Early Spring in the Garden

1. Never remove more than 20% or 25% of the live, leaf-bearing branches. This may mean spreading out your pruning over 2- or 3-years if a tree is badly overgrown. Pile up your branches as you work, so you can estimate more easily how much you have cut off.
2. Don’t leave short stubs of branches, cut back to the swollen area called the branch collar. This is where it heals.
3. Remove all dead branches. They don’t count in that 25% threshold.
4. If two branches are rubbing, crossing or fighting for sunshine, remove one. Don’t be afraid to cut out large branches.
5. Remove all “water sprouts” which are thin, pencil-like sprouts growing straight up. Do this every year. Remove any root sprouts, too.
6. Remove branches pointed toward the middle of the tree.

It seems to me that the prices of many things have gone up significantly in recent times. One way to combat that, as a gardener, is to start plants by seed instead of buying plants that someone else as started, watered and mothered for months.

 

Many gardeners enjoy starting lettuce or carrots by seed outdoors, but few of us start perennial or biennial flowers by seed. Why is that? Because we want results right away. This summer we want gorgeous new varieties of purple cone flower, black-eyed Susans or Shasta daisies. Alas, most perennials and biennials will develop into handsome plants this year if started by seed, but few will blossom before next year.

 

Biennials, by definition, do not bloom in their first year. They grow foliage this year, send up a flower stalk next year, and then, having produced seed, they die. Probably the best known of these are foxgloves, specifically Digitalis purpurea. It has a flower stalk that is 18 to 60 inches tall, adorned with blooms in pink and purple and shaped a bit like the finger of a glove. One named variety, “Foxy” will bloom late in its first year if started early enough. Foxglove blossoms bloom in sequence along their stem over several weeks.

 

Foxgloves do well in part shade and like lightly moist soil. They are easy to propagate: I just cut a stalk that has finished blooming, and shake the small seeds over bare, lightly cultivated soil and pat down without covering. There are also yellow foxgloves that are fully perennial (Digitalis lutea).

 

Hollyhocks are also terrific biennial flowers, though some books list them as half-hardy perennials. These beauties can grow to be up to six-feet tall and bloom for a long time. If you cut off the stem as soon as it finishes blooming, sometimes you can confuse the poor thing – it doesn’t know if it produced seed or not. So it may send up another flower stem next year.

 

Perennials generally live for several to many years. The genus “Sanguisorba” includes several species of perennial flowers, all of which are delightful. The common name for these is burnet. “Sanguisorba canadensis” is our naïve species, a tall, late flowering wetland species, and is called Canadian burnet. I’ve had a big clump for 20 years at least, and love its fuzzy white pendulous blossoms. Pollinators love it in the fall.

 

My favorite of the burnets is Sanguisorba hakusanensis or Korean Burnet, one called “Lilac Squirrel”. Why that name? The blossoms are pink to lilac in color and hang down like the squirrel tails attached to bicycle handlebars in the 1950’s. Less tall than our native, it does need staking as it can get to be 2- to 4-feet tall. I have found it easy to propagate by seed, and blooms in its second year.  I collect and grow all species of burnets, which can grow from miniatures to big bush clumps of gorgeous foliage 5-feet tall and 5-feet wide, but have not collected seed from them – yet.

 

Hosta are great foliage plant that do best in shady areas in rich soils. If you collect seed from your favorite hostas be forewarned that most hostas are hybrids and the seeds will not produce plants identical to their seed-producing parent plant. I only planted them by seed once, and I did it with seed from one called “Hosta sieboldii”.The parent plant is known for having variegated leaves, but mine produces all-green leaves. Still, I’ve had that clump for 40 years, and it gives me pleasure every time I walk past it.

 

Generally it is best to give hosta seeds a cold period of 6 to 8 weeks in your refrigerator. This is true for many varieties of seed, so a good practice for all. Hosta seeds may need some sunshine on them to germinate, so cover them with a very thin layer of soil in their starting pots, or with vermiculite. Mature hostas are easy to divide to get more plants.

 

What about starting trees from seed? It’s not hard: blue jays and squirrels do it all the time – they bury them, and forget where they put them, just like us with the car keys. Although you can plant tree seeds, I recommend just looking for first-year seedlings planted by your wildlife. Of course, this works best with native trees like oaks and maples.

 

Last year I dug up half a dozen sprouted acorns and moved them to an area that needed more trees to screen my property from the road. It was a dry summer and I was less than fully vigilant, so some of them died. But there will be others I can dig up this year. Remember: watering is key for any first year planting.

 

So here is my challenge: Go to your local garden center and buy seed packets for three perennials or biennials. Start them either indoors under lights, or later, outdoors. Buy things that you like and want several plants, or even a bed full of them. You can fill in a bed of first year perennials with some annuals that will bloom this year. Please email me how that works out for you if you do so.

 

Lastly, it might better to plant flower seeds in small pots rather than in the soil, as it can be difficult to identify them when weed seeds are growing around them. Or plant them in a perfect circle to help identify them. Good luck!

 

Reach Henry by e-mail at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or by snail mail at P.O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746. His column appears here monthly.

If you like to hike or snowshoe in the winter, you might like to learn the names of the trees you see. Do so, and the trees will seem like your friends. No need to greet them as Sally and Bob, know them as sugar maple, ash or white pine. Let’s start with a few evergreen trees.

 

White pine (Pinus strobus) has clusters of 5 soft needles, each about 3 inches long. Branches grow in whorls off the trunk; each year the tree grows just one new set of branches, so you can see how fast they grow by observing the distance between whorls on the main trunk. From a distance you can see clumps of needles pointing up near the top of the tree.

 

Canadian hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) has short, flat needles that feel soft to the touch and that have a white line on the underneath side of each. It is one of the few trees in the woods that can grow in deep shade – as well as full sun.

 

There are several kinds of spruce (Picea spp.), but all share this characteristic, which will separate them from hemlock trees: turn over a branch and observe the color of the leaves. If the needles on the top side and the bottom of the bough are the same color, it is a spruce. And spruce needles are pointy and sharp.

 

Recognizing bark is a great way to identify trees. Summer or winter, if you know the look of a tree’s bark, you can identify it. It takes practice, of course, and careful observation.

 

Some bark is very distinctive. Beech (Fagus grandifolia), for example, has a smooth gray bark that you can learn in moments. I love to run my hands over the bark, as if petting an elephant. Young beech, particularly, hold onto their leaves in winter, which is also a good clue. The leaves are oval with sharp points along their edges.

 

Most everyone can identify white or paper birch (Betula papyrifera) by its white, peeling bark that is easily removed from a tree by enthusiastic Scouts anxious to start campfires fires. Gray birch (B. populifolia) is similar to white birch, but it does not peel like its cousin, and has a dirtier look. Yellow birch (B. alleghaniensis) peels like white birch but is a golden or silvery gray color.

 

But did you know that young white birch are not white at all? They have a deep reddish black color and are spotted with small white dots or short white lines, lenticels that feel rough if you rub your hand over them. Eventually, after 7 or 8 years, white birch saplings will start to turn white.

 

Branching patterns help to identify trees at any time of the year. Most species of trees and shrubs have what is called alternate branching. That means that as your eye follows a branch, the twigs and leaves alternate from one side to the other. A limited number have opposite branching with twigs facing each other across a branch. Of course – just to confuse us – sometimes twigs or leaves have broken off on a tree like a maple that should have opposite branching.

 

There is a mnemonic for trees that have opposite branching: MAD Cap Horse. Translated, that means Maple, Ash, Dogwood, member of the Caprfoliacea family (honeysuckle, viburnum and elderberry, among others) and Horse chestnut. So if you see opposite branching, you can eliminate lots of possibilities. 

 

Of the opposite branching trees, white ash is an easy tree to identify by bark: it has prominent ridges with deep furrows. It is dark brown or deep gray. The leaf buds are large and pointy, and new growth tends to be thicker than that of most other trees. Unfortunately this wonderful tree will probably disappear from our woodlands due to a foreign invader, the emerald ash borer.

 

Buds at the end of a branch are another distinctive characteristic of trees in winter. Red maple (Acer rubrum) and sugar maple (A. saccharum) can be distinguished by their buds, for example. Sugar maple terminal buds are sharp and pointy, red maple buds are blunt and reddish in color, especially as we approach spring. Sugar maple buds are grayish or purplish-brown. And the bark of an old sugar maple is distinctive.

 

Oaks have opposite branching and hold on to their leaves throughout part of the winter. There are two major groups of oaks: the red and white oak families. Both have lobed leaves; red oaks have pointy tips on their lobes, while white oaks have rounded lobes. A good tree book can give you clues to narrowing down which of the oaks you are seeing, though red oak (Quercus rubra) and white oak (Quercus alba) are the most common.

 

When not in the woods, you might want to be at a spring flower show. Here is the lineup: Connecticut Flower Show will be in Hartford, CT February 20 to 23. The Philadelphia Flower Show is February 28-March 8. The NH Orchid Society Flower Show will be March 6-8 in Nashua, NH. The Capital Region Flower Show, is in Troy, NY March 27-29. Lastly, the Chelsea Flower Show, in London, England will be May 19 to 23. Plan to attend at least one!

 

Henry is a lifelong organic gardener living in Cornish, NH. Write him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net. His column appears once a month. 

Overall, my gardens did well last summer despite the lack of rain – largely because of all that sunshine. Most of us had a wet spring and early summer, then a very dry summer and fall. For people planting new trees, shrubs and perennials it meant lots of watering. Until plants have done some root growth, they really need to have soil that does not completely dry out. Vegetables, of course do best with lightly moist soil.

New England skies in winter are often cloudy and dark, accompanied by sleet, slush, rain or snow. The sun sleeps late and goes to bed early. Gardeners sometimes give up and go to Florida. Not me, but there is much I do to make the holidays cheerful.

After a severely dry summer, October brought much needed rains – at least here, in Cornish Flat, NH. It is particularly important for trees, shrubs and perennials planted this year to go into the winter well hydrated, and it looks like Mother Nature has taken care of that. I always recommend watering new plants before the ground freezes if they are dry.

 

Because of the drought, there is virtually nothing left blooming. Everything has gone by. The only bloomer in my garden is a small native tree, witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), which is loaded with small curly yellow flowers on their branches. It is pollinated by the owlet moth – one of the few pollinators still active now, after many frosts. The seeds are not formed until spring, and it is not until next fall that the seed capsules burst open, sending seeds up to 45 feet away.

 

Winterberry is not blooming now, but it is loaded with bright red berries. A native shrub, it grows in swamps and wet places in the wild, but it also can be used in regular garden soil. It is dioecious, meaning that there are male and female plants. Fortunately, the nursery industry labels their stock as male or female. Only one male is needed for most plantings. It looks great in a vase with cuttings of witch hazel, or with sprigs of evergreens.

 

But on to the late fall chores. Now is the time to empty your clay and enamel pots of their soil. If not, they are likely to burst when wet soil in them expands on freezing. Best to rinse out and put your favorite pots in the garage or barn. Plastic and fiberglass pots won’t break.

 

What about your lawn? If you have a heavy leaf load, I recommend raking up the leaves. Oaks and other heavy leaves can impede growth in early spring, and can encourage snow mold. If you don’t have a smothering load of leaves, you can just mulch them with your lawn mower and leave them in place. They will add needed organic matter to the soil, helping you to have a nice lawn next summer. To avoid snow mold, give your lawn one last mowing, cutting it a little shorter than usual.

 

By now, you probably have brought inside all potted house plants that summered outside. If so, you may have a nice crop of aphids on some of them. Look for sticky excrement on leaves, and tiny aphids. You can get rid of the aphids two ways: first, take the pots outside and rinse the leaves (top and bottom) with the hose. Or, take a shower with your plants! Only kidding, just rinse them off in the kitchen sink or shower. Alternatively, you can spray them with “Safer Soap” or your homemade equivalent – one tablespoon of mild dish soap in a quart of water. Spray the leaves, rinse after 20 minutes. It will dissolve the fats in their skin, drying them out and doing them in.

 

 This is a good time to test your soil. In the spring the wait is often long. Now you can get quick results and make improvements to the soil if need be. Each state has a Cooperative Extension Service that offers soil testing for a minimum fee. In my state the standard test includes recommendations for adding fertilizer, pH, mineral content, organic matter content, and a test for lead. If your vegetable garden is near a house that was built before 1970 when lead paint was outlawed, you should get it tested for lead. For an additional fee, you can get your soil tested for cadmium and other heavy metals, too.

 

When you buy blueberry plants, the soil they come in is at the proper pH (a measure of the acidity). But as the roots extend outward, they may not have the proper pH. If your blueberries are not producing well, get the pH tested. They need very acidic soil, 4.5 to 5.5 on the pH scale. This is a good time of year to add soil acidifier or elemental sulfur if your soil is not acidic enough. Sprinkle soil acidifier around the plants, extending out 2- to 3-feet from their centers. This will improve production in a year or two. You may want to get the soil around your bushes tested for pH, in addition to a general soil test for your other gardens.

 

 This is a good time to do some pruning. After leaf drop you can really see the branches. You can ask yourself, as you look at a shrub or tree, “What will this branch be like in five years?” If it’s growing toward another branch or shooting through the middle of the shrub, you should remove it now, while it is still small. I never prune a woody plant in the first or second year after planting – it needs all its leaves to produce food for the roots.

 

If you have cleaned up your vegetable bed and removed annual flowers elsewhere, it is good to cover the soil with chopped leaves. Weed seeds are blowing around now. Don’t offer them a good place to land and spend the winter. I don’t usually pull annuals in the fall for that reason. I just snip off the tops and pull the roots in the spring.

 

Generally we are most active in the garden in the spring and early summer, but this is the time to do some planning. Put on an extra layer of wool, grab a notebook, and take a walk around your gardens. Make note of places that need more or different plants, and do some research about what would do well there. We have a long winter ahead, so do your homework!

 

Henry is an organic gardener living in Cornish, NH. He is the author of 4 gardening books, and frequently lectures to garden clubs and library groups. Reach him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.

After a hot, dry summer – there was a drought in most parts of New England – we had a very early frost this year, September 20. Not enough to kill our late potato vines, but enough to kill squash and dahlias. I was caught off guard. I am now getting ready for winter.

 

It is important to clean up the vegetable garden well to avoid overwintering diseases. Pull your squash, cucumber and tomato vines and compost them well away from the vegetable garden. I have a compost pile for noxious weeds and grasses, and for plants that harbor fungi. That compost never gets hot enough to kill weed seeds or diseases, but it disposes most of the organic material at home, rather than sending it to the landfill.

 

After pulling the plants in the vegetable garden, I weed carefully and then hoe up the mounded beds with soil from the walkways and add a layer of good compost. Finally, I mulch planting areas well to keep weeds from starting in early spring, before I plant. Fall leaves are fabulous mulch: they inhibit germination of weeds, prevent soil erosion, and add good organic matter and minerals to the soil.

 

Although many gardeners chop up their fall leaves with a bagging lawnmower, I usually don’t. I just rake them onto to tarp and spread them over the vegetable beds. Will the leaves blow away? A few might, but after the first good rain they compact and settle in for a good winter’s nap. If I have more than I need for the vegetable garden, I run them through my chipper-shredder to reduce their volume and store dry in big barrels. This stuff I use in flower beds in the spring. Plants love it!

 

We have an exorbitant number of flower beds so it’s a lot of work to cut back perennials and get out any late-season weeds. Here are a few tips:

 

Now is the time for planting bulbs. To save time and energy, don’t plant them one at a time. For 25 daffodils I excavate an oval 30 to 36 inches long and 18 inches wide and 8 inches deep. I put good soil in a wheelbarrow or a tarp, and rocks and heavy clay or poor soil in another. I put about 2 inches of good soil in the bottom and mix it up with some bagged organic fertilizer or bulb booster. I nestle the bulbs into that mix, and cover with good soil or soil and compost mix. Bulbs need good drainage and reasonably good soil.

 

Daffodils last many years – tulips less so. I plant 100 tulips just 3 or 4 inches apart in rows 8 inches apart in my vegetable garden once it is cleaned up, and use them for cutting and putting in vases and for giving away. I generally pull the bulbs after cutting in the spring, but one year I kept 50 or so and replanted in the fall. The following spring they bloomed, but were shorter and smaller. Since deer love tulips I can use chicken wire vertically along the sides of the bed to keep them away, come spring.

 

I plant garlic in mid-to late-October each year, mainly using garlic I grew the year before, but sometimes buying new varieties to try. I plant once the soil has chilled as they may start growing this fall if planted in warm soil. That’s not awful, but I prefer to avoid it. I plant garlic 3 inches deep, 4 inches apart in the rows, and rows 8 inches apart. I give them a little organic fertilizer at planting time, and cover with a 6 to 10 inch layer of mulch hay or straw. They’ll grow through it next spring, but most weeds will not.

 

I prune some trees and shrubs in October, too. You really can prune any month, but once leaves are down it is easier to see their stems and look for crowded areas, crossing or rubbing branches, and dead branches to remove. To identify dead branches, just rub the bark with your thumbnail. If it shows green, it’s alive, if not, it’s dead. Prune so sunshine can hit every leaf and there is good air circulation.

 

So don’t walk away from the garden now and say, “I’ll get it next spring.” Get those weeds now. The more you do, the easier it will be next spring.

 

Henry can be reached by e-mail at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.