Gardening for Winter Interest

The Butterfly Lovers Gardening Seminar

Who’s Doin’ the Blooming?  (fall bloomers)

Let us know what topic you’d like to see discussed at our fall seminar in September!

For anyone that remembers the fall of 2009 – we had one of the wettest Octobers – if not the wettest on record, followed by a beautiful November.  We have always had good luck with our late fall plantings and decided it was time to get blueberries into our garden.  These were planted the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, 2009.  I watered them in and applied a 3 inch layer of mulch around them and this spring they started growing as soon as they woke up in early April!  The blueberries are abundant!

The lessons that we have learned over the years is that don’t be afraid to try things.  Pay attention to what you read – but never be afraid to try something “outside the box”.   Most things you read say not to plant berries after September – but I hadn’t gotten it done earlier so I did it quite late.  The only “extra” work I had to do was to mulch them.   The results speak for themselves!

We carry a nice assortment of blueberries, raspberries, grapes, kiwi, and rhubarb in our small fruit section.

Water:     Once they are established, heavier, infrequent waterings will help your plants develop deeper root systems.  Lighter, more frequent waterings result in shallow rooted plants that will stress much more in the heat of the summer.  Keep in mind that this advice is for once they are established.  Newly planted annuals need to be kept watered so they don’t dry out while trying to establish.

Fertilize:     Annuals need to be fertilized regularly which results in profuse flowering!  Think of annuals as heavy feeders.  Liquid or powdered fertilizers added to watering water or the time release granules are the easiest ways to feed your annuals.  Organic fertilizers can also be used.  Since organic fertilizers have lower amounts of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus you should be aware of the amounts to use, etc.  Multiple organic products may be needed to get the overall results.   Hanging baskets should be fertilized once a week to keep them flowering throughout the season.

Weeding:     Keep your annual bed free from weeds.   This is probably the most disliked task for any gardener.  Weeds compete for the water and nutrients that your plant also wants.   You can pull them, use mulch, lay down newspaper or use a granular herbicide to help accomplish a weed free garden.

Deadheading:     (removal of spent flowers).  Many annuals (and perennials) need to be deadheaded or pinched back to allow the plant to continue to produce new flower buds and keep blooming.  On some annuals you simply just pick off the flowers that are no longer looking good, and on some you need to pinch them off – simply use your finger nail to “cut” it off and for some plants that have a heavier stalk you may need to use a garden pruner to accomplish this task. 

By following the above – you will be rewarded in a a colorful, blooming garden for the summer season.  Enjoy!

The keys to success are:   Good quality plant materials, proper site preparation that eliminates soil compaction in the areas where new roots will be growing, aggressive root pruning of any matted roots that have developed inside the container, avoiding planting too deep, and consistent watering that is just enough, but not too much.  (most plant death we see is from over-watering)

At Knecht’s Nurseries we have developed our own new one page planting guide that gives the simple, easy to follow steps that you can follow to achieve summer planting success.  Our experienced sales staff can help you select the right plants for your special site conditions.   It’s available under our instructions page – just click and print!

This simple technology of having dozens of air pruning openings built into the design of a molded plastic nursery pot prevents root circling inside the pot.  The result is a well balanced, properly shaped fibrous root system that prevents trees from becoming root bound. 

When you plant trees and shrubs produced with an almost perfectly formed and vigorous root system, the trees become established very quickly following planting on your property, and as a result are healthier and grow more quickly than trees that have been grown in traditional plastic nursery pots.

Chris Siems of Northfield who has a web blog -  Oak-Watch.blogspot, did a segment on Ron Schara’s Minnesota Bound shown on KARE 11 May 2nd showing the benefit of Oak trees and also discussed the benefits of air pruning nursery pots.   We have over 2000 potted trees available here at the nursery that are produced using these air pruning nursery pots.  Stop in soon to see the difference in this better growing technique.

I have also shared my post here with the Northfield News for their blog section.

The planting of warm season annuals such as impatiens, begonias, salvia, marigolds, bacopa, celosia,  ageratum, coleus, and tender vines among others should wait until after Mother’s Day or even until after May 15^th, which is the average date of the last frost in the Northfield area.  The same goes for warm season veggies such as tomatoes, peppers and the vine veggies – like cucumbers and zucchini.    You really lose very little by waiting.  If warm season plants go in too early, they may stress out and not produce as well in mid to late summer.

The planting of trees, shrubs and most perennials should be just fine now, since the vast majority of them actually prosper in cool spring weather.  Be patient and ‘Happy Planting.’

You will also find this post in the Northfield News’  blog.

Make yourself a shopping list and bring it in and on the bottom of the shopping list page under the Plant Search – is a coupon for a $5 gift certificate for using our Plant Search.  Add plants to this list to remind you of ones that you like, wanted to see up close or have additional questions on, and bring it in on your next visit!

The kids will each be given a planter which they’ll fill with soil, their pick of several varieties of annuals and we will keep the planter here at the nursery until Mother’s Day weekend!  When the planters are picked up – we’ll add a fancy bow and a Mother’s Day plant pick to make it festive for Mom!  The cost of the seminar – including materials – is $5.  Pre-registration is encouraged.  It’s held in one of our production greenhouses so the kids are out of the elements in case of rain! 

Call today and reserve a planting spot for your kids!

Even if you can’t drive right to the trees due to soggy ground conditions, you can carry in your saw, gas and a small tool box and enjoy an hour or two of pleasant work dropping and slicing/dicing trees into convenient lengths.  I have always preferred to split the blocks of wood out in the woods before loading.  In this way the mess stays in the woods and I can load, unload and stack lighter pieces of wood, means less effort and less risk of back injuries.

You will get the great benefits of more heat and cleaner burning if you are able to dry your wood for two years prior to use.  By working ahead two to three years, everything about making and using firewood gets easier and more satisfying. 

If you are cutting ash trees, be sure not to move the firewood out of Rice County.  This will be a habit we should all observe from now on to minimize the chances of spreading Emerald Ash Borer to un-infested areas.  While no infestations have been found in Rice County, this new way of handling wood from ash tree should become standard procedure for all of us.

Once Emerald Ash Borer has been shown to exist in Rice County trees, you will be able to treat selected high value ash trees to prevent them from being killed by this destructive insect pest.  Soil drench applications of Imidacloprid are over 90% effective when done at the correct rates, and these applications are very easy for people to do themselves. No spraying or injecting necessary.

Enjoy your time in the woods, cutting firewood!  These spring days will be some of the most enjoyable of the whole year to do outdoor work!

I have also shared this post with the Northfield News for their blog section.

The last day or two, I’ve noticed that puddles of melt water were disappearing rapidly.  This also speaks to the large amounts of unfrozen ground beneath of those snowbanks.   Crocuses on southern exposures are now blooming, so spring is right around the corner!

We all are looking out at our lawns that were hidden for so long.  My lawn definitely needs a little TLC once it dries up.  In addition to the light spring raking that we’ll need to do – we have many little mouse tunnels several places in the lawn.  The mice were able to tunnel from place to place underneath the snow this winter and were safe from the predators.  We have one little mouse racetrack off the corner of the house that we will actually need to fill with soil and seed.  

Another thing we have noticed being very prevalent is “snow mold”.  This white haze on the surface of matted grass usually does not kill the roots.  When things dry out, rake very lightly to fluff up the grass, remove debris, and avoid pulling out grass by the roots.  If in doubt, wait until a littler later to allow for more drying.

Resist the temptation to go out and rake your lawn yet or to work in your planting beds until the ground has dried more and firmed up.  Even by walking across the soft wet ground, you will make impressions in the ground that won’t necessarily “pop” right back up again, causing your lawn to be uneven.  Raking too early will pull the shoots of grass right out of the ground which isn’t what you want to happen.  Then, lastly if you start playing in the dirt when it is more like mud than dirt, you will end up with hard clumps of dirt in your flower beds that will last all season.   All indications are showing that we will be having an early spring so take heart – it’ll be here sooner than you think!

With the growing season finally upon us, I am also sharing my blogs with the Northfield News.  You’ll see them posted here and on their website.