 | John Harrison is the Owner/Operator of In the Garden in Pittsburg. For more information or to reach John please call 620-231-4545. |
Lawn, Garden & Landscaping
2013-02-01 09:20:09
What to do about spring fever
Q-I'm getting spring fever; what should I do about it?
A-Hey we all get spring fever and for me it's the best time of the year. The first thing I would tell you to do about spring fever is get outside on those nice days and enjoy it. You can do a little spring clean up like removing leaves and pulling weeds. Pulling weeds? You’re kidding me,it’s February. Well just go look and you might be surprised. The weeds can really take over fast if you do not nip them in the bud. If the weather isn't too cold you can also do a little trimming. You can trim your evergreens except Azeala's. The rule of thumb on trimming is if it blooms in summer or fall you trim it in the spring. After you trim you can put down a fresh layer of mulch. Ideally for shrubs you would have 3 to 4". In perennial and annual beds an inch is better so that the crown of the plant can breathe. Smaller plants can rot if to much mulch is applied to the top of them.
Now that you made it outside and received a couple mail-order catalogs in the mail you can look through them. Warning about mail order catalogs: they are fun to look at, but I would recommend that you did not purchase any live plants or bare-root plants from them. You will be able to find a better quality plant for the same price or less from an actual garden center. Most of what they mail will be small and not suitable for planting. A local garden center can also tell you if the plant that you’re looking at will actually grow in our area. There are plants out of catalogs that will not grow in our climate. Let’s hope we have a nice long spring this year and make summer wait.
