This Is a Good Time to Do Soil Testing and Soil Improvement

Traditionally farmers pruned their fruit trees and put wood ashes around their lilacs in March. And although this is a good time for both, you can do either earlier or later. I believe that because farmers couldn’t plant or work the soil in March, they did other tasks to fill up their days – such as pruning.

 

If you plan on pruning now, please be aware of the danger of compacting the soil. Compacted soil has few air spaces – and plants get their oxygen from their roots, not their leaves. Roots from trees can extend well beyond their dripline, and can be damaged by your footsteps if the soil is soggy.

 

If the soil is still thawing and is wet, it’s better to stay off it for now. If you have light, sandy soil that drains well, then you are fine. Clay soils are most at risk for compaction. Once you compact the soil, it is less able to drain away excess water, too. Just remember that the soil can freeze deeply – two feet or more, depending on snow cover – and a layer of frozen soil is like a layer of concrete. If you leave foot prints in the soil, don’t walk on it.

 

Don’t be afraid to prune, even if you have never done it before. Fruit trees grow vigorously when pruned, and even if you remove a branch and then wish you hadn’t, other branches will grow and fill in the space. You won’t kill your tree by pruning. But don’t remove too much: You can safely remove about 25% of your branches and leaves; your tree will still have plenty left to grow fruit and feed the roots.

 

Use a sharp pruning saw, not a rusty old saw you had when a Scout. You will rarely have to remove anything more than a 2- or 3-inch branch, so a folding ‘tri-cut” saw will be fine and can be purchased for around $25. Bow saws are not able to get in tight places, so are not recommended. A chain saw is rarely needed, and can easily remove too much wood too fast!

 

What should you remove? First, remove any dead branches. How do you know if the branch is dead, since there are no leaves? The bark will be flakey and a different color from healthy branches. For smaller branches, scrape the bark with your thumbnail. If it does not show green, it is dead. Broken branches should be removed, too.

 

Ideally, sunshine can reach every leaf of the tree. Leaves that are shaded by others do little to feed the tree. So if you have branches layered closely, one above the other, the lower branch is being shaded. Either remove it, or remove the one above it.  

 

Often branches grow back towards the middle of the tree. These will create problems as they get larger, often rubbing existing branches and shading out others. So follow them back to their point of origin to remove them. Remove any branches that are rubbing or touching. Decide which is the better branch, and leave it.

 

Where should you make your cuts when removing a branch? Look carefully and you will see the “branch collar”. You will want to leave the collar as this is where the cut will heal. It is a swollen area where the branch and the trunk or a larger branch are joined. Often the collar has wrinkles in it. Cut just past the swollen, wrinkled area and remove the offending branch where it is circular in cross section.

 

Many fruit trees send up water sprouts – vigorous new shoots. In their first year they grow straight up and are the thickness of pencils. They should be removed every year. If you cut a bigger branch, you might get several water sprouts surrounding the cut that year – but remove them all next year. Water sprouts are a tree’s attempt to increase food production by making more leaves. Some trees do it vigorously each year, others respond to heavy pruning this spring by growing many this summer. Water sprouts rarely produce fruit – ever.

 

When I prune fruit trees, I pay attention to the fruit spurs that actually produce the fruit. When choosing which of two branches to remove, I leave the one that will be producing the most fruit. Fruit spurs are two- to five-inch branches that have buds on them. Fruit spurs produce both leaves and flowers, and need to be at least two years old to on apples and pear trees to produce fruit, sometimes longer.

 

I often get complaints from readers about the fact that their young apple tree has not produced any fruit. Be patient, I say. Each variety of tree has its own schedule– dwarf or semi-dwarf trees produce fruit sooner than full sized trees. A newly planted tree can take two to six years before the first fruits grow. I once had a plum tree that took 20 years to flower and produce fruit, and only did so when I threatened to cut it down if it didn’t produce fruit the next year!

 

Lastly, know that pruning your tree well will increase the size and improve the flavor of the fruit. It takes a lot of energy to produce fruit, so a tree that only grows 100 apples is better able to feed the fruit and grow the sugars that make it tasty than a tree that grows 1,000 apples. And really, how many apples can you eat?

 

As to that other March chore, improving the pH of the soil around your lilacs? Two dry quarts of wood ashes or garden lime will sweeten the soil if spread around your lilac. Lilacs do not flower as well in acidic soil, which is what most New Englanders have. It won’t affect this year’s blossoming, but should by next year.

 

So get outside on a sunny day and get to work. I always find something to do, and pruning is one of my favorite March activities.

 

Henry is the author of 4 gardening books. He lives and gardens in Cornish Flat, NH. Reach him by e-mail at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

Everyone I know is thinking about spring – despite the fact that we could still see snow and sub-zero temperatures before we see tulips. This might be a good time to take an inventory of your tools to see if you have everything you need, and buy the ones you need. This is also a good time to clean up, sharpen and oil the tools you have. 

 

First, a list of the basic tools all gardeners need:

 

Tools require some maintenance, and this is the time to sharpen, clean and oil them if you didn’t do it last fall. Fiberglass handles generally require no maintenance, though I suppose you could take off any rough spots with steel wool or sandpaper.

 

Wood-handled tools should never be left outdoors, but most of us forget occasionally; strong sun or rain will damage them and give them a rough surface. If the handle is very rough, use a piece of sandpaper and lightly sand the handle, tip to stern. Wipe it well with a rag before applying oil. For less damaged handles, rub with fine steel wool. Don’t sand a handle that has a urethane finish unless you intend to take it all off – but you can use steel wool on it.

 

Next apply a coat of boiled linseed oil. I like to heat the oil until hot before applying, as this is a fairly thick oil, and heating it will help it to penetrate the wood. I use a paint brush or a rag to apply the oil.

 

Let the oil sink into the wood, which might take overnight or just a few minutes, depending on the grain and how dry the wood is. Never try to oil a wet handle. Apply a second coat and let dry. Then rub it down with a fine steel wool, labeled 000 or 0000. This will take off any bits that are raised up by oiling and burnish the wood.

 

Next look at the steel of your tool. If it has crusted soil on it, clean it first with a stiff brush – either a wire brush or even a stiff bristle brush. If it is rusty, clean off the rust with your steel wool.

 

If you have a well-used shovel, it is probably dull. It is easy to sharpen it, but you will need a good 8- to12-inch file, either a rough or medium file, often called a mill bastard. Be sure to get one with a handle, as some only come with a short pointy part and require you to add a handle.

 

Shovels should only be sharpened on one side, the side that faces into the hole as you dig. The back side will stay flat. Push your file across the shovel blade in only one direction, away from you. You may wish to clamp the shovel to a saw horse or bench so it stays in place as you work, or push it down on the bench and file with one hand.  

 

Go from the edge of the curve to the middle in one long stroke of your file, and repeat, keeping count of your strokes. Turn the shovel around and do the opposing edge, using the same number of strokes. Keep your file at the angle set by the manufacturer if that is evident. If not, an angle of about 45 degrees is good. That will make a sharp cutting edge, but not be so thin that it will get dull quickly. You don’t need to sharpen the sides. And don’t worry: You can’t ruin your shovel even if you have never done this before. Just keep at it, and stay consistent.  

 

When you have the shovel sharp, turn it over and you probably will be able to feel burrs on the back side – little bits of sharp metal. Clean those off with a few flat strokes of your file.

 

Finally I take a rag with linseed oil and wipe the shovel blade. Some people use machine oil to oil their tools, but I don’t want petroleum products in my soil, even a little bit.

 

Every gardener has her own favorite tools. If you’re a rooky, visit a good gardener and ask for a tour of tools. Then go buy what you need. And remember: sharp tools work better than dull ones.

 

Henry is a UNH Master Gardener and the author of 4 gardening books. Contact him by email at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

By now many gardeners are fed up with winter: icy sidewalks, misplaced mittens, and dogs that need to go out at 5 below zero. But it will soon be time to start planting seeds indoors, so you might want to start getting ready now.

 

It’s true that greenhouses and garden centers do a nice job of starting plants if you are not interested in babying seedlings along for 8 to 12 weeks. I do let them start some for me, but find that there are plenty of things I want to grow that are not available. So I do both. I start some now, and buy others later.

 

In order to be successful with your seed-starting efforts, you will need supplemental lights. If you try to save money and just start a few seedlings on a sunny windowsill, you will most likely be disappointed. Even under the best conditions, direct sun only reaches your seedlings about six hours a day, much less than they need.

 

Fluorescent light are the least expensive solution to the need for supplemental light. My fixtures are 4-feet long and use two T-8 tubes each. The fixtures are available at hardware and big box stores, and cost from $16 to $40 each, depending where you buy them.

 

T-8 tubes use 32 watts of energy per hour, while older model T-12 tubes use 40 watts. This year I bought some LED bulbs that fit my 4-foot fluorescent fixtures but use only half the electricity. I’m switching over to LED for the sake of the environment, but as the tubes cost about $8 each, I am spreading out my purchases over a few years.  If you want to make the switch, make sure the package says they do not require any re-wiring of the fixtures (older models did require that). One nice thing about the LED lights are that they don’t break if you bump them hard or drop them. Select lights that are 4000 K or 5000K color spectrum, which are close to daylight color.

 

I use a biodynamic calendar called Stella Natura to help decide on planting dates. It uses the sun, moon and stars to determine the best time and day to plant four categories of plants: flowers, fruit, leaf and root. It also has “blackout” days when nothing should be done. I am not 100% convinced that this calendar really works, but have done some informal experiments planting seeds on their suggested days, and on blackout days, and it seemed to make a difference.

 

Read the seed packages carefully if you are new to starting indoors. Onion-family plants and peppers take a long time to develop, so most people start them in early March, though I started my onions and scallions on February 20 this year. Tomatoes I start around April 10 – I don’t want them to get root-bound or too tall before I put them out on June 10. If you plant outside earlier, start seeds earlier.

 

Not everything needs to be started indoors. Most root crops are direct seeded in the garden, though you can start beets indoors. Some flowers hate to be transplanted – larkspur, for example, which also needs cold temperatures after planting. Lettuce can be planted indoors or out, or both. I like to get some started early indoors. All the cucumber family plants I start indoors 4-5 weeks before planting outside as this protects them from striped cucumber beetles when they first germinate.

 

An important key to success with your seedlings is to water properly. If seeds dry out before they germinate, or when they are tiny, they are likely to fail. On the other hand, keeping seeds soggy all the time can lead to root rot. Check them every day. If you see the planting mix turn a lighter color or if it feels dry to the touch, water. I water with a dilute solution of fish or seaweed fertilizer once a week.

 

To get seedlings to wake up and start to grow, I use heat mats sold for that purpose. They plug in and gently warm the seed flats. But I only use them until most seeds have germinated as too much heat for seedlings is bad. For one thing, the “soil” dries out fast with extra heat. I prevent that by using clear plastic covers sold to fit over the flats, creating a mini-greenhouses that hold in the moisture.

 

I mostly use flats with 32-cells per trays that are roughly 9 by 18 inches, although others are sold with up to 108 cells per flat. I want plenty of room for roots to grow, so I buy cells that are as deep as I can find. I plant two or more seeds in each cell, just in case one seed does not germinate. For onions, I plant 3 or 4 seeds per cell, as they don’t mind a little crowding.

 

Most seeds germinate about 90% of the time. For tomatoes I sometimes snip off one plant when young, other times I let both grow, and separate them and re-plant both in bigger pots when they are 4 to 6 inches tall. For me, it’s hard to kill seedlings by snipping them off and I can always share seedlings with others.

 

Garden centers and catalogs sell a variety of stands with lights for growing seedlings. Most are quite expensive. You can also go to my web site, www.Gardening-Guy.com and search for “Building a Plant Stand”. That will give step-by-step directions for building an inexpensive A-frame plant stand that will hold 6 flats, and have room below it for 4 to 6 more flats on the floor.

Starting seedlings is not rocket science. It involves some investment, but the lights and plant stands last nearly forever. And, as the bumper sticker says, “Growing Tomatoes Is Cheaper than Therapy – and You Get Tomatoes!”

 

Henry is the author of 4 gardening books and a long time UNH master Gardener. You may reach him by e-mail at henry.homeyer@comcast.net. He lives and gardens in Cornish Flat, NH.