April Tools

April 2016

PICKAWAY TO GARDEN

April Tools

By Paul Hang

April tools, umbrellas, rain gear, boots? For gardeners, April tools consist of spades, trowels, and rakes to mention just a few. I was tempted to say roto-tillers but research says we use them too frequently. They destroy the structure of soil, they bring up organic matter that then oxidizes and disappears. Annual tilling can create a hardpan layer at about the depth of the tines. This layer becomes impenetrable to worms and roots and water. Frequent roto-tilling makes the soil hard and crusty and the usual remedy is, more tilling! Tilling, as with plowing, was used to rid the weeds for planting. Tillers can be used for weed control in a large row type garden but deep tilling is unnecessary and harmful. Sorry guys. Roto-tilling can be used effectively to prepare a new garden space. Roto-tilling is also hard work and can be dangerous. Doesn’t that make you feel better? It does me.

So what is a person to do? Applying organic matter turning it into the top 3 to 6 inches of soil with a spade works well. Hand digging doesn’t churn the soil like a rototiller and leads to less compaction. If your garden plot is already compacted hand digging usually goes deeper than tilling and can help to break up the hard pan caused by over-tilling. The technique of “double digging” also works but is so labor intensive and such hard work that only the most dedicated and physically fit attempt it. By applying organic matter, especially compost, mulching and hand pulling or hoeing weeds you will not have to rototill and eventually even spading will be unnecessary. Undisturbed soil is healthy soil.

April 14^th is Ralph C. Starkey Community Action Day. One of the activities will be held at Mary Virginia Crites Hanna Park. The volunteers will work to remove as many invasive plant species growing in the woods as we can. Come join students from Ohio Christian University, local high schools and others. Bring loppers and pruning saws if you have them.

April 22^nd is Earth Day. Dr. Bob Liggett, champion giant pumpkin grower, says to start your giants indoors on or about April 20^th depending on the weather forecast. If colder, start later. If warmer start earlier. They germinate the seeds at 85 to 90 degrees. It takes 3 to 4 days and then in a week, depending on the weather, they acclimate the plants to go outdoors.

April brings Arbor Day, April 29^th, when we are urged to plant a tree. Probably the most dangerous April tool, to trees and us, is the chainsaw, particularly when wielded by the uninformed. As I look around my neighborhood, I am confronted with the hideous practice of topping trees. Everywhere I look I see these poor trees butchered and looking like a tornado just roared through, stripping them of their glory. Even many public institutions are doing it! This practice seems to be growing and it is probably the worst thing that can be done for the health of our urban forest. Trees matter! I hope to cover this in more detail in a future column, but for now let it suffice to say “DON”T TOP TREES!” Don’t be an April Tool Fool.

Other April tools: The labels of purchased plants give site recommendations (Right Plant in the Right Place) and planting instructions, the instructions on the seed packets, soil test results. Perhaps the best April tool is the OSU Extension Service. The Helpline can be reached at 740-474-7534 or www.pickaway.osu.edu where there is a link to “Ask an Expert.”

 

To find out how much warmth it takes to bring on the bloom of certain plants you can go to www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/gdd. This site will ask for your Ohio zip code. It will then tell you what the present value is of growing degree days (gdd) and the corresponding plant that is in bloom. The information will help in planning your battle with plant pests.

Sites to search for gardening information for Ohio and surrounding states are:

www.ohioline.edu.osu, (Michigan) www.migarden.msu.edu, (Kentucky) www.uky.edu/hort, (Pennsylvania) www.extension.psu.edu, (Indiana) www.extension.purdue.edu, (West Virginia) www.ext.wvu.edu. If you use “You Tube” make sure the video you’re watching is coming from a university.

 

If you are a serious gardener or just want to learn more, make a weekly habit of checking the Buckeye Yard and Garden Line at http//bygl.osu.edu. There, local state experts discuss gardening issues which are in the form of a newsletter.

 

Things to do in the garden:

Time spent on your lawn now will benefit it the rest of the year. Fertilize lightly. Now is the time to re-seed once night time temps consistently reach 50 degrees. This is also the time to aerate lawns. To prevent crabgrass a good target event for applying a pre-emergent herbicide (but not if you plan to seed) is when the first bloom appears on Bradford Callery pear. When common lilac or Ohio buckeye begins to bloom it is too late for a pre-emergent herbicide to be effective and too early for a post-emergent herbicide to be effective. Leave clippings on the lawn. Their nitrogen content is high and will reduce the need to fertilize. Mowing height at least three inches will retard the growth of crab grass and other weeds.

Unless you are prepared to cover plants in case of frost, don’t put out those tender plants such as tomatoes and peppers until mid-May or later when the soil warms up. The average last frost date is now April 23rd. There is a 50/50 chance of frost then and the chance decreases about 10% per week after that. Spring flowering bulbs should be fertilized after they bloom. Remember to leave the leaves of bulbs until they yellow. Brown is better. Also prune spring blooming shrubs after they bloom.

If April brings its overhyped showers don’t work the soil with any April tools if it is too wet.  Wait until it dries out a bit. If it seems wet enough to make a clay pot, wait. Squeeze a ball of earth about the size of a golf ball and let it drop from waist high, if it breaks apart it’s ready to be worked. Don’t apply mulch until May. Allow the soil to warm.

Cut back your ornamental grasses to six inches. Cut back your butterfly bushes (buddleia) to a foot or two and apply a balanced fertilizer. Now is the time to prune roses. Depending on the variety, you may prune back to a foot in height. Cut off those bagworms from shrubs and trees. Do it now before the worms hatch out (shortly after the Snowmound Spirea blooms). Dispose of the bags in the trash or bury them. One bag left equals a hundred plus new bags that won’t show themselves until this fall.

It's not too late to start tender plant seeds indoors to be placed in the garden later, after hardening them off, and the danger of frost is past. Tomato seedlings should be moved from the cells after 4 weeks into a larger pot or into the garden (if weather permits). As usual make sure you water in the transplants. When you water, water deeply (top six inches wet) and water the base of the plant not the foliage. Water when the plants need it, not every day. Most plants require 1 to 1 and a half inches of water per week.