Saturday, November 3, 2012
Paper whites for Christmas, forcing Hyacinths and more!
Here is the final Weekend Gardening column of the year from our local expert Laura Stone of Vineyard Gardens Nursery. She will meet you all back here in the spring. * Plant paper whites around November 15th if you want them blooming around Christmas. They take about six weeks to bloom. If there is not much sunshine in their growing location, they will bloom later. * If you want to force Hyacinths, they should be potted by the end of November. Make sure the soil is soaked before they go into the cellar. You may need to water them once more so keep an eye on them. * The winter heat can dry the air out in your home considerably. Help your houseplants stay happy by misting them or placing the pots on a pebble filled tray of water to ensure …
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Enjoy the end of the season and put the gardens to bed
Here's some weekend gardening advice from Vineyard Garden's Nursery: Clean up the garden by removing all trellises, stakes, and plant debris. Compost healthy plants or leave in the garden to be plowed into the soil. Dispose of diseased plants away from the garden site to prevent overwintering of diseases. The survival rate of plants is dramatically improved when planting takes place in October or November. It lets the root system become established during the winter months. Even though above ground the plants may appear to be dormant (and they are) the underground roots are active, growing deeper into the soil to make a stronger healthier plant for years to come. Chopped autumn leaves make wonderful mulch piled around perennials or …
Saturday, October 13, 2012
How to choose and keep your pumpkin for Halloween and more!
Advice from the Weekend Gardening experts at Vineyard Garden's Nursery: When buying a pumpkin, look for ones that are firm and unblemished and have their stems still attached. Keep in a cool, dry spot to extend their use outside. The longer your wait to carve the better your pumpkin will look on Halloween Continue watering trees, shrubs and evergreens until the ground is frozen. You should remove any diseased plant tops, but healthy perennials, ornamental grasses and some annuals can be left alone for winter interest, to catch snow and provide natural food for birds. Take time and enjoy some of the fabulous Harvest Festivals going on in the next weekends
Saturday, October 6, 2012
What to plant now and what to bring inside
Here's the weekend gardening tips from Vineyard Gardens Nursery: It's time to plant spring flowering bulbs such as Daffodils, Tulips, Crocus, Fall Crocus, Allium and Garlic. It is also time to dig and bring in cannas, dahlias and gladiolus. Dry, clean and store them in a cool location like your basement free from frost. After several hard frosts, add mulch to your perennial flower garden. A one inch layer of straw or chopped leaves will help conserve soil moisture and protect the root system. Enjoy the beautiful weather...
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Lime, seed and fertilize your lawn in October
Today's expert advise from Vineyard Gardens Nursery: It is a great time to lime, seed and fertilize your lawn. You can seed a new lawn in early October or reseed an established lawn this month to make it thicker and healthier. If you need to, you can lime, fertilize and seed your lawn all in the same day. Otherwise, seed and fertilize the same day and then lime later in the fall. Time to bring houseplants back indoors if you haven't already. If needed, spray them first with one of the following products: Safer Houseplant Spray, Eight Houseplant Spray or any other product your may prefer. You can also dust the soil with insecticide granules to prevent bringing in ants, wireworms, sow bugs, and other nasty critters. Cut off old flowers of …
Saturday, September 22, 2012
What to feed your perennials, when to pick the rest of your tomatoes and more
Here's the weekend gardening tips from Laura Stone of Vineyard Gardens Nursery: If you still have your tomatoes producing, you should think about picking all of your tomatoes before the threat of the first frost. Refrigerate or freeze ripe tomatoes. Wrap green tomatoes or hang the entire plants (with unpicked fruit) upside down. Alternatively, these can be stored in a brown paper bag in a cool dark area. It’s also time to feed your plants with a good quality slow release plant food. Fertilize perennials and flowering shrubs and trees with fertilizers made for flowering plants. This custom blended plant food contains slow-release nitrogen, sulfate of potash, iron and other micronutrients for overall plant growth and development. It’s a …
Saturday, September 15, 2012
How to dry hot peppers, extend the lives of your herbs and get started on next year's garden
Here's the weekend gardening tips from Laura Stone of Vineyard Gardens Nursery: Hot peppers will keep best if stored after they are dry. Thread the peppers on a string to dry. Hang in a cool, dry place. Pot up chives, parsley, rosemary, thyme and other herbs to extend the growing season in the house. Begin planting spring-flowering bulbs, but wait until late October to plant tulips Fall planting encourages good root development, allowing the plants to get established before spring. If weather is dry, provide water up until the ground freezes. Finally, Get to your local nurseries, it's not only a great time to plant but it's a great time for sales :)
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Weeding strawberries, saving seeds and more great advice as we head into fall
Our garden expert Laura Stone of Vineyard Gardens in West Tisbury has the following ideas for what to do in your garden this weekend: Fall is a good time for improving your garden soil. Add manure, compost and leaves to increase the organic matter content. Do not wait for frost warnings to move your plants indoors. Temperatures of 45 degrees Fahrenheit or lower can damage many tropical houseplants Be sure to keep strawberry beds weed free. Every weed you pull now will help make weeding much easier next spring. Save seeds from favorite self-pollinating, non-hybrid flowers such as marigolds by allowing the flower heads to mature. Lay seeds on newspaper and turn them often to dry. Store the dry seeds in glass jars or envelopes in a cool, dry…
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Finishing the summer growth cycle, planting peonies and more
Our garden expert Laura Stone of Vineyard Gardens in West Tisbury has the following ideas for what to do in your garden this weekend: Make sure your soil drainage is adequate. Fall gardens are more often damaged by too much moisture than frost. Plant peonies now, but make sure the crowns are buried only one and a half to two inches below ground level. Planting them deeper than two inches may keep them from blooming. Before the first frost dig up caladiums. Allow them to dry and store them in a dry place for the winter. Allow plants to finish the summer growth cycle in a normal manner. Never encourage growth with heavy applications of fertilizer or excessive pruning at this time. Plants will delay their dormancy process that has already …
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Tidying up and harvesting continues as we head into September
Our garden expert Laura Stone of Vineyard Gardens in West Tisbury has the following ideas for what to do in your garden this weekend: If you've been trying to grow a very large pumpkin, for an end-of-the-summer fair or Halloween, early August is the time to do some pruning and fertilizing. Start by taking off all but one or two pumpkins from the vine. Pinch the ends off the vines to encourage development of the fruit already set on the vines. Clean up fallen rose and peony leaves. They can harbor disease and insect pests over the winter if allowed to remain on the ground. Pick summer squash and zucchini every day or two to keep the plants producing. Remove old plants which have stopped producing to eliminate a shelter for insects and …
steve auerbach
8:23 am on Sunday, September 30, 2012
Is it really necessary to fertilize our lawns, when the runoff contributes to Nitrogen pollution in our ponds? more ›