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:
- Landscape Fabric and Weed Barriers
Josh has some definite opinions about using landscape fabric or other types of weed barriers. Read on to learn more, and decide for yourself what to use in your garden! Continue reading - Winter Weeding: A Solution to the Winter Blues?
Sounds crazy, but if you want to get a jumpstart on your spring garden tasks, Josh says a winter thaw offers a great opportunity: get outside and weed! It just might have you beat the winter blues! Continue reading - Kadomatsu and the Friends of Winter
Josh talks about a special arrangement at the entrance to our Island Garden called Kadomatsu. Check it out while you can – it won’t be there for long! Continue reading - The Christmas Cactus That Wasn’t
Did you get a Christmas Cactus this year? Lead Horticulturalist Cody talks about how to keep that succulent blooming. Continue reading - Girdling Roots
Josh offers some advice for you, if your tree roots are girdling, or your trees’ health is not the best. 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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