Rodd's Seeds of Wisdom Horticultural tips and tricks from Rodd Moesel

What a difference a year makes! This year we have been blessed with more normal rainfall and our ponds, lakes and streams are filling with water and our topsoil and deeper subsoil moisture is in much better condition compared to last year’s drought. All of our trees, shrubs, lawns, vegetables and garden flowers are off to a much better start and the state is looking a beautiful spring green. Last weekend was absolutely gorgeous after the two preceding weekends had delivered late freezes or at least the threat of frost on the heels of several weeks of unseasonably warm weather. If the weathermen are correct on their seven day forecasts we surely have escaped our last cold weather of spring and the threats of more freezing so we should now be able to plant even the “hot” blooded plants like periwinkle, caladiums and okra. Some of the early planted vegetables and spring flowers that survived or escaped the late freezes are really looking good and after getting their roots established they are producing a surge of plant growth and beginning to flower. Even though many folks will succeed with their early plantings if they missed the frost and freeze damage the next month is really the prime planting season for most all sunny or shady area bedding plants, perennials, Bermuda and other sunny area grasses and container grown trees and shrubs.

Your success in gardening is often effected by the job you do of soil preparation for your new plantings. The addition of sphagnum peat moss, composted bark, composted cotton burrs, composted alfalfa or other organic matter will enrich your soil, lower the soil PH and improve the air and moisture movement throughout the soil root zone. After you select and transplant your plant choices make sure to water them in very good and then to soak them regularly, especially any week we don’t get good soaking natural rains. You can further reduce your watering and dramatically reduce weed pressure on your plantings by mulching the tops of your flowerbeds with a one to three inch thick top surface mulch using cottonseed hulls, cocoa hulls, eucalyptus or bark mulches of cypress, cedar, oak, pine or fir bark. If you apply the mulch soon after planting it will keep the soil temperature more consistent, retain moisture in the soil and prevent most weeds from germinating and competing with your chosen plants. It is early enough that you can plant small or large plants and still get significant impact this year. You can plant larger plants now if you want more immediate impact but the smaller bedding plants will often catch up in fairly short order. If you wait later into summer to plant annuals you may want to start with larger plants as the time to the first freezes in late October or early November gets closer and allows for a shorter growing season.

Proper watering is probably the most important thing to do for your plants and along with light these are the key building blocks of plant life. Don’t forget that just as we need food in addition to water so do our plants so you need to apply some granular, water soluble or slow release fertilizer to get the maximum impact from your plants. Just as we can over eat you need to read the instructions and not over fertilize your plants. If you will do a soil test every couple of years that will go a long way to insure you feed your plants correctly. Feeding correctly is good for the environment, over feeding and causing nutrient rich runoff can be bad for the environment.

About half of plant material and gardening supplies are now purchased at box stores or discount stores and sometimes you can get some good buys and even some nice plant material if it hasn’t been at the store for too long. I would encourage you to also shop your local nurseries and garden centers because they usually have a much broader selection of plant material, are often real plant lovers with much more plant knowledge, particularly local knowledge and can be important advisors in helping you select the proper plant material and to be successful in your gardening efforts. Our state and country needs to support these local independent businesses and keep this type of knowledge and assistance available for future reference.

Don’t forget to visit the Oklahoma City Arts Festival which is underway through Sunday and in addition to the beautiful and imaginative art you can enjoy the newly reopened Myriad Gardens Conservatory which has been closed for remodeling since January and the beautiful Myriad Gardens outdoor gardens. Also take time to enjoy all the pretty landscape and container gardens around the Arts Festival Grounds. Over 20 volunteers have worked hard for several months to grow and plant all these beautiful flowers. I am very proud of my wife Dona and my mother Marjorie who have worked hard with Randy, Laura, Jimmy and so many other volunteers to prepare all these horticultural delights for your enjoyment and to help create an environment of natural beauty for this special event. My mom actually fell and broke her hip finishing one of these Art Festival flowerbeds last weekend so you will need to enjoy the arts festival for her as she will be out of action and won’t get to partake of the festival again until next year.

This is a great time to get out in the yard and plant some live plants for your continuing enjoyment. This isn’t the theater so we don’t want to break a leg or a hip but we do want you to have a good time and soak in some natural beauty and the many wonders of plant growth and development.

The weather always figures out a way to be at the center of any Oklahoma gardening discussion. After 4 weeks of unseasonably gorgeous spring weather where we hardly ever dropped below 40 degrees or even 50 degrees for much of that month we got quite a little cold front last Easter weekend that took us down below freezing across much of Oklahoma and resulted in a hard freeze in parts of northern Oklahoma and particularly in the northeast part of the state. Our last average frost date is usually around April 7, although we have had killing frosts recorded as late as early May. Weather fronts like last weekend are why real nurserymen and garden centers try to get folks to wait to plant annual vegetables and ornamentals until around mid April. It has been so warm and pleasant this year and with most of us having cabin fever from a winter indoors many Okies had already started planting tomatoes, peppers, petunias, impatiens, begonias and other warm season crops.          

Hopefully, your early plantings survived the cold snap and will get a new burst of growth now as the weather warms up and chances of more frost disappear from our weather forecasts. We are now at the start of the main spring planting season and you should be able to proceed with planting most all kinds of plants except for the most heat loving plants like periwinkle, caladiums, okra, melon crops and sweet potatoes which will do best if you wait to plant them after May 1 when night temperatures will have warmed up a little more. Hopefully you have already done some soil preparation and are ready to “plant away” now that we have passed our last average freeze date. If you haven’t already prepared your flower beds with the addition of peat moss, bark or cottonburr compost or other good organic matter make time to do some good soil preparation before you plant for best results. My Dad used to always emphasize that soil or flowerbed preparation is to gardening as your foundation is to your house. If you have a good foundation your home will stay level, secure and strong. If you have happy healthy soil that is well drained and open enough for good air movement with active mycorrhizae, enzymes, good bacteria and earthworms you are likely to grow happy and healthy plants. If your soil is tight and compacted and stays very dry or stands in water your are likely to struggle in your gardening adventures. Regular addition of mulches, humus and organic matter over the years will continuously improve your gardening experience. 

Remember the importance of watering your new plantings to help them get established, well rooted and to grow without drought stress. A thorough watering after planting and regularly thereafter as they start to get dry but before wilting or discoloring will maximize their growth and impact. Regular feeding with a water soluble fertilizer you mix with water and water onto your plants, a well balanced granular fertilizer, or a specially blended slow release fertilizer that can feed for several months will help your trees, shrubs, lawn, vegetables and flowers maximize their performance. You can now “plant away” on container grown trees, shrubs, perennials, vegetables, summer flowering bulbs, grass seed or sod, and color annuals.

Take a close look at the plants in your yard to see if you got any cold or frost damage. The first part of the plant to show damage is usually the tender new growth at the ends of each shoot. If your tender shoots all look green and alive you probably escaped any significant freeze damage. If some of these shoots are black and limp or browned on the edges you probably got some light frost damage and want to watch those fruit trees, shrubs or annuals to observe how they respond. Sometimes they will grow right out of it and you will notice no lasting effects. If the growth tip actually froze it is usually best to cut off the damaged shoot and new growth will likely come out on the good undamaged stem or tissue below the frost damage. If you are in one of the areas to the north that got a really hard freeze, some got as low as 17 degrees, you could have frozen back your fruit crop, berries, vines and plants all the way to the ground or you may have totally frozen out tender plants. Fruit trees, berries and shrubs that froze back hard may not produce a crop at all this year and it may take several years for the plant to return to the size and condition before the killing freeze. Thankfully, for most of us in central Oklahoma the anticipation was worse than the actual event and most plants I have seen were not damaged or suffered some “freezer burn” to their softest terminal shoots and will quickly bounce back with new growth below the damaged shoots.

Keep an eye on the weather but take advantage of the beautiful spring days to get out and exercise in the garden and to plant more trees, flowerbeds and container gardens.

What a wonderful time of year to be out in your yard, walking through the neighborhood or driving around the state. Nature is putting on a spectacular show of new life and renewal from the deep green wheat fields showing vibrant life after our recent rains to the gorgeous splashes of blooming redbuds mixed through our neighborhoods and across the native landscapes. Every year at this time when they are alive with spring color it is easy to understand why our early state leaders named the flashy redbud as our state tree. Everything progresses so rapidly at this time of year that you have to be paying attention everyday or at least every few days or you will miss part of the great spring nature festival. You can relate this annual show of spring to a magnificent play and you want to be paying attention so you don’t miss a single act of the play. The crocus, peach and apricot trees, forsythia and ornamental pears have finished their color show or act for this year and now we are enjoying some beautiful long stem tulips along with the later varieties of daffodils from these fall planted, spring flowering bulbs. The trees that are starring in the current show include the widely adapted redbuds, cute white sand plums and beautiful pink and red flowering crabapples and the more sensitive dogwoods. The elegant dogwoods need a little extra protection and should be planted on the north or east side of the house or in the shade of other trees. The flowering shrubs starring in the current show include the amazing displays of purple, white and lavender wisteria, the very special scents and flowers of the lilac bushes, many similar to the plants bought to new homesteads across our state in the covered wagons of the land run. The first flowers on the azaleas are just starting to show color and this is another very special flowering shrub best grown in acidic soils with lots of organic matter on the north or east of the house or under the shade of larger trees and shrubs. The hydrangeas which produce beautiful large pink or blue flower heads depending on the soil PH also do best in the same sheltered environments as the azaleas. You can enjoy beautiful public azalea plantings under the trees at Will Rogers Park in Oklahoma City or by visiting the gorgeous and famous hillside plantings at Honor Heights Park in Muskogee.

The creeping phlox are awash in purple, lavender, pink and white colors and provide a lot of color in mounds against the ground. With wisteria, lilacs and phlox all flowering in beautiful shades of purple this may be the best time of year for purple plant lovers in the garden. This is a great time to plant trees, shrubs and perennials. We have been unseasonably warm for almost a month but it is still risky to plant warm season vegetables and color annuals. Our last average frost date in central Oklahoma is April 8 and it is not unusual to have a frost or freeze up to the middle of April so it is best to wait to plant these warm season crops until at least April 8 or preferably April 15. If you decide you want to go ahead and plant tomatoes, peppers, petunias, begonias, marigolds, and other warm season annuals be prepared to protect them if we get another cold front that takes us anywhere near the mid 30’s or below. Really hot weather crops like periwinkle or caladiums should not be planted until early May when night temperatures are consistently warmer.

Now is a good time to plant tall fescue seed in shady areas and you can plant Bermuda grass seed after April 15. We are at the late stages of the weed and feed application season to kill summer weeds before they germinate. At this stage you may want to apply a product containing Dimension which is both a pre-emergent crabgrass and weed killer and has some post-emergent crabgrass control for up to 4 weeks after germination. As you start to mow your lawn remember it is best not to cut off more than a third of the grass blades in any one mowing. This is a great time to add sphagnum peat moss, processed pine bark or compost to your flower beds and to select and prepare your garden containers so you are ready to plant your yard with color when we get past the risk of frost.

Turn off the television for a little while each morning or evening and spend some time out in your yard or local parks enjoying the amazing symphony of spring color and renewed life unfolding all around us.

            The “trumpeters” of the spring plant world are in full color and hitting their bright colored notes to announce the arrival of spring. With the very cold and icy weather in January and early February we were running behind schedule heading to spring but now with two weeks of gorgeous above normal temperatures and hardly dropping to freezing temperatures the tables have turned and we are now ahead of schedule as we approach spring. The spring flowering bulbs like crocus provided the first trumpets of spring and are now joined by the lovely narcissus or daffodils. The daffodils do the best job of the spring flowering bulbs of naturalizing here and coming back year after year. Few bulbs create the impact of a bed of daffodils or the artistic statement of a wandering row or scattered sprinkle of bright yellow daffodils like the fun new plantings of over 50,000 daffodils in the medians of Warr Acres along Northwest 39^th, Northwest Highway and along North McArthur. The flowering shrubs start with the yellow forsythia in lead trumpet position followed by the orange and red flowering quince and the elegant white spirea. I also get a kick out of these flowering shrubs and flowering trees that produce such bold and colorful flowers before they even produce any leaves or foliage so the flowers really trumpet spring even before the plants leaf out. These spring flowers are produced on old wood using sugars and food the plant has stored up all winter to produce these spring flowerworks, the plant world version of fireworks. The good news is that the ever changing spring flower show lasts for weeks instead of seconds. The flowering trees are led into flower by the flowering crabapples, apricot fruit trees and Bradford pears and these are soon followed by the redbuds and peach trees. I love to enjoy these early bursts of spring flowers while walking through the neighborhood or driving to appointments. Like most folks I get serious spring fever after being cooped up inside more during the dark and cold winter and really cherish the nicer spring weather, longer days, brighter sun and the early spring flowers. If you haven’t added some of the spring “trumpeter” flowers, shrubs and trees to your landscape you may want to add some now so you can enjoy this show in your own yard in the future.

            The old timers used to schedule to get their potatoes planted by that great Irish holiday of Saint Patricks Day that happens this weekend and indeed we are nearing the end of the prime planting season for potatoes, onions, cabbage, broccoli and most of the cool season vegetables. Even though we have really warmed up it is still too early to plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons and other warm season vegetables. The safe plan is to plant most of these crops in mid April or later after our last average frost date. If you choose to plant these warm season vegetables early be prepared with wax paper hot kaps, the amazing wall of water, European cloches or some type of fabric protection to put around the early plantings on cold nights to provide a little extra frost protection.

            Now is the best time to prune back your rose bushes to remove old deadwood and encourage strong new canes as they leaf out for spring. This is a good time to plant trees, shrubs, perennials and cool season annuals. You should still wait to buy and plant warm season annuals until mid April or after we get past the risk of freezing. This is a wonderful time to prepare your soil in flowerbeds and container gardens to be ready to plant after we get past those freezes.

Time is running out to apply a pre-emergent weed killer or weed and feed product to your lawn. There are many good pre-emergents to control crabgrass and summer weeds and they need to be applied before the crabgrass or weed seeds germinate in order to prevent their germination. My favorite products for this weed killing mission include those that contain Barricade, Sulfentrazone or Dimension. The only one that also has some post emergent effect is Dimension so if you wait more than another seven to ten days to apply the weed and feed product you probably should use a product with Dimension because it acts as both a pre-emergent and will kill crabgrass for the first four weeks after it has germinated. Make sure to water in any of these products after application for best results. There are some different formulations of Dimension that can even be used in your flowerbeds or around trees and shrubs to control weeds around ornamentals as long as you don’t plan to sow flower or vegetable seeds in those areas this spring. Make some time to get outside and enjoy the “trumpet” flowers announcing spring and have fun planting in your garden.

This is the best time to treat your lawn with a pre-emergent weed killer or weed and feed product to control crabgrass and other weeds in your lawn. It is easier to control crabgrass and summer weeds with a pre-emergent herbicide that keeps the seeds of these undesirable weeds from ever sprouting or germinating. The pre-emergent must be applied before the seeds germinate to achieve control.  There are many types of  pre-emergent crabgrass and weed control products including active ingredients like Treflan, Balan, Team, Simazine, Gallery, Surflan or three of the newer products are Barricade,  Dimension and Sulfentrazone.  I prefer the products with Barricade, Dimension or Sulfentrazone as they appear to offer the broadest control of crabgrass and summer weeds.  You can get any of these products in a granular form that you can spread with a fertilizer spreader across your lawn and several of these products are also available in a liquid form you can spray on the lawn.  You can get these products in an herbicide only form or packaged with a basic fertilizer to make a weed and feed type product to kill the weeds while you  fertilize your lawn. These weed and feed products are the most popular way to kick off your annual lawn care program and now is the time to get it applied for best results.

We have been blessed with some weather that really feels like spring including several beautiful near perfect days, some very windy days and even our first warnings of  spring storms  and tornadoes, I’ve seem the first crocus flowers popping from the ground and flashing their bright colors to welcome spring. With the arrival of March we have a great variety of garden projects that are now ready to tackle.  This is a great time for soil preparation for both your vegetable and flower gardens.  Work your existing or new beds to spade depth and add a 2 to 3” layer of sphagnum peat moss, fine processed bark, composted organic material or mix in last years top cover mulch of bark and cottonseed hulls to enrich the soil, lower the PH and improve the air and moisture movement in your soil.  This is a good time to take a soil test in your flowerbed and in your lawn so you can do a better job of fertilizing your garden and lawn with the proper nutrition and not wasting expensive fertilizer or over-feeding and polluting our environment.  Collect about a pint of soil collected from several spots about six inches deep and then take the sample to your country extension office for a very reasonably priced soil test.  After you have tilled or spaded your planting area, now is the time to get your vegetable garden growing by planting potatoes, onions, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, strawberries, asparagus, rhubarb and the entire spectrum of cool season vegetables.  We need to wait a few more weeks to plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and the other warm season crops until after the last average frost in mid April.  You can go ahead and plant grapes and other berry crops and all kinds of bareroot or container grown trees and shrubs on any of our nice spring days.

Our Sunday School lesson Sunday was very timely as it spoke about the principles of pruning grapes and while I suspect Christ was using the story to help us think about pruning or shaping our behavior in our personal lives the description is still appropriate for describing pruning to our grapes, trees and shrubs. The Bible story says we should prune out the dead wood and prune back the productive wood to encourage more branches and a bigger harvest. That is as good a description of the reason we prune as you can give. Now is the time to prune out the dead wood on your trees, evergreen shrubs, summer flowering shrubs, grapes and berries. We really like to wait to prune roses and summer flowering shrubs until the middle two weeks of March and you can prune spring flowering shrubs such as forsythia, quince and lilacs after they bloom this spring. After you prune out the dead wood you should prune back the good wood and remember that new branches will sprout from the buds just below where you prune. Select a few gardening projects and get outside and enjoy our pretty spring weather, brighter sun and longer days as you assist Mother Nature to get the new growing season off to a good start.