| Ask Our Expert FAQ |
 |
 |
|
If you have a question about gardening, we're here to help. Email, call, or drop by. If you have a particular problem on a plant, please bring a sample or pictures and we'll do our best to help you. In the meantime, take a look at our frequently asked questions below, listed by season.
Winter: 2. When do I prune my fruit trees? 4. What is dormant spray? What do I use? 5. Do I keep fertilizing in the winter?
Spring: 1. When can I plant my tomatoes? Is it too early to plant peppers? 2. How do I prepare my soil? How soon can I plant after I prepare my soil? 3. Can I do anything about Peach Leaf Curl now? 4. What do I do for worms in my apples?
Summer: 1. How do I protect my plants from the heat wave?
Fall:
General Gardening Questions: 1. How often should I water my plants? 2. How big of a hole do I dig? How do I plant my new plants?
Winter December through January is best, but February is still an okay time to prune roses.
2. When do I prune my fruit trees? October through January is best. You can also prune in the summer months to control size.
March through August is best. Citrus are frost sensitive, so an early pruning might encourage tender new growth that can be damaged in a cold snap.
4. What is dormant spray? What do I use? Dormant spraying is the application of insecticides and fungicides to trees and shrubs that lose their leaves in the wintertime. This is done to prevent insect and disease problems from occurring in the upcoming growing season. Fruit and nut trees are most commonly sprayed, but all deciduous trees and shrubs may benefit from dormant spraying. Use a copper fungicide to control disease and a horticultural oil spray for insects.
5. Do I keep fertilizing my plants in the winter? Yes, but switch your fertilizers. Using a 0-10-10 fertilizer in the winter will help give plants the nutrients they need for lush spring growth, beautiful flowers, and fantastic fruit. For your lawn, make sure to use a fertilizer with nitrate nitrogen, which releases in colder temperatures.
Spring 1. When can I plant my tomatoes? Is it too early to plant peppers? By planting your vegetables too early, you run the risk of losing them to the cold. March is the earliest that you should plant tomatoes. Other summer bearing vegetables, like peppers, are cold sensitive and need warmth to grow. Remember, these are summer bearing vegetables so they need some heat to get going. Take advantage of growing one last crop of broccoli or cabbage while it is still cool enough so that they won't bolt up and go to seed.
2. How do I prepare my soil? How soon can I plant after I prepare my soil? Mix in good compost, like GreenAll Soil Booster, with your soil to help loosen it up and enrich it with the nutrients new plants need. You should also mix in a starter fertilizer, like E.B. Stone Sure Start, to add additional nutrients. There is no need to wait to let properly aged compost age further; you can plant the same day.
3. Can I do anything about Peach Leaf Curl now? The last opportunity to prevent Peach Leaf Curl is when the buds are swelling in early spring. Once they have broken and your tree is flowering or leafing out, it is too late to spray. You can pick off any affected foliage and fertilize to help clean it up. The curled leaves should not affect the fruit production. Mark your calendar for November to remind yourself to pick up some copper fungicide to prevent it from happening next year.
4. What do I do for worms in my apples? The worms in your apples are actually coddling moth larvae. There are a few things that you can do to help prevent affected fruit. First, set coddling moth traps when the trees are in bloom. This will prevent adults from laying their eggs. Second, use beneficial nematodes around the soil to control emerging adults. Third, spray your trees with spinosad, like Bonide Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew.
Summer 1. How do I protect my plants from the heat wave? There are a couple things you can do to help protect your plants from a hot spell. First, make sure you are watering deeply to encourage roots to grow deeper. Your plant’s roots will grow to where the water is and deeply rooted plants survive better than shallow rooted ones. This will also help lessen the frequency at which you water since the soil will stay wet longer. Avoid watering in the afternoon – drops of water sitting on leaves can act like a magnifying glass and do more damage. You can also spray your heat sensitive plants with Bonide Wilt Stop, an anti-transpirant that prevents moisture loss. If you are going on vacation, you can spray your annuals and young plants with Bonide Wilt Stop to help protect them while you are away.
Fall Fall is an excellent time to start planting. Whatever you plant now will have the winter rains to help get established and you don’t have to worry about watering as much. If you’re looking for a quick spot of color, there are cool season annuals available as well: pansies, violas, poppies, snapdragons, flowers kale and cabbage. You can still grow vegetables at this time of year as well. Look for garlic, onions, fava bean seeds, peas, carrots, and other cool season vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, etc). For more information on cool season vegetables, see our Cool Season Vegetables brochure.
General Gardening Questions 1. How often should I water my plants? This is hard to say exactly how often you should water because there are many factors that contribute to watering frequency. First, dig into the soil 4-6 inches down to determine moisture level. Exposed soil may look dry, while soil closer to the roots is still moist. Then consider the weather conditions. Soil will, of course, dry faster in the summer than in winter and weather will have an impact on your watering frequency. Last, consider the type of plants you have. Many plants prefer to go longer between waterings than stay wet all the time. All that being said, if you are watering deeply, you should be able to get by with watering only a few times per week.
2. How big of a hole do I dig? How do I plant my new plants? If you have good soil conditions, dig a hole twice as wide as the rootball and 1.5 times as deep. Prepare the excavated soil with compost and add some soil back into the hole so that the crown of the plant will sit higher than the surrounding soil. Add in your starter fertilizer and your plant. Continue to backfill the hole, firming the soil as you go.
If you have poor soil, think about preparing a bed or the surrounding area, rather than just digging a hole. Hard soil surrounding a new planting will act more like a container, so preparing the surrounding area will help your plants grow better and protect your investment. The size of the area you prepare should be comparable to how big the plant may grow. For more information on how to plant, see our Planting Guide. |
