As we clean off the tools and warm up the tiller for the 2009 gardening season, there are a lot of things that need to be done within the next couple of weeks. Take advantage of the warmer days and do not work the soil, when it is too wet and hopefully this will be a year of a bountiful harvest for everyone. Here are some jobs that you need to take care of right away.
The optimum time to prune all fruit trees is just before they bloom. Pruning allows the tree to direct nutrients to branches that will bear high quality fruit. The objective is to remove dead, diseased, or damaged wood. Also, remove shoots that are growing straight up or straight down, as neither provides good fruit development. Growth crisscrossing the center of the tree should be removed as well. A more open tree allows greater light penetration and air circulation, thereby increasing fruit quality and reducing disease and insect pressure.
Don’t turn under grass and weeds to plant strawberries. Enough old growth will survive to compete with the young plants, making for a weedy mess. There is increased danger of grubs in such locations.
For your first raspberry patch, think small; six to 10 plants will do for a start. Since raspberries send out underground runners which can be invasive, you may want to sink an 8- to 12-inch sheet of metal vertically around the planting.
Before planting a backyard orchard, map out the site, giving particular attention to air and water drainage. Avoid frost pockets, areas where cold air gathers, or you may be disappointed year after year when flower buds freeze and drop. Good water drainage is also important for good tree growth. If drainage is questionable, drainage tiles or land reformation may be required for productive fruit trees. Shallow soils may require irrigation.
Spring applications of pesticides should be made on peaches, apples and pears. Correct timing for spraying depends on the stage of development of flowers.
Weed control is one of the most time-consuming, yet most important, practices in any fruit planting. Young strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, grapes and tree fruits all suffer if weed growth is uncontrolled. Peach trees, of all the fruit trees, suffer the most from weed competition. Mulching helps control weeds.
What you plant is what you get with potatoes. When you plant a seed-potatoes (pieces of potato tuber), there is no true seed that may have been cross pollinated. So you can plant different varieties side-by-side in your garden and rest assured that each will produce the type of potato expected.
Plan your garden. Remember, it takes at least two hours per week to care for a 20- by 50-foot garden, not including harvesting and planting.
The lure of new varieties, colors, or yields often is hard to resist. Try a new type on a small scale until the plant has proven itself in your particular soil and climate. All-American selections are always good to try.
Don’t dig too far down when planting asparagus crowns. Yields improve dramatically when crowns are set at a depth of 5 to 6 inches — not the commonly advised 12 inches. Contrary to the standard practices of deep planting and not harvesting for up to three seasons, recent studies show that harvesting shallow-planted asparagus after the first year boosts yields 40 percent over three years.
Lettuce is very sensitive to low pH. Lime should be applied to the soil if the pH is below 60.
If your garden is on a hillside, plant across the slope (not up and down) to help hold moisture in the soil and reduce erosion.
Spinach does not grow satisfactorily during continually wet weather. If your soil is somewhat heavy, plant on low ridges to provide extra drainage.
Some potato varieties are more drought tolerant than others. Research by USDA scientists showed that under dry conditions, Nooksack potatoes produced up to 60 percent U.S. Grade No. 1 potatoes, while Russet Burbank potatoes only yielded 40 percent high-grade tubers.
Remember, hardy vegetables, such as cabbage, broccoli, lettuce and Brussels sprouts, can be transplanted two weeks prior to the average date of the last frost. Warm season crops, such as tomato, eggplant, pepper, muskmelon and watermelon, should not be planted until all danger of frost is past.
The flavor and quality of the new, white and yellow varieties of beets are similar to the traditional, red cultivars.
To extend the asparagus harvest, remove the mulch from only half the bed at first. The sunlight will encourage these plants to sprout more quickly. In two to three weeks, when shoots appear in the mulched half, carefully remove the remaining mulch.
Don’t plow your garden when the soil is wet. It will form clods that are difficult to break up and interfere with cultivation during the summer.
Unsterilized soil may contain organisms that cause damping off, a disease that makes young seedlings wither and die suddenly. Use a sterilized, potting mix in clean pots or flats.
Louis Dykes is County Extension Coordinator for Murray County. If you have any questions about growing plants in your garden or if you are having trouble with pests, call the Georgia Cooperative Extension Office, Murray County at 706-695-3031 or e-mail ldykes@uga.edu.
