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:
- Indoor Oasis
Cody tells us about how his love of house plants lead him to a career choice, and how too much love can sometimes be a bad thing when it comes to plants! Continue reading - Plant Diagnostics
The plants are in the ground, they are growing and blooming, but now comes the challenge: diagnosing issues some of our plants are having. Here’s what our horticulture team does when they can’t solve the problem themselves. Continue reading - Plants Tammy Has Not Seen Before
Our horticulturalist, Tammy, took a cool field trip to a local nursery and picked up some interesting plants to display in our Sensory Garden. Continue reading - Another Kind of Burning Bush
Peppers are a really popular plant to grow; there are so many varieties to choose from. Lead Horticulturalist Cody tells us about some of his favorites. Continue reading - Four Winds
Elkhart is home to so many great organizations that make the city the vibrant community it is. Wellfield is so lucky to work with one of them: Four Winds Garden Club. 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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