from the Department of Psychological Medicine and Department of Biochemistry at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore found that seniors who ate at least two, 3/4 cup servings of cooked mushrooms per week had less mental decline with aging. (The study did not involve Alzheimer’s disease, only what is called senile dementia.)

The study involved 600 seniors over age 60 and followed them for 6 years.  Those who ate mushrooms weekly performed better on tests of cognition, depression, and anxiety than those who did not.  The mushrooms consumed were golden, oyster, shiitake and white button mushrooms, eaten fresh, dried and canned. The researchers say that they believe all mushrooms would have the same benefit.

They think a compound called ergothioneine (ET), which is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound, is responsible for the effect.  People with senile dementia have less ET in their blood than people who appear to have healthy mental functioning.

Humans are unable to synthesize this compound on their own, but it can be obtained from food, particularly mushrooms.  A new study will isolate this compound and use it on participants. Other compounds in mushrooms may prevent neurodegeneration by inhibiting production of beta amyloid and phosphorylated tau, and acetylcholinesterase.

All of us older gardeners may want to add some mushrooms to our diet.  There are kits sold that will let you grow your own mushrooms too.

 More reading

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190312103702.htm

Plants eat animals too

We all know there are some carnivorous plants like Venus Fly Traps, but did you know that some plants that we don’t think of as meat eaters may actually be utilizing “meat” for part of their nutrition needs? Petunias, some campions and potatoes, for example, have sticky hairs that catch small insects.  They don’t have helpful digestive chemicals like true carnivorous plants to break down these insects.  Researcher’s suspect that the dead insects fall down in the soil near the plants and break down to provide nutrition.  There may be a special group of microbes that colonize the soil near these plants and help digest the insects, and plant roots absorb the nutrients along the way.

The word “protocarnivorous” is being used to describe plants which can’t digest insects on their own, but which trap and kill insects so that microorganisms can digest them to a form that plant roots can utilize.  This behavior usually evolves in conditions where soil nutrients are low.

Shepherd's purse
Wikimedia commons

A common edible weed, shepherds purse, (Capsella bursa-pastoris) has seeds that can utilize insect meat.  The seeds exude a sticky mucilage which attracts small insects and soil nematodes. When the mucilage gets wet tiny insects and soil nematodes stick to the seeds.  They die and break down and germinating seeds use them as fertilizer.  Researchers found that seedlings which germinated from seeds that captured nematodes were stronger and had greater length and mass than seedlings that germinated from seeds that didn’t capture nematodes.

If you are one of those people who enjoy munching on shepherd’s purse salads or French fries, you may want to remember the insects and nematodes that were killed to grow the plant (or not.)

More reading

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28564-x

Friends multiply joy and divide grief

Kim Willis

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And So On….

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Newsletter/blog information

I write this because I love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my research each week (or things I want to talk about). It keeps me engaged with people and horticulture. It’s a hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If you are on my mailing list and at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you or anyone you know who would like to receive a notification by email when a new blog is published have them send their email address to me.  KimWillis151@gmail.com

March 19, 2019

Hi gardeners

Swamp milkweed

Calendar spring arrives tomorrow.  It’s the spring equinox when the day and night are nearly equal.  And it sure feels like spring here today.  It’s sunny, nearly 50 degrees and the birds are singing.  Bulbs are peeking up but still no flowers.  I think my snowdrops may have gotten buried or destroyed since they would normally be at least visible by now and I can’t find them.  I’ll mark on my calendar to buy new ones next fall.

The redwing blackbirds, robins, killdeer and sandhill cranes are back.  Soon it will be time to put out jelly for the orioles and sugar water for the hummers. And soon the frogs will be singing with the birds, but I haven’t heard them yet.

Inside the amaryllis has almost finished blooming.  The hibiscus all have buds now and will soon be blooming again. Impatiens, fuchsia,  diplodenia, geraniums, and Easter cactus are in bloom.  I have another ripe lemon on my tree. Everything is putting out new growth.

I received some plants I ordered in the mail this week, it’s not the proper time for planting as the company states as to when it will ship. I had to pot them up as they were shipped as little liner type root balls without pots.  When I went to find a pot, I saw one on the porch where a plant I brought inside in the fall had died. I brought it to the sink and dumped the soil in a bag because I had new potting medium to use.

As I dumped the pot I noticed a clump and thought maybe I had missed a bulb.  I washed the clump off and no, it wasn’t a bulb.  It was a plastic figurine of Wiley Coyote holding a gun. It was in great shaped and the feet were marked 1984, Warner Bros. and the word Bully.  Bully turned out to be the German company that made the figurines.

I looked up the figurine on line and it’s a collectible worth about $15.  Where it came from, I have no idea.  I know I never bought it.  I checked with the grandchildren and no one recognized it. The only thing I can figure out is that when I dug up a plant to pop into that pot last year the figurine was in the soil with it.  We bought the house long after 1984 so the figurine had to have been in the soil a while.  Gardening can surprise you.  Wiley Coyote will remain on my desk for now.

Wildflowers and climate change

I keep a journal in which I record when things bloom or leaf out.  I also participate in a citizen science project that records such data. Hopefully my data records may be of some benefit to some future researcher, as were the journals of Henry David Thoreau. His journals of such data from the 1850’s have helped modern researchers determine how climate change is affecting wildflowers.

Many woodland wildflowers bloom before the trees leaf out.  As the leaves grow and gradually shade the forest floor beneath them the plants work quickly to photosynthesize and store energy for the next year.  By summer when the shade is dense many early wildflowers will have faded away in summer dormancy. 

Researchers took data from Thoreau and other sources through the decades to determine if trees were leafing out earlier and when wildflowers that favor forests were blooming.  They found that trees were leafing out 2 weeks earlier than they were in Thoreau’s time (160 years ago) but wildflowers were only appearing a week earlier than they were previously.

A week may not seem like much of a head start but it does affect wildflower vitality.  Plants have one less week to photosynthesize before it gets too shady under the trees.  Researchers believe the time trees leaf out before wildflowers finish their life cycles will continue to narrow. Wildflowers and understory plants that depend on spring sunshine will have to adapt their rate of photosynthesis or they will gradually weaken and fade away.

Introducing the milkweeds

Milkweeds (Asclepias sp.) are popular right now.  People want to help pollinators like the monarch butterfly and milkweeds are also part of the native plant trend. There are about a hundred species of milkweeds in the US alone.  Not all species are easy to grow or easy to obtain. And not all the species of milkweed are equally as helpful to Monarchs and other pollinators.

Gardeners are now offered many species of milkweed for purchasing.  Which species you should buy will depend on what you want from the plant and what will grow in your climate.  I am going to discuss some common milkweeds gardeners can easily find on the market. But first why do you want to plant milkweed?

Are you into growing native plants? All kinds of milkweeds aren’t native to every area in the US and if native plants are your goal you need to research which milkweeds are native to your region.  Also, some milkweeds grow in certain soil conditions better than others, so your location and soil conditions will be limiting factors as to what species you should plant.  All species of milkweed aren’t easily found on the market so that could also be a factor in what you could grow.

Do you want to help Monarchs? Monarchs are the only common species of butterflies that need milkweed to lay their eggs on, their larvae feed only on milkweed. Milkweed Tussock Moth larvae also feed on milkweed. Some species of milkweeds are better for this purpose, but any species may be used. Monarch adults feed on milkweed flowers, but they also feed on many other flowering plants.

Do you want to help all kinds of pollinators? Many species of butterflies and other insects are attracted to milkweed flowers. Using a variety of species of milkweed, whether they are native or not, can stretch out the blooming period and attract many different pollinators.

Do you want a showy plant that may also be good for pollinators?  Some milkweeds aren’t very pretty but there are species which have nice flowers and forms that will function as both a nice garden plant and a good plant for pollinators.

One note of caution.  Milkweeds produce chemicals called cardiac glycosides, which are poisonous to pets and livestock. Because they taste nasty most animals won’t eat them, but caution should be used when you select a place to plant milkweed.  You may not want them near horses and pet goats.

Milkweed species often found for sale

Common milkweed- is Asclepias syriaca indeed one of the most common milkweeds and one of the best for monarchs. It has pink drooping clusters of flowers and broad leaves. It thrives in moist but well drained to drier areas, prefers full sun in the north and will grow in partial shade in the south.  Hardy in zones 3-8.  Native east of the Rocky Mountains in the US.

Common milkweed flower

Showy milkweed Asclepias speciosa has light pink, big clusters of flowers which attract the red-belted clearwing moth as well as other butterflies and moths. It has broad leaves. It can be an aggressive spreader.  Native to the western and midwestern US. Hardy in zones 4-9.

Swamp milkweed

Prairie Milkweed Asclepias sullivanti has rose colored flowers and broad leaves. It likes full sun in moist to moderately dry soil. It begins bloom in June and blooms through summer.  Native to the midwest US into northeastern Canada, hardy in zones 3-8.

Swamp/Rose milkweed Asclepias incarnata has rose colored flowers in a more upright position than common milkweed.  It has narrower leaves than common milkweed and likes moist to wet conditions in full sun or partial shade. The flowers have a sweet vanilla fragrance and the plant attracts swallowtail and other butterflies as well as monarchs. It is native to most of the US and Canada except the west coasts, hardy in zones 3-9.

Butterfly weed Asclepias tuberosa is the hot orange milkweed with upward facing flowers favored by many gardeners. There is a yellow flowered variety also. This milkweed has narrow leaves and a tuberous root. It needs drier conditions in full sun. It is native through most of the US and eastern Canada except the northwest corner. Hardy in zones 3-9.

Butterfly weed

Whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillate L. has narrow, grass like leaves.  The flowers are white and in small clusters.  It likes dry conditions in full sun to light shade and will grow in zones 3-9.  This one spreads by rhizomes and can be aggressive. It is native to most of the US except the far west and to eastern Canada.

Poke milkweed Asclepias exaltata is a milkweed of woodland edges, preferring partial or light shade and moderate moisture.  It is a tall milkweed, up to 5 feet, with small clusters of white flowers and broad leaves. Hardy in zones 4-7. It is native to areas east of the Mississippi except Florida.

Tropical milkweeds- such as Asclepias curassavica (Mexican milkweed), are sometimes offered in plant catalogs. They can have vivid colored flowers. Most are not hardy in the US.  There has been some concern that these milkweeds may actually be harmful to some butterflies. For more reading on this topic see these links:

https://xerces.org/2018/04/19/tropical-milkweed-a-no-grow/

https://monarchjointventure.org/images/uploads/documents/Oe_fact_sheet.pdf

There are other species of milkweed that aren’t commonly found in catalogs and nurseries.  Before you collect seeds or plants in the wild identify the species and see if it is listed as endangered and if it’s legal to collect the plant.

Milkweed botany

The milkweed flower form is quite interesting, but I am going to have trouble describing it. Some of milkweed flower petals are modified to look like little cups or funnels, and 5 of them are arranged around a central female stigma. There’s a single stamen in each funnel that protrudes from the top and is often said to look like a horn. There are 5 other petals, usually colorful, that curl downward at the base of the flower.

Milkweed flowers are in clusters, in some species these clusters dangle, in others they look ball like and in others the clusters face upward.  Some milkweeds bloom for long periods of times, others have shorter periods of bloom.  Most bloom in mid to late summer.

Milkweed flowers attract insects with color and scent and their rewards of nectar. The plants produce both nectar and little pollen sacs called pollinia. Two pollinia are attached together by a thin, threadlike piece of tissue.

When an insect lands on the flower looking for nectar one of its legs will hopefully slip down in those funnel petals and snag the pollinia thread. When it flies away it will carry the pollinia to another milkweed flower, where the pollinia will this time be scraped off and left to pollinate the flower.

Common milkweed pod

After pollination each seed that develops will have a strand of airy fluff.  These seeds and their parachutes are cleverly packed inside a pod.  Milkweed pods can be attractive in the garden and are sometimes used in dried flower arrangements, usually after the seeds have flown away exposing the shiny inside of the pod.  Pods come in a variety of shapes, depending on species, some are long and slender, others fatter.

Culture of milkweeds

Milkweeds are perennial plants.  Gardeners should realize that some species are not very attractive even in flower and some species can be aggressive spreaders. Think carefully about where you want to plant them. If you are planting them to attract butterflies plant them in groups, bigger groups are more visible to insects.  A corner of your property that can be left wild will do for many species, other species may be mixed into flower beds.

Milkweeds can be tricky to start from seed, if you want just a few plants try to find small plants to buy.  Some species are sold as tubers or rhizomes. If you are going to grow the milkweeds from seed, make sure to get good instructions for the variety you want to start and follow them. 

While mixtures of the seed of several species are sometimes offered, I think buying each species seed separately is a better idea.  If you mark the species name on pots or flats or a stake near a garden plot, you’ll know what species is sprouting, and what conditions it requires.  Not all milkweeds grow well in the same conditions.

Most milkweed species that I know of require moist stratification and a cold period to germinate. You might want to sow them in fall, either in flats left outside or right where they are to grow.  Most seed scattered outside in spring probably won’t germinate.  You may get seeds to sprout inside in early spring in pots if a cold stratification period was given to them before sowing.

Seeds started inside will need strong light, probably from a growlight, to thrive. If you start them inside gradually harden them off before planting outside. Don’t try starting seeds too early – smaller plants will transplant easier and be more vigorous.

Make sure to select growing conditions outside that your species prefers. Once started milkweeds generally do not need much care.  They don’t need fertilization and have few pests and diseases.  Rabbits will sometimes eat them, but deer avoid them.

When milkweed stems are broken a white sticky sap oozes out.  This sap is poisonous and can irritate the skin.

If everyone could spare a bit of land to grow some milkweeds or was willing to give them space in flower beds our pollinators would be very happy.  Give nature a helping hand and plant some milkweeds.

Using grass to help grow blueberries

Many gardeners want to grow blueberries, since they provide lots of health benefits as well as being tasty.  But gardeners are often scared of trying blueberries if they don’t have acidic soil, which blueberries prefer. It can be difficult and expensive to amend an alkaline soil so that blueberries can grow well, and many gardeners just don’t want to deal with it.  But what if there was a fairly cheap and easy way to get blueberries to grow in alkaline soil?

Alkaline soil is any soil in which the pH is higher than 7.  Blueberries grow best in soil that is about 5.5 to 6 on the pH scale.  In many places across the country the soil will be neutral -pH 7 or higher.  Blueberries fail to thrive in alkaline soils because they cannot take iron out of it. 

All plants need iron for growth and iron is abundant in most soil. Plants that have adapted to neutral and alkaline soils have evolved chelating chemicals that are released from the roots to dissolve iron in the soil or they form relationships with bacteria which dissolve iron.  Plants which in nature grow in acidic moist soils, where iron is dissolved and readily available for plant roots to absorb, do not have these evolutionary adaptations.

Gardeners with alkaline soil who want to grow blueberries are often advised to change the soil pH with Sulphur, aluminum or other things.  Or recently they have been advised to treat soil around blueberry plants with chelated iron solutions.  Both of these chemical fixes are tricky to get right, have to be repeated yearly and are expensive.  They can also be damaging to the environment.  Planting blueberries in containers and raised beds with amended soil is also suggested but this is also expensive and limits the variety and number of blueberry plants that can be grown, as well as the harvest.

But what if there was an easier way to make sure blueberries could access iron in the soil?   Something simple and cheap most gardeners could do?  Turns out there is such a solution, and it is to plant grass.

A study done by the University of Chile and published in Frontiers in Plant Science, 2019; found that intercropping blueberries with common meadow grass and red fescue that was kept mowed like a lawn- about 3 inches tall, was as effective in providing iron to blueberry plants as amending soils with Sulphur or chelated iron.  In other words the blueberry plants were grown in a lawn.

The grasses, which could produce chemicals that dissolved iron and formed beneficial bacteria colonies around their roots, allowed blueberry roots to also “steal” that dissolved iron.  Growth, crop yield, and berry size in intercropped fields was comparable to the crops in fields of the same soil that were treated with chelated iron and much better than untreated control fields.  And the grass grown crops had more antioxidants in the blueberries than those in the chemically treated soil, making them healthier.

There were two drawbacks in the use of grass intercropping on blueberries.  One is that the crop required more water to sustain the blueberries and the grass than a blueberry field without grass.  The other was that the blueberries from the grass fields were softer when ripe than those grown in the chemical treated fields. This wouldn’t be a problem for home blueberry growers.

The grass would need to be kept mowed around your blueberries, but that labor would probably be easier than weeding.  I am speculating but native weeds that might grow in the grass would probably be as beneficial as the grass if they were kept mowed. And any native perennial grass that grew well in your area could probably be used.  The study didn’t say if other nutrients like nitrogen, were given to the plants. A gardener might still need a soil test from time to time and to add appropriate nutrients when needed.

So, if you are a gardener considering growing blueberries or already have blueberry plants that you are struggling to keep alive you may want to plant grass around them.  Work the soil up around the plants and sow grass seed thickly.  Make sure to keep it well watered and neatly mown.  Make sure to space plants so that at maturity you can get a mower around them.  This type of culture will be easier, cheaper and more environmentally friendly than trying to amend soil with chemicals.

More reading

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190312075912.htm

 Frontiers in Plant Science, 2019; 10 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2019.00255

Preparing new vegetable and flower beds

In spring many new gardeners are wondering just how to prepare the soil where they want to plant either a vegetable garden or flowerbeds.  They often think they need to buy soil or soil amendments when that usually isn’t the case.  People have been working the soil for thousands of years and until the last century most gardens were planted in what soil was available.  In most cases you should do the same.

There are only a few indications that you will need to purchase soil or soil amendments to have a successful garden.  These are if all the topsoil has been removed, or if the soil is contaminated. Those situations aren’t covered in this article. Sometimes soil needs to be purchased if the gardener is making deep raised beds to supplement what can be taken from path areas to fill the beds. Of course, if you are growing in containers you may want to purchase soil, but that’s another topic.

The very first thing a new gardener should do is have the soil tested where they intend to garden.  Do it as soon as you can in spring, or preferably in the fall.  For where to get your soil tested and how to collect the sample contact your local county Extension office.  Almost every county in the US has an Extension office and if they don’t do soil testing, they should know where you can get it done.  Look under government for Extension office phone numbers and addresses.

You can’t tell how good soil is by looking at its color. Black soil isn’t necessarily good soil.  Some weeds can indicate whether the soil has good fertility but that’s still a guess.  A soil test takes out guesswork.

The soil test will tell you what nutrients your soil may need for healthy plants and in what amounts.  It will tell you what the soil pH is and usually what the percentage of organic matter is in your soil.  Keep your results to refer to in the future.  You won’t need a soil test every year, but the first year you garden in a new spot its critical to get one.

Although helpful garden clerks often recommend soil amendments like peat or topsoil, 99% of the time those amendments aren’t needed. Remember they are trying to make a sale.  Even if you have clay soil, very sandy soil, “bad” soil or rocky soil you can almost always use the native soil without amendments if you adjust nutrients and pH according to your soil test and you will have a decent garden. 

When you put topsoil and peat in existing native soil you often create more problems than you solve.  If applied on top of the area this often sets up what is known as “layering”. Plant roots may grow only in that top layer and not go in deeply to seek water and nutrients.  These amendments are often lacking nutrients themselves, especially peat. It’s especially bad to put these amendments into individual holes that plants are put into.

If the amendments are mixed into the soil it may require a lot of tilling and later, I’ll explain why that’s bad. Adding things like sand to clay soil will create cement, not well drained soil. Peat isn’t much better because it retains moisture.  You might think that’s great if the soil is very sandy, but in this case the peat usually quickly works its way down deep into the soil and away from where it will do any good.  If your native soil isn’t the ideal texture you will work on it over time, adding organic matter, and you can still use it now.

The one soil amendment that can always be used is compost. But you must be careful when you purchase compost.  Some compost that is made from lawn clippings, animal bedding and other things can retain harmful weed killers and pesticides.  When you put this compost in your garden it can harm the growth of plants.  Any compost you buy should be certified to be pesticide free.  If not just wait and make your own compost. 

If you find good compost and can afford to buy it, put it on after the native garden soil is prepared- more on that later- about six inches thick. Use it like mulch. The worms and other soil creatures will move it into the native soil in the most beneficial way.

The procedure

So, you are looking at a piece of land that’s covered in lawn grass or weeds, where do you start? If its spring, you don’t start by smothering the vegetation.  There isn’t time for that to happen before planting time. If you had started last fall you could have smothered the area in arborist woodchips and pulled some back this spring to plant. But not now.

If you cover the planned garden area in the spring with newspaper or cardboard or tarps or other things that are sometimes recommended, when you take those things off it may look like the vegetation is gone, but the roots are under there and they will soon start growing with exposure to sun.

 

And don’t let anyone tell you to leave those papers or cardboard on and plant through them.  Modern horticultural knowledge says that’s not good for the soil or plants.  Layered mulch like this keeps oxygen from soil micro-organisms and plant roots.  It often keeps enough rain from reaching the soil too. It will make a packed layer of soil under the paper/cardboard/ tarp.  It’s not good gardening practice because we now know we must nurture soil organisms to have good soil and optimal growing conditions for plants.

So, here’s what you will do.  Wait until the soil is ready to work.  This will be after the frost is out of the ground.  You take a handful of soil and squeeze it, then open your hand.  If the soil clump crumbles apart it’s ready to work. If it stays in a clump it’s too wet. Working wet soil compacts it and that’s a very bad way to start a garden. It will also be very messy and frustrating if it’s too wet.

Mark off your planned garden beds.  If you can, cut off any turf layer. Simply cut down about 4 inches with a shovel then slide the shovel sideways under it a shovel blade length and lift up a section of turf like lifting up squares of carpet.  Put these turf pieces in your new compost pile.

Sometimes there is too much area to remove turf from or the area is covered with deep rooted weeds and tree saplings.  Remove as many big weeds and saplings as you can then mow everything as close as you can, scalp it.

Now you will borrow or rent a tiller. You won’t buy one because you will be tempted to use it far too often.  You will till the area as deeply as possible, at least 6 inches, preferably 8-10 inches, just one time.  One time.  And it will be the last time for as long as you have that garden bed.  You don’t need the soil to be in fine particles.  It will probably look clumpy and that’s fine.  In the areas where you will be planting you will take a rake and break up bigger clods and smooth out the surface. Throw out the rocks and any debris you find.

Note if you are working up soil for small beds you can simply turn it over with a shovel. Push the shovel in all the way, lift a shovel of soil and throw it on the soil in front of you. Continue until done.  You can do it for large beds too, although it’s hard work.

Over-tilling the soil is a big determent to soil health. Different types of microorganisms have different levels in the soil in which they live. Every time you till you throw these helpful critters all around and they have to begin again creating that soil biome. Frequent tilling tends to compact the soil just beneath the depth of the tiller tines.  This prevents proper movement of water through the soil. Even most farmers now follow no till practices, tilling the soil only one time when they first put a field in use. 

Powder fine soil created with multiple passes of a tiller, is not good either.  This soil tends to pack and crust over. It’s not healthy for soil micro-organisms. The ideal soil texture will look crumbly with small aggregates or clumps, sort of like crushed cookies.

If your soil test indicated you needed to add fertilizer or lime you add it over the newly tilled soil in the amount you were directed to use and then rake it into the soil to mix it in. It will work deeper into the soil on its own. NEVER add lime unless you had a soil test and it was recommended. It changes soil pH and if you don’t need it or add too much you could seriously disrupt how plants absorb key soil nutrients.  

NEVER add Epsom salt to your garden soil. There is no scientific reason to use it, despite all the myths floating around, and it can burn plant roots.  The magnesium in it can disrupt the balance of soil nutrients and how plants use them.  It can bind up key nutrients and make them unavailable to plants.  Resist the myths, don’t use Epsom salt in the garden for anything except to soak your feet.

Aftercare

After the soil is warm and things are planted mulch your new garden. Chopped straw, wood chips, chopped leaves, compost, even grass clippings. No newspaper under the mulch. You could use shredded paper although it doesn’t look very nice. Don’t use hay, it brings weed seeds.  Don’t worry about the mulch using up nitrogen, that’s a myth.

Mulch helps keep down weeds, but you will always have some weeds sprouting.  Weed seeds can remain dormant in the soil for a long time. Little pieces of roots from things like bindweed also remain in the soil.  Keep weeds pulled and certainly don’t let them go to seed.  If you don’t till next year fewer seeds will be brought to the surface. Mulch.  After the first few years you will have fewer weeds.

Some vegetable crops can be grown by laying plastic and planting through it.  It’s a subject you should read up on because its too much to cover here.  But new gardeners should use decomposable mulches as much as possible for soil health.  Using landscape fabric is only recommended for permanent path areas

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Don’t walk on garden beds when it’s wet and stay off them as much as possible at other times so you don’t compact the soil.

If you mulch your soil every year, keep weeds down, add lots of compost, and don’t till it after that initial groundbreaking, you will, in a few years, have deep, fertile soil that’s a pleasure to work with. The first year you create a garden it’s a lot of work but if you do it right the work gets less each year.

Get outside and walk in the sun, it’s spring.

Kim Willis

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And So On….

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I write this because I love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my research each week (or things I want to talk about). It keeps me engaged with people and horticulture. It’s a hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If you are on my mailing list and at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you or anyone you know who would like to receive a notification by email when a new blog is published have them send their email address to me.  KimWillis151@gmail.com