Document text
- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us March 25, 2005 Preparing for growth By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Daffodils, poppies, lilacs and fruit trees are all blooming and on a good day, it feels like May outside. But be warned, the early bloom does not accelerate the rest of spring gardening. Lisa Cogswell, left, and Corlane Eacott from Medford get an early start on gardening by shopping at the Grange Co-op Monday. Photo by Orville Hector Ray's Garden Center assistant manager Jana Larson cautions gardeners to take it slow. Vegetable gardens really should wait. Aside from planting summer bulbs, seeding should be postponed until the threat of freezing temperatures and morning frost is gone. "About the middle of May, our growing season starts," said Larson, who has 19 years experience at the store. During March and early April, preparations for later in the spring should be made, although the window for pruning trees and bushes has come and gone because they have already started budding. Still, garden maintenance can happen now. It's a good time to till the garden, as long as the soil isn't too moist (it'll leave you with a big mess and could clog the machine). Fertilizing, mulching and keeping an eye out for garden pests are all good projects for those whose green thumbs are twitching with the early spring weather. "We're telling people to start inspecting their plants right now (for insects)," said Larson, explaining the mild winter and early spring warming didn't eliminate pests, such as aphids, as effectively as normal. While the tomato plants and potato starts aren't ready just yet, greenage, such as Sweet Woodruff, along with bareroot trees and plants, can be put in the ground. "People are planting groundcovers right now and shrubs and trees," said Larson. "It's still your cold crop kind of things." Early spring is also a good time to start an herb garden, in addition to cold crops such as peas, onions, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, radishes and cauliflower, as well as raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. However, starts from a nursery should be planted outside; if gardeners chose to grow those plants from seed, it should be done indoors or in a greenhouse. "The man just told me, the middle of April I can plant the veggie garden," said Corlane Eacott of Medford, who was checking out the selections at the Grange Co-op in Ashland last week. Mid-April is also the key time to think about annuals, such as petunias and zinnias. "That's when you start to do more of the annual stuff, when you're not seeing any more frost coming," said Julie Alves, a devout gardener in Ashland. "I would only plant greenage right now." By the end of April at lower elevations in the Valley, gardeners can plant just about anything, but those at higher elevations should wait until the end of May to put heat-loving plants in the soil. The other thing gardeners are doing this time of year is watering, an unusual early-spring activity. Expecting a dusty summer after the relatively dry winter and early spring, people may choose to fill their gardens and yards with plants that are less water-dependent or increase mulching, which helps the soil retain moisture. "I'm watering now," said Alves. "It's the first time I can remember watering this early in Ashland." Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 x 3019 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Free Musick Downloads Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks Heloc Calenders 2005 Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress tcg student loan consolidation Home Equity Loans teleconferencing W2 Forms cortisol weight loss Diamonds Paris Hilton Mesothelioma Free Home-Loan Referrals Tatoos Website Design & Marketing Student Loans African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems Helzberg Diamonds Currancy Exchange Online Casinos Community Student Loans Tatoo Poker Games Homeschooling Auto Insurance Mortgage Calculator Mailing Lists Payday Loans Click Here .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams