Once the snow has melted, check your cold-hardy perennials for frost heaving. Frost heaving is when your plants rise up out of the ground as a result of repeated freezing and thawing. Carefully tamp your plants back into the ground a place soil around the base of the plant to cover any exposed roots.
The best time to prune most trees and shrub species is will they are dormant. Remove suckers as well as dead and diseased limbs and prune for shape and airflow.
Wait to prune spring-flowering trees and shrubs until right after bloom.
If you happen to have a garden or have decided that this is the year to start one there are lots of things to keep you busy at this time of year!
Perennial Beds
Mantis ootheca on forsythia
Hopefully you waited until spring to clean up your garden to allow beneficial insects and other arthropods such as bees and butterflies to overwinter. Now that spring has sprung you should leave debris as long as you can to give these creatures a chance to emerge from their winter hiding places. You should start carefully removing debris from around blossoming plants. If you must cut back hollow stems, bundle them so any pollinators overwintering inside have a chance to emerge. As you are cleaning up be on the look out for praying mantis egg cases know as ootheca. This is one time when you should leave things till tomorrow!
Freshly mulched garden beds
Mulching is another spring time activity. There are many different types of organic mulch that will not only suppress weeds, but also add organic material to the soil as they break down. You don’t have to mulch everything, in fact many ground nesting bees such as bumble bees need a bit of bare earth to make their nests. And if you are mulching your trees make sure to keep the mulch at least 3 inches away from the base of the tree so that it is not touching the bark.
It is not to late to seed one more round of cool season crop such as cabbage, kale, and lettuce, but it is also time to start seeding warm season crops such as eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes.
To start seeds you will need:
seeds
Flats of seedlings
There are lots of places online where you can purchase seeds. If you still have seeds left over from last year and don’t know if they are still good, don’t throw them out, try this simple home germination test.
sterile potting mix
It is important to use sterile potting mix to avoid disease issues like damping off. Do not reuse potting mix and do not use garden compost.
container
Rainbow chard seedlings in a supermarket salad container
You don’t need to buy a fancy container to start seeds. Just make sure the container has been sterilized and has drainage holes.
water
You want to keep the soil moist, but be careful not to over water or you may have a problem with damping off.
light source
Bookcase converted into a grow frame
Some seeds need light to germinate, but all seeds need light after they germinate. Once your seeds sprout a light source will help prevent them from becoming leggy. You can purchase grow lights or just use a soft white fluorescent bulb. Here are directions on how to build a Low-Cost Grow-Light Frame.
heat
Mini greenhouse
Most seeds will germinate between the temperatures of 55°F and 75°F, but the optimal temperature for each type of seed varies. You can create a mini-green house to trap heat and moisture. You can also buy heating mats to warm the soil. Click here to see Soil Temperature Conditions for Vegetable Seed Germination.
Out in the Garden
Planting peas
Gardening is an activity for the whole family! Children love helping plant seeds! Right now you can be direct seeding cool season crops in your garden such as beets, carrots, lettuce, peas, radishes, spinach, and turnips. If you want to have a continual harvest, consider succession planting or seeding several smaller plantings of the same crop at timed intervals, rather than all at once.
Chives
While most people are busy seeding, some perennial plants are already coming up or even ready to harvest! Chives are a great example of a perennial that allows you add something fresh and green to your meals in the early spring. If you planted chives in your garden last year, they are probably already making their way to your table. This perennial of the onion family begins growing in early March and is able to be snipped with scissors and eaten soon after and throughout the growing season right up until the fall frost.
Rhubarb
Another perennial making an appearance is rhubarb! Rhubarb is a great addition to any vegetable garden and as it is deer resistant and highly attractive it can also be used as part of your edible landscape. Although the leaves of rhubarb are considered poisonous, the stems of this spring crop that can be used to make the classic strawberry rhubarb pie as well as many other delicious snacks.
And as always, if you are having any issues in your garden, need help identifying the cause of a problem or figuring out a management strategy give us a call. Our Garden Helpline phones are staffed April – November, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm. But you can always leave us a message or send us an e-mail.
Signs of spring abound! Bird songs fill the air. Buds on the trees are starting to unfurl. New shoots are breaking through the soil. And flowers are beginning to bloom!
Here are some of the flowers to look out for as you venture outside for a breath of fresh air.
When most people think of maple trees, flowers aren’t the first thing that comes to mind. Red maples are native to the eastern United States and happen to be one of the first trees to flower in the spring. Their bright pink to red flowers result in the production of thousands of winged fruits called samaras, colloquially referred to as helicopters. After ripening on the trees for several weeks they will fill the air and litter the ground.
Forsythia spp.
Although many people equate the yellow blossoms of the forsythia with the beginning of spring, the forsythia is not native to New York; it actually native to eastern Asia. This fast growing shrub is a favorite among homeowners, because it is tolerant to deer, resistant to Japanese beetles, and rarely has disease problems. If you are looking for a native alternative to forsythia, try spicebush (Lindera benzoin). This medium sized multi-stemmed shrub has fragrant yellow-green flowers in early spring and supports 12 species of butterflies and provides berries for the birds.
Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis)Crocus spp.
One of the many joys of spring is the emergence of all the spring flowering bulbs. Some of them are already blooming: snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils (my favorite flower!). Despite its sometime unsightly appearance, make sure you leave the foliage alone until it turns yellow and dies back. This allows the leaves of the plant to produce food through photosynthesis. This food is stored in the bulb and will be used to produce even more beautiful flowers next spring!
Hellebores are also flowering! This evergreen herbaceous perennial is native to Turkey, but does well here in Orange County. It grows well in full or partial shade and has beautiful white to pink to purple flowers that bloom in late winter into early spring. Hellebores are rarely damaged by deer and as they are evergreen, after their flowers fade, they make an attractive ground cover
Although it seems like no one really knows what is going on right now or how long this situation is going to last, one thing that I am sure of is that there is no time like the present to start your own vegetable garden!
Whether you’ve been growing vegetables for 30+ years or this will be you first year, here is a list of resources that should help you along the way.
Vegetable Gardening Resources – Getting Started!
Beginning a Vegetable Garden This resource takes you through choosing a location for you garden to dealing garden pests.
Vegetable Growing Guides From artichoke to zucchini, find information about site characteristics and plant traits as well as growing information and special considerations.
Vegetable Planting Guide This resource includes a chart that shows when you should seed things inside, when you should seed things outside and when it is time to transplant. (Note: Although written for Rockland County, it works Orange County as well.)
Average Last Frost Date Although the last frost date is important, keep in mind that even after the last frost, cool temperatures will stress warm season crops like peppers and tomatoes. These crops like nighttime temperatures consistently above 45°F and soil temperatures at about 70°F.
Soil Amendments and Fertilizers This guide includes fertilizer guidelines by plant group as well as information about pH adjusters, growth stimulants and potting mixes
Soil Samples
Before starting a garden, it is always a good idea to get a soil test. As our office is closed, we are no longer accepting soil samples at this time. Fortunately, if you need your soil tested, you can mail it directly to the soil testing lab, Dairy One.
We recommend either a PrePlant Test or a Maintenance Test.
If you need help filling out this form, please give us a call.
Once you have your results, we would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
Vegetable Garden Problems
Vegetable PestsFrom cucumber beetles and aphids to spider mites and slugs, this guide will help you identify your pest and give you tips on how to manage it.
Vegetable Diseases Choose your vegetable and then look through Fact Sheets and Information Bulletins to help identify the disease and learn the best way to manage it.
Vegetable Cultural and Environmental Problems Sometimes you might think your plant has a disease when in fact the problem is not caused by a pathogen but environmental conditions or a cultural practice. This resource will help you diagnose your problem and teach you what you can do about it.
Garden Helpline!
If you need help identifying the cause of a problem or figuring out a management strategy give us a call. Our Garden Helpline phones are staffed April – November, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm. But you can always leave us a message or send us an e-mail.
