Winter Gardening
So it's mid winter where you are The snow is piling up outside, and you've
got a bad case of "Cabin Fever". It's too early to start any indoor transplants
for the spring. You have poured through over a dozen or so seed catalogs
that arrived in your mailbox, and can recite their content by heart.
You've got this terrible urge to do some gardening....any gardening. Well,
don't despair there is always plenty to do.
Here are some ideas that will help you with your "Gardening Withdrawal"
Indoors:
We assume you have pampered your Houseplants until you have run out of things
to do with them. If not, get on over to those plants and give them the attention
that "you" deserve. Surf on over to our
Houseplants channel.
Planning:
Now is a great time to plan this year's garden. If you are starting new,
you will need to lay out the size of the garden, how you will improve the
soil, and what types of plants you will use. If you are vegetable gardener,
it is really important that you practice crop rotation for bigger and healthier
crops. More on Crop rotation.
To best plan your new garden, get a piece of graph paper and fit it to scale.
A little planning goes a long ways to that perfect garden. And it can consume
a lot of winter hours.
Get Outdoors:
The best medicine for gardening withdrawal, is to get outside and putter.
That's right, go on outside. Bring your pruning shears with you. Walk around
to all of your bushes, shrubs and trees and give them a good inspection.
Now is a perfect time to prune them into shape.
Caution: There are some bushes that you should not trim or prune right
now. Most notable of those are Lilac bushes.
Pruning Lilacs
Look for damaged branches, and remove them. This will promote growth
of healthy branches as soon as the sap begins to flow in the spring.
If there is heavy snow in your area, gently shake the snow off your evergreens.
Be careful not to break branches that are especially fragile in the winter.
Do not attempt to remove ice. It is too easy to damage your bushes and trees
while removing ice.
Forcing Blooms:
There is a lot of talk and information about
Forcing Bulbs. But, have you ever tried
to force branches of your favorite bush, shrub or even tree to bloom in a
vase indoors? It is so easy, you will be simply amazed. What is even more
amazing is how many people do not know you can do this while the snow drifts
up outside of your window.
For compete details on how to do this, see
Forcing Blooms.
|
