Best of Horticultural Tips for December
Celebrate the Holidays with Plants
1. Take the opportunity to experiment a bit with plants. Bulbs like narcissus and amaryllis (available in every hardware store) can be grown in water in a large glass vase.
2. Poinsettias exist in many colors. Treat yourself to something unusual. Keep away from drafts and heat vents and do not allow water to collect in the foil pot covers.
3. While the holly plants sold this time of year are studded with artificial berries, they still present a nice holiday look.
4. Check a live Christmas tree daily to see that the water level is where it needs to be in the tree stand. Dial down the thermostat at night to give the tree and your heating bill a break.
5. Don’t forget to leave a garden wish list someplace “Santa” can find it!
6. Give the gift of your time. No shopping required. This could involve making a meal for someone or offering to babysit
Planning Tips & Garden Remedies to Ponder for the Next Growing Season
1. Need lower ph in the soil for azaleas and rhododendrons?
2. Add peat moss to the soil surrounding the plants. This will add 3.0 to 4.5 pH
3. When planting, backfill ½ soil and ½ peat moss. After planting, mulch with wood chips, pine needles, or shredded oak leaves
4. Also, sprinkle a small amount of sulfur around plants on an annual basis
5. To control wild violets apply a postemergence broadleaf herbicide as soon as the violets reach the two-leaf stage of growth. Use a product called Triclopyr alone or a 2-3 way combination.
6. Anemic-looking leaves or pale leaves with bright veins signal iron chlorosis. The pH level (above 7.0) prevents the plant from taking up iron that is in the soil. Aerate around the trees or plants. Never use plastic sheeting to prevent weeds. Make sure to get the soil tested.
7. Aster yellows is a virus that has been carried to the plant by an insect. Coneflowers are particularly susceptible. Leaves and blossoms will be distorted. It is best to remove the plants affected so that the disease does not spread.
8. Allelopathia is a biological condition wherein one plant inhibits the growth of another plant by releasing toxic chemicals. The most well-known example is the walnut tree. However, other plant examples are sumac, rhododendron, elderberry, Forsythia, and goldenrod.
9. In the garden the colors red, orange, and yellow seem to glow more intensely than other colors, especially late in the day when the sun sits low in the sky.
10. Now is the time to start building that cold frame.
11. Try some wildflowers next spring. Start your research and planning now.
12. Soil amendment include anything added to the soil for the purpose of improving either its chemical or physical properties. Plan on buying good compost early
13. Reduce or quit fertilizing house plants during winter. Orchids are the exception.
14. Arborists often have winter rates. Call them to trim broken branches and limb up or shape trees while they are dormant.
15. It's time to step outside of the box with your veggie garden; grow them in containers. Grow bags are becoming very popular.
16. Time to try prairie grasses in your garden: side oats, grama, little blue stem, prairie dropseed. These plants shine in late fall and add winter interest.
17. In order to overwinter a perennial in a pot, it should be two zones hardier than the climate zone in which you live.
18. Give plants or gift certificates to nurseries as holiday gifts for gardening friends.
19. Right plant, right place is the best defense against the forces of winter drying winds. Re-evaluate plant placement, if necessary.
20. Evaluate the garden and make notes to assist in planning for spring changes.
21. Watch house plants for signs of insect infestations and treat with insecticidal soap (read label before applying).
22. Enjoy the garden catalogs. Look for something new to order.
23. If you save seeds, put them in air-tight containers in the refrigerator over winter.
Lawn
1. Prep your lawn now for dormant seeding in early March.
2. If you still feel the need to clean up the lawn “one last time” mulch the leaves with the mower rather than picking them up. Your lawn will appreciate it,
3. Don't forget to drain gasoline from mowers or use a fuel additive to prevent damage to your equipment.
Garden:
1. You may continue to plant spring bulbs until the ground freezes. So get those bulbs out of the garage! DON’T WAIT MUCH LONGER!
2. Begin your “Winter to Do List.” If your ninebark shrub is getting a little overwhelming, plan to cut it back to about one foot tall in late winter.
3. Frost heave is caused from fluctuating temperatures and moisture over winter that cause soil to swell and contract. Make sure shrubs and perennials are well mulched—to a depth of 2-3 inches. Keep mulch away from the crowns of the plants.
4. Snow is a great insulator for the garden.
5. When you turn your vegetable garden over with a garden fork or spade, be sure to leave the big clumps. The uneven ground will trap snow and precipitation.
6. Wait until spring to cut back rose canes. Chances of weather kill is greater when canes are cut short in fall.
Trees:
1. Protect the trunks of young trees and branches of shrubs from rabbit and vole damage. Use tree wrap or encircle with chicken wire.
2. To prevent desiccation injury to trees and shrubs, water on a regular basis until the ground freezes. Be sure to protect the investment of time and money you have already made.
3. Japanese Maples—Wait to apply a balanced, slow release fertilizer once in the spring.
4. To prevent the weight of heavy wet snow from damaging arborvitae and other multi-stemmed evergreens, wrap the plants up with twine or rope.
5. Once we get a heavy snow, check protected plants to make sure rabbits aren’t able to reach or climb over fencing or tree guards.
Celebrate the Holidays with Plants
1. Take the opportunity to experiment a bit with plants. Bulbs like narcissus and amaryllis (available in every hardware store) can be grown in water in a large glass vase.
- Option #1
- Option #2
2. Poinsettias exist in many colors. Treat yourself to something unusual. Keep away from drafts and heat vents and do not allow water to collect in the foil pot covers.
3. While the holly plants sold this time of year are studded with artificial berries, they still present a nice holiday look.
4. Check a live Christmas tree daily to see that the water level is where it needs to be in the tree stand. Dial down the thermostat at night to give the tree and your heating bill a break.
5. Don’t forget to leave a garden wish list someplace “Santa” can find it!
6. Give the gift of your time. No shopping required. This could involve making a meal for someone or offering to babysit
Planning Tips & Garden Remedies to Ponder for the Next Growing Season
1. Need lower ph in the soil for azaleas and rhododendrons?
2. Add peat moss to the soil surrounding the plants. This will add 3.0 to 4.5 pH
3. When planting, backfill ½ soil and ½ peat moss. After planting, mulch with wood chips, pine needles, or shredded oak leaves
4. Also, sprinkle a small amount of sulfur around plants on an annual basis
5. To control wild violets apply a postemergence broadleaf herbicide as soon as the violets reach the two-leaf stage of growth. Use a product called Triclopyr alone or a 2-3 way combination.
6. Anemic-looking leaves or pale leaves with bright veins signal iron chlorosis. The pH level (above 7.0) prevents the plant from taking up iron that is in the soil. Aerate around the trees or plants. Never use plastic sheeting to prevent weeds. Make sure to get the soil tested.
7. Aster yellows is a virus that has been carried to the plant by an insect. Coneflowers are particularly susceptible. Leaves and blossoms will be distorted. It is best to remove the plants affected so that the disease does not spread.
8. Allelopathia is a biological condition wherein one plant inhibits the growth of another plant by releasing toxic chemicals. The most well-known example is the walnut tree. However, other plant examples are sumac, rhododendron, elderberry, Forsythia, and goldenrod.
9. In the garden the colors red, orange, and yellow seem to glow more intensely than other colors, especially late in the day when the sun sits low in the sky.
10. Now is the time to start building that cold frame.
11. Try some wildflowers next spring. Start your research and planning now.
12. Soil amendment include anything added to the soil for the purpose of improving either its chemical or physical properties. Plan on buying good compost early
13. Reduce or quit fertilizing house plants during winter. Orchids are the exception.
14. Arborists often have winter rates. Call them to trim broken branches and limb up or shape trees while they are dormant.
15. It's time to step outside of the box with your veggie garden; grow them in containers. Grow bags are becoming very popular.
16. Time to try prairie grasses in your garden: side oats, grama, little blue stem, prairie dropseed. These plants shine in late fall and add winter interest.
17. In order to overwinter a perennial in a pot, it should be two zones hardier than the climate zone in which you live.
18. Give plants or gift certificates to nurseries as holiday gifts for gardening friends.
19. Right plant, right place is the best defense against the forces of winter drying winds. Re-evaluate plant placement, if necessary.
20. Evaluate the garden and make notes to assist in planning for spring changes.
21. Watch house plants for signs of insect infestations and treat with insecticidal soap (read label before applying).
22. Enjoy the garden catalogs. Look for something new to order.
23. If you save seeds, put them in air-tight containers in the refrigerator over winter.
Lawn
1. Prep your lawn now for dormant seeding in early March.
2. If you still feel the need to clean up the lawn “one last time” mulch the leaves with the mower rather than picking them up. Your lawn will appreciate it,
3. Don't forget to drain gasoline from mowers or use a fuel additive to prevent damage to your equipment.
Garden:
1. You may continue to plant spring bulbs until the ground freezes. So get those bulbs out of the garage! DON’T WAIT MUCH LONGER!
2. Begin your “Winter to Do List.” If your ninebark shrub is getting a little overwhelming, plan to cut it back to about one foot tall in late winter.
3. Frost heave is caused from fluctuating temperatures and moisture over winter that cause soil to swell and contract. Make sure shrubs and perennials are well mulched—to a depth of 2-3 inches. Keep mulch away from the crowns of the plants.
4. Snow is a great insulator for the garden.
5. When you turn your vegetable garden over with a garden fork or spade, be sure to leave the big clumps. The uneven ground will trap snow and precipitation.
6. Wait until spring to cut back rose canes. Chances of weather kill is greater when canes are cut short in fall.
Trees:
1. Protect the trunks of young trees and branches of shrubs from rabbit and vole damage. Use tree wrap or encircle with chicken wire.
2. To prevent desiccation injury to trees and shrubs, water on a regular basis until the ground freezes. Be sure to protect the investment of time and money you have already made.
3. Japanese Maples—Wait to apply a balanced, slow release fertilizer once in the spring.
4. To prevent the weight of heavy wet snow from damaging arborvitae and other multi-stemmed evergreens, wrap the plants up with twine or rope.
5. Once we get a heavy snow, check protected plants to make sure rabbits aren’t able to reach or climb over fencing or tree guards.