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:
- Wild Yards: Give Me Shelter, Or Give Me Death!
Our “Wild Yard” biodiversity series continues; today, Lead Horticulturalist Amy talks about ways to provide shelter for wildlife in your yard, to ensure you are attracting a wide range of wildlife. Continue reading - Wet and Wild Yards
Lead Horticulturalist Cody continues our “Wild” biodiversity series with a look at the role water plays in your yard. Continue reading - Wild Yards: Foodies R Us
All living things must have food to survive. The keys to attracting wildlife to your yard are knowledge and variety. Once you decide who you would like to invite into your yard, knowing what they like to eat and offering them a variety of tasty treats will increase the odds they will accept your invitation. I mean, who wants to eat the same thing every day!? Continue reading - Wild Yards
Your landscape IS an ecosystem, and it behaves like an ecosystem, whether you think about your piece of paradise in such terms or not. Most gardening problems/difficulties and hard work stem from not understanding or downright ignoring this fact. Want a “low maintenance” landscape? Thinking about your garden as a habitat might help. Continue reading - Plant Like a Gardener, Harvest Like a Farmer
Vegetable gardening has gone into full swing here at Wellfield, where we just sowed our first vegetable seeds indoors. If you are familiar with the Gardens, you know we don’t have unlimited space in which to plant our vegetables, so knowing about these space saving alternatives has been key to our success. 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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