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:

• 
  Native plant of the month: Liriodendron tulipifera, or tulip treeJune 3, 2023
  June’s native plant of the month at Wellfield is the Tulip tree. Here’s what you need to know about this fast growing tree.
• 
  Seed Storage and Shelf LifeMay 13, 2023
  What do you do with your leftover seeds? Do you know you can store them for next year and beyond?
• 
  Native Plant of the Month: Flowering dogwoodMay 1, 2023
  Wellfield’s Native Plant of the Month series continues with May’s feature: Flowering dogwood.
• 
  Spring Bulbs on the HorizonApril 23, 2023
  Tending to a botanic garden is never without its challenges, and this spring has been living proof of that! Today, we look at our spring bulb show and take a peek behind the curtain at how our horticulture staff at Wellfield has handled those challenges! We think they’ve done an amazing job, all around!
• 
  Native Plant of the Month: Northern SpicebushApril 15, 2023
  Wellfield’s Horticulture staff starts a new series: Native Plant of the Month! Today’s featured plant is Northern Spicebush – let’s see what Kyle has to say about it!

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