June 9, 2014
Tips for getting garden jobs under control
Press-Republican
The Press Republican
Mon Jun 09, 2014, 03:26 AM EDT
The gardening season has gotten off to a slow start but things will catch up.
This year more than ever busy gardeners find themselves on the few days when the weather is decent and they have some time, wondering where to begin. Of the many tasks to do out there, which are the most important to get done first? Here are some suggestions relating to vegetable and flower gardens to help you decide.
Planting
Our growing season is short so most seeds should be in by now. If you didn’t get a chance to get that packet of seeds in the ground consider buying transplants from a local garden center for a quick result. Transplants are an investment so make it a priority to keep them well watered to keep them growing full speed ahead. Transplant shock can set them back, so pay a little extra attention to those new plants until they’re established and putting out new growth.
There is still time to plant a variety of crops from seed such as lettuce, bush beans, carrots, basil, parsley, cilantro, dill and beets. For flowers you can still plant bachelor buttons, cosmos, dwarf marigolds and calendula for late summer blooms.
Weeding
The least popular task in gardening is staying ahead of the weeds, but it’s one of the very most important. In keeping with today’s theme of deciding what needs to get done first, where do you begin?
You finally have a day off. Your perennials are growing fast and so are the weeds in that rich soil you’ve been building up over the years. Over in your vegetable garden the lettuce is sizing up, the onions are small but pushing out some new leaves and the carrots are just barely visible. Do you start with the foot tall dandelions in your perennial garden or the barely visible weed seedlings in your vegetable garden?
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