{"PictureModel":{"ImageUrl":null,"ThumbImageUrl":null,"FullSizeImageUrl":null,"Title":null,"AlternateText":null,"Style":null,"ExtraField":null,"Id":null,"UserFields":[]},"WorkingLanguageId":"617cccc47b40d711a5631fd6","PagingFilteringContext":{"Month":null,"Tag":null,"CategorySeName":null,"SearchKeyword":null,"FirstItem":51,"HasNextPage":false,"HasPreviousPage":true,"LastItem":53,"PageIndex":5,"PageNumber":6,"PageSize":10,"TotalItems":53,"TotalPages":6},"BlogPosts":[{"MetaKeywords":null,"MetaDescription":"Get the most out of your plants with these great tips. ","MetaTitle":"Prime Planting Times","SeName":"how-to-get-the-most-out-of-planting-times-as-spring-approaches","Title":"How to Get the Most Out of Planting Times as Spring Approaches","PictureModel":{"ImageUrl":null,"ThumbImageUrl":null,"FullSizeImageUrl":null,"Title":null,"AlternateText":null,"Style":null,"ExtraField":null,"Id":null,"UserFields":[]},"Body":"\"Garden

You’ve got your seeds, your garden journal and your tools ready. Now it’s time to plant! In spring, you want to make sure you are getting all of your vegetables in the ground at the right time in order to maximize your yields.

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Most plants won’t be able to grow in temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, so you might want to start some of your seeds, such as lettuce and leafy greens, indoors. Generally, you can begin sowing these seeds indoors about six weeks before you transplant them to your outdoor garden. When you do plant these started seedlings outside, it’s a good idea to keep them about a foot apart to make room for growth.

If you aren’t planning on starting seeds indoors, there are some great seed choices that can be sown straight into the ground at this time of the year too. Don’t worry if the final frost of spring hasn’t occurred yet. As soon as the soil in your area can be tilled up, you can generally begin your planting – specifically onions, spinach, and peas, which like a little bit of cold to get them going. You can generally get those seeds into the ground starting in early March.

If you are using raised beds, the ground is warmer, and your planting can begin sooner than if you are putting them straight in the ground.  A good test to tell if the soil is workable is to make a ball of soil in your hand and poke it with a finger.  If it crumbles, it is ready. If the soil is too moist, the ball stays together leaving only an indention from your finger. You don’t want this because working the soil when it is too wet will ruin the structure of the dirt and cause compaction for any plantings.

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So, what are some good seeds to get in the ground starting in March? Now is when you would probably want to start your veggies such as lettuce, beets, carrots, radishes, celery, and potatoes. If you are looking to get a head start on April, think about starting seeds indoors for vegetables such as cabbage, kale, cauliflower and broccoli and when April finally rolls around, you can get these plants set in the ground. April is also time to set your seeds for corn, eggplant, gourds, mustard, okra, and pumpkins. In the waning stages of spring, you can break out your seeds for beans and kale and as Memorial Day grows closer, think about getting out your warm-season veggies like melons, cucumbers, and squash.

Make sure to keep your garden watered and weeded. If your seedlings are properly cared for, you will certainly enjoy the rewards of gardening come harvest time!

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Gardeners have many questions when growing their produce. One of the more popular is “wait, what did I plant where?” This time-honored query is one of the many reasons why a gardener should keep a good garden journal. Maintaining a journal can go a long way toward making you a more efficient grower. And, if you’ve created one in the past, late winter is the perfect time to look back at previous seasons to make any needed changes for the upcoming season.

Keeping a garden journal is a great way to maximize your efficiency and enjoyment while minimizing your mistakes. Here are some good tips for your journal:

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1. Know why you’re keeping the journal. A good garden journal should include not only what and where crops were planted, but also the date you watered them, types of fertilizer (if any) were applied and what pests you might find. If you treated for pests the previous year, also make note of what worked and what didn’t. Have you used crop rotations in the past? Look at your journals to see what has turned out to be the most prolific combinations.

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2. There are plenty of journal types. Some are old-fashioned notebooks, some are more professional and include items such as graphing paper to map out vegetable placement and expense sheets, while some gardeners use various tablets and apps. Experiment with all kinds and then use what works best for you!

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3. Thinking about something new for the upcoming year? List them along with their bloom times and any specific care they might need. It’s best to get this research out of the way before spring so you’re not trying to make seed purchases on the fly or are late planting and/or starting seeds.

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4. For the financially conscious, make a record of your expenses. This is especially important if you plan on selling your vegetables or plants.

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5. Keep track of any pests and diseases that have affected your plants in the past. Were your treatments effective? Did your solutions work the next year too or were they unsuccessful? Journaling will help you determine what solutions will protect your garden in the coming years.

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6. A great long-term project is to keep track of milestones, such as weather, frost dates and when you completed the first tilling. Looking back at patterns over a period of years will give you a great perspective of what the future could entail.

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7. Keep a fertilizing schedule. Did you use the best fertilizer you could have? Did you apply it at the right time?

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8. Gardening can be a lot of fun. Make note of some of the enjoyable moments you’ve had. When something goes wrong (and inevitably, it will), these moments are great to look back upon before tossing your gardening gloves and calling it quits.

Whether you are a professional gardener, or just someone who likes to get out and enjoy the soil with your family, keeping a journal is always a great idea. What you record is entirely up to you, but a yearly journal will not only help you maximize your proficiency but make gardening a better experience overall.

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It’s winter and that means it’s time to prune. Pruning is one of the best things you can do for your shrubs and trees as it not only helps control the size of a plant, direct growth and influence flowering or fruiting, but it can also rejuvenate old, overgrown plants and maintain plant health and appearance.

Why prune in the winter? Pruning this time of the year can promote fast regrowth in the spring, as most plants are dormant during the winter. This is important because pruning is best done before buds begin to swell and open. Also, winter is a good time to prune most deciduous trees because you can see the overall branch structure easily, and insects and disease-causing organisms are not active. Because they produce flowers on new growth or current season wood, the optimal time to prune summer-flowering trees and shrubs is late winter or early spring before new growth starts. This is advantageous because it means the wound will be open for a shorter period of time, which can reduce the risk of infection.

When pruning a tree or shrub for the first time, there are several steps which should be followed. First, make sure to remove all broken, dead and diseased limbs. Next, make your trained cuts. By cutting back lateral branches, the tree or shrub can be trained to develop a desired shape, to fill in an unsightly open area or to keep it in bounds to fit a given area.

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When cutting back to an intersecting branch, choose one that forms an angle of no more than 45 degrees with the branch to be removed. Additionally, the branch that you cut back to should have a diameter of at least half that of the branch which you are going to be removing. Make slanting cuts when removing limbs that grow upward; this prevents water from collecting in the cut and expedites healing.

Make your cuts just outside the swollen branch collar, which is where the plant begins to heal its wounds. When you prune, also take care not to damage the bark around the pruning cut. To shorten a branch, cut it back to a side branch or make the cut about a 1/4 inch above the bud and always prune above a bud facing the outside of a plant which will force the new branch to grow in that direction.

Importantly, make sure to use the correct-sized tools for the job. The wrong tools will either leave jagged cuts or ruin your pruning tools. Well-maintained tools also make the cuts clean and smooth, which is important for a good job. And never leave a stub as they can produce weak stem suckers and will provide a place for pests and diseases to attack. When pruning, keep in mind that even proper work will leave physical wounds on plants and can have several important plant health outcomes.

So get out there and start pruning. It’s a great way to have your trees and shrubs looking good come spring and summer.

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