Too Late

April 2017

PICKAWAY TO GARDEN

Too Late

By Paul Hang

“And it’s too late, baby now, it’s too late.” Remember Carole King singing that? Well, I hear that a lot in my head as a gardener. I have other things on my mind and am apt to forget chores to do in the garden. Once I think of something to do, and there is always something to do, the next thought is, “Is it too late?” The next question is “If I am too late should I do it anyway?” My Little Kim lilac needed pruning. I didn’t do it last spring after it bloomed. I waited til’ later in the summer and I was too late. Pruning then would cut off the developed buds and the bush would not bloom next spring. I went ahead. No blooms this spring but I reduced the size of the bush.

If you want butterflies to visit your yard don’t cut back perennials and ornamental grasses until they start to green up. The eggs and larvae of butterflies and moths are still attached to the stems and are difficult to detect. If you have already accomplished that chore, you are too late baby. Did you forget to take the cover off your seedlings after they germinated and now they’ve fallen over from “damping off”? You’re too late baby.

As in life, so in gardening, timing is everything. Set your tomatoes out too early and, if not nipped by frost, the ground is still too cold they will sit there and do nothing. They will probably be OK. You read this warning too late baby. The air temperature is not the same as the ground temperature. A nice warm day can lull us into thinking we can get a head start and put out plants or seeds early. The plants may succumb. The seeds may rot. By the time we realize our mistake, you’re right, it’s too late, baby now, it’s too late.

Luckily Mother Nature can be forgiving. Sometimes being too late doesn’t end in disaster but merely puts off the result. Plant your tomatoes too late, you won’t get tomatoes till fall. But you will get tomatoes. We shouldn’t garden by the calendar but by the conditions

On the other hand, a serious way of being too early for plants is the crazy weather we had this spring. We had a warm February and plants began to awaken early. Then we had a cold snap. This earlier than usual spring weather has been happening for a few years and is a result of climate change. Plants, unlike us, have one shot at reproduction. If a flower opens and no pollen from a stamen of another flower is transferred to its stigma, no seed is produced. No seed no more flowers. If bees aren’t out early enough to do the pollinating, it’s too late. That individual flower will have no progeny. Its genes have hit a dead end.

Over time, if this continues, the species of that plant will be exterminated. Once a plant breaks bud there is no turning back. It can be frozen by a late cold snap and die or fail to be fertilized because it bloomed too early for its pollinator. This scenario is detailed in an article in the New York Times by A. Hope Jahren.and ends with, “This spring, take time to smell the flowers, and consider how not long after their luck runs out for good, ours will too.” Is it too late now baby?

 

The following are some hints and resources to make sure you won’t be too late this growing season. Read the labels of purchased plants for site recommendations (Right Plant in the Right Place) and planting instructions, and the instructions on the seed packets. Have a question? Check with 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.”

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.

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 and the insect that is hatching. 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. You can even choose to have it emailed to you.

 

Things to do in the garden:

Time spent on your lawn now will benefit it the rest of the year. Fertilize lightly. The time to re-seed is once night time temps consistently reach 50 degrees and above. 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 of 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 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. Tomato and pepper seeds should be started indoors. The seedlings should be moved from the cells after 4 weeks into larger pots. Move into the garden  only after hardening them off and the danger of frost is past. 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.