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

Hopefully your yard and neighborhood received some good soaking rains in the last few days as the big weather front crossed our state. If you got a good soaking this is a great time to mulch your flowerbeds with a 2” or 3” layer of bark or hulls. The mulch will conserve soil moisture, cut future watering about in half and reduce weeds in your gardens. If you did not get rain please be attentive to the watering needs of your plant material .Your watering requirements will vary depending on soil type, heat level and how much drying winds we are facing. Be prepared to water as needed with water hoses, sprinklers or install your own drip watering system.

This is a great time to fertilize your lawn, trees and shrubs, flowers and vegetables while they are growing rapidly and before the stress of the summer heat. It is always best to get a full soil test and to only apply the nutrients your soil actually needs to support the plants you are growing. Without a soil test, apply a well balanced fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorous and potash, the 3 main elements listed on fertilizer bags.  Oklahoma soils usually have adequate phosphorous represented by the middle number so you can use a fertilizer with low or even no phosphorous and generally do well. Good choices would be blends like 20-10-20, 21-7-14 or many other balanced fertilizers. It is important to apply the fertilizer shortly before a soaking rain or to water it in well after application to make the fertilizer available to the plant’s root zone and prevent burning where the fertilizer lays.

This is a good time to sow grass seed for new lawn areas or to patch trouble spots in existing lawns by over-seeding. This is also a good season to plant grass sod or sprigs. Remember that lawn seed, sprigs or sod will all need regular watering until established and “rooted” in just as new plantings of trees or flowers.

Some gardeners start worrying when it is too late to plant with Memorial Day only a week away. We are only 5 or 6 weeks into the post freeze planting season and we have around 22 to 24 weeks left before our first freeze this fall so about 80% of the growing season is still ahead of us. Most everything we would plant now is container grown so we can plant all through the summer with no problems as long as we are prepared to water and mulch to support our plantings. The hot season is coming so now is the time to think about where you would like to add shade and natural cooling on your property. Select trees to add in those spots. Even though they won’t provide much shade now, they grow rapidly and in just a few years you will have changed the look and environment of your yard and can create the natural habitat you’ve dreamed about.

Most of the state has been blessed with refreshing rain showers since our last visit and these have inspired new growth and energy from most of our plants.   Most crop farmers do not have irrigation and have to depend on natural rainfall.  Home gardeners have the advantage in that they can water their crops in times of drought or stress.  Make sure to take time to walk and enjoy your yard and soak your flowers, vegetables, trees, shrubs and lawn as they need water.

We were surprised this last week with some unusual May temperatures down in the 30’s but we should be done with those cold nights until late fall.  This is a great time to plant most everything from warm season vegetables and annual flowers to trees, shrubs and grass seed.  It is a great season of the year to spend time out in the yard enjoying the fresh air, natural sunlight and spring breezes while adding to your plantings.  It is also a good time to fertilize your lawn, trees, shrubs and flowers if you have not fed them yet this spring.  Don’t forget to water well after applying the fertilizer if you are not able to time it to apply just before a soaking rain.

I love container gardens as they are a great way to decorate your porch, patio or even to add height and make a statement in your flowerbeds or along driveways or sidewalks.  Container gardening can really allow you to express your personality or showcase your design flair.  There are endless possibilities in the types and styles of containers from the old style whisky barrels and wheel barrows to countless ceramic, plastic, metal, fiberglass, concrete and moss or coir lined baskets.  After you select the containers you want to use, add a well drained soil mix and then let your imagination run free as you select the plant or plants to highlight.  For years container gardens mainly featured geraniums or geraniums with sprengeri fern, orange or banana trees, hibiscus or other tropicals.  You can certainly still use those traditional container garden plants but today’s container gardens are often living works of art limited by few rules.

We can use evergreen shrubs, roses or  flowering shrubs, ornamental grasses, vegetables and of course the thousands of types of blooming annuals and perennials.  You can add trellis’s to the container and train a vining crop up the trellis or let it cascade out of the pot.  You can even mix vegetables and annuals in the same pot or container.  Remember that the larger the container with greater soil volumes, the less often it will dry out and need extra watering.  Smaller containers and hanging baskets will dry out more often and will require more hand watering.   You can reduce watering by adding polymer “water absorbing” crystals to your soil mix and mulching the top of the container.

Many folks have joined the container gardening trend by raising their own herbs, peppers, eggplants or tomatoes on apartment balconies or patios.  Don’t limit yourself to just flowers or just vegetables but try container gardens of both.  This is your chance to be a plant artist and create your own living art.

We are now in the prime planting season for most all plants including all bedding plants and warm season vegetables. As the march of spring continues we are enjoying the beauty of peonies, rose bushes, snowball viburnums and many others as they come into flower. The sooner you plant your tomatoes, peppers,eggplants, melons, squash and other vegetables the sooner you can be picking fresh produce and enjoying your own home grown food.

It is now warm enough to plant all your spring bedding plants including the hot blooded crops like sweet potatoes, vinca or periwinkle and caladiums. Each year wehave many more varieties of colorful annuals and perennials available to expand your gardening palette. There is always a place and new varieties of the widelyused begonias, marigolds, petunias, zinnias, geraniums and impatiens.  Make a point to try some less common plants in your landscape like pentas, copper leaf plants,coleus and hundreds of others.

It is always fun to visit your local greenhouse growers and garden centers at this time of year to soak in the beauty and the sweet scents of spring. Then select some plants to take home and add to your yard. Remember to water in your new plantings and to water them regularly until they are established.Hopefully your yard and neighborhood got some rain this weekend. Most of Oklahoma has been very dry for months with many areas across Oklahoma in the midst of aserious drought. This season of early spring is a very special time of year with all the trees and shrubs producing a flush of new growth, the vegetables and flowers growingrapidly as they enjoy our warm days and cool nights. Spring provides the right temperatures, increasing hours and intensity of sunshine that creates a near perfect growing environment when mixed with April rain showers. Without the natural and regular April showers your plants will come under stress and not enjoy their full spring growth spurt.

Please pay attention to all your plants from trees, to lawn, to flowers, vegetables and container gardens and be watering them as needed to prevent stress and allow them togrow to their potential. Most crops need the equivalent of about 1” of rain each week during the growing season.  If there is no rain, these plants count on you to water them. It is best to soak them well like a soaking rain, not just squirt them. Remember that plants in containers will need more water, more often, than those in the ground. You may want to consider installing a drip irrigation system that uses less water but grows even bigger and healthier plants by slowly delivering the water right to the root zone of the plant.Don’t forget to mulch your flowerbeds with a 2” to 3” deep layer of natural bark or hulls to reduce watering needs as we deal with our dry conditions.

Mid April has arrived and we have finally passed our last average freeze date. Today we can announce the kick off of the official spring 2011 tender annual planting season. There are a few really hot blooded crops like caladiums, sweet potatoes and periwinkles or vinca you will usually do best to wait to plant until early May when the temperatures are even warmer.  With those exceptions now is the time to plant all warm season vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and many others.  It is a great time to plant most all your colorful annuals or bedding plants from geraniums to marigolds, petunias, begonias, impatiens and zinnias.  This is a wonderful season to locate and plant the biggest selection of perennials and you can select many in bloom so you know what to expect in the future.  It is a great time to plant container grown trees and shrubs and allow them to get rooted in and growing before confronting the punishing heat of our Oklahoma summers.

Often we see something we like and want to plant in our yard but have to wait until the right time for planting. Then we get busy and miss the next planting window.  One nice thing about spring is that if you see something you want to add to your yard you can actually locate that crop and plant most all crops successfully in the springtime. We are blessed with many gorgeous flowering trees and shrubs at this time of year.  If you get inspired by forsythia, quince, wisteria or spirea you can plant them now.  If you are excited by redbuds, flowering crabapples, magnolias, fruit trees or other colorful plants you can visit your local nursery or garden center, select the tree or shrubs you desire and plant away.

It is always a good idea to add sphagnum peat moss, compost or other organic matter to your flower beds or tree planting holes to improve soil aeration, drainage and enhance soil microbial activity.  Remember that we are really dry and your plants will be counting on you to water them thoroughly after planting and regularly during the growing season when we are not getting at least an inch of natural rainfall per week.  Plants in hanging baskets and above ground containers will dry out more often and really must count on you for their water needs.

We all buy and plant most of our plants in containers these days which means we can plant most crops year round.  Garden centers have their biggest plant selection in the spring and the warm days, cooler nights and hopefully a few spring rains usually creates  the perfect environment to help get your plants established and growing.  It is a beautiful season to be outside, so decide what you want to grow and plant away!

Welcome to the gambling season of spring gardening. The calendar shows spring has officially arrived and many days are so warm that if feels like we are well into spring. This is the season when we all get the “itch” to plant warm season crops. Many stores already are merchandising tomatoes, peppers, marigolds and even real “hot blooded” crops like periwinkle and caladiums. Our flowering trees, shrubs and spring flowering bulbs are all flowering 1 to 2 weeks early.

We are all getting anxious to get outside and start planting, especially on crops like tomatoes where so many want to produce the first home grown tomatoes in their neighborhood. You might plant now and get away with it, but it is still a gamble on warm or hot season crops as our last average freeze date in Oklahoma City is April 7th and that date stretches to mid April in northern Oklahoma. You are safer to wait until at least mid April to plant warm season vegetables and color annuals after most risk of frost or freeze and when night temperatures have warmed enough that your new plantings will grow rapidly in the, near perfect, spring weather.

If you can’t resist the temptation to plant warm blooded annuals early, be prepared to cover them with household sheets, newspapers, nursery row cover protection fabrics or have some “Wall-o-Water” or Hot Kaps ready to provide extra protection on the cold or frosting nights that are likely still ahead of us. Some years the early planting gamble pays off and other years the “Sooners” get to plant again after that late freeze.
We are still very dry across most areas of our state, putting big areas of farm crops like wheat at risk. The same winter/spring drought effects your trees, shrubs, bulbs and lawn. With most of our planting material trying to leaf out for spring, they will need water to support and maximize their spring growth.

Spend a little time out watering the yard while watching and enjoying the miracles of spring as nature comes alive.
I love watching the spring symphony of flowers unfold as we have now moved from daffodils to tulips and hyacinths as the spring bulbs bloom. The pears, apricots and peach tree flowers have now yielded to the gorgeous flowering crabapples and our state tree, the redbud. The flashy yellow forsythias have faded, replaced by quince, spirea and wisteria with many more waiting in the wings.

We are in the final stretch to apply pre-emergent weed killers or weed and feed products to your lawn if you want them to be effective in controlling crabgrass and summer weeds. The pre-emergent must be applied before those weeds germinate to be effective.
While waiting for the risk of freeze to pass this is a great time to plant more trees, shrubs and perennials that will make a lasting impact on your yard.