Hello everyone! It’s your friendly gardener on Main Street, coming at you with another wild and wacky gardening thought. Just for a minute, let us role play, shall we? Let’s say you are in your tenth day of quarantine this winter. You have stayed inside and watched everything Netflix has to offer, and you are either going to start swinging the frying pan at the nearest household member, or you’ll just lay down and cry. Perhaps the short, overcast days have you down and you need something to perk up your wintry rest. Well, I have a solution for you: weed. You might think me crazy, but why not?
If this winter trends toward the mild, or if we “thaw” a stretch of mild weather heading our way (see what I did there?), weeding is a golden opportunity you might not want to miss. Buried beneath the snow and ice, those pesky winter annual weeds are just waiting for spring to arrive so they can spread like wildfire throughout the flower bed. Why not get a jump on the spring season and do a bit of weed removal now? Of course, if the ground is frozen, or otherwise unyielding to your strenuous efforts, then obviously you will need to catch them later.
Weeding is not the only “out of season” thing you can do in your garden during a winter thaw. Late fall through very early spring is a golden time to spread compost in the garden. Plants have died back and the ground is cleared, making spreading humic joy an easier task. Wellfield staff often utilize that time frame to spread compost and mulch on a large scale.
Whatever your situation, there may be some good opportunities heading your way to get a head start on those weeds and make your neighbors jealous this spring when they are frantically pulling weeds while you are catching up on your streaming.
Josh Steffen, Horticulture and Facilities Manager
Missed any of Josh’s latest posts? Here are some recent ones:
- What causes leaves to change color?
Do you know why leaves change color, and why each year is different? Today, Amy tells us the complex science behind the beauty that is autumn. Continue reading - Good Guy or Bad Guy?
Gardening is, for the most part, an enjoyable activity. But with the good comes the bad, and today, Cody looks at some of our favorite “pests” and what benefits they have for any landscape. Continue reading - Gardening for Birds and Insects – Fall/Winter Planning
As you’re cleaning up your landscape in preparation for the winter months, Horticulturalist Mary Wojcik offers some tips on what to do to help protect all the birds and the bees. Continue reading - Magnificent Mushrooms
Have you ever considered the soil beneath your feet? What is going on there? Horticulturalist Patrick Weaver talks today about the power of mushrooms and mycelium. Continue reading - Lollipops for trees?
Horticulture and Facilities Manager Amy Myers and her staff have been busy tending to our trees lately; if you’ve visited, you’ve likely seen our “lollipops” – what the heck are they? Read on to find out what is going on! Continue reading
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Heck, for us, this is the busy season, with all the pruning! Weeding is necessary, but gets delayed.
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