April

April 21, 2010

All that begging we did earlier this month, imploring you to wait before you clean out your garden and plant things, didn't work. So now we're going whole hog. We've got tomatoes. But please don't plant them yet.

Here's what you CAN plant: Peas, potatoes, beets, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, asparagus, kale, lettuce, spinach, carrots, onions, fruit trees and canes, strawberries, ornamental trees and shrubs, many perennials, cold tolerant annuals.

Hold back on: tomatoes, basil, cilantro, eggplant, peppers, beans, squash, melons, tropical annuals, tropical bulbs and tubers. These need warm soil and should be planted after danger of frost has passed, and YES it can still frost.

Don't forget that new plantings need water, and it has been dry this April. The top 2 to 3 inches of soil should be kept moist with new vegetable and herb seedlings. With perennials and fruits, check the soil moisture twice a week and water when the top few inches begins to dry. Established plants and shrubs need less frequent watering.  A word on fertilizing: Err on the side of caution. Do a soil test. Too much of a good thing can make things worse. It's always nice to incorporate organic matter and top dress with compost.

Moving on - come on down for Earth Day Weekend, whereby we were surprised by the early spring and had to postpone our Earth Day Tree raffle and fun Earthy giveaways until this weekend, April 22-24. We are featuring Raised Beds by giving you 10% off the raised bed of your choice.

This weekend also marks the start of Pot Recycling for the season, recycling your growers pots, trays and packs. This program is hanging on by a thread - the plastic recycler is not making a profit and the non recyclable detritus (i.e. wires, rocks, compostable pots) are causing problems with the machinery, so please clean out your pots, stack them, and remove wires from hanging baskets. We all want this program to continue.

And last, but not at all least to us: Thank you City Pages and Customers! We won Best Garden Center 2010! We are thrilled and humbled, and we wouldn't be here without the whole community behind us. We are all in this adventure together.