The warm days of January and February have turned into the cool rains of April.
Does this mean we should wait before we plant, grow seeds or work the soil? Definitely not. Cool spring weather is ideal for planting, seeding and division of some grasses and bulbous plants, like Crocosmia. Don't let the irregular spring weather fool you, the heat is on the way, so now's the time to get things in the ground or potted up. Here are some spring garden primers to get you on your way.
For beginners and kids:
Don't get bogged down in all the chatter about doing some gardening tasks just the right way or finding the latest thing to help you get going. Just do it. Start small and grow one plant in a choice container. This is easy for kids and beginners alike.
Children will appreciate having their own plant to grow in a pot they choose. Help your kids by setting them up with a plant, container and some soil. Foster their appreciation of how plants grow and they may develop a healthy admiration of the natural world when they become adults. Pick only plants that inspire, captivate or interest you. Sunflowers are great for kids. If it doesn't move you, it won't grow your appreciation of gardening or plants. So choose based on emotion, unless you're growing food plants. In that case, choose according to your diet.
Grow your own:
The cheapest way to have more plants is by growing your own. I grow many plants by division, seed or cutting. Growing seed or striking cuttings is not for everyone but trading for pieces of root and rhizome can be rewarding. Some of the best plants I have were started by obtaining a piece of rhizome no bigger than a dinner fork and sometimes smaller.
For the fastidious gardener, giving up a piece of the yard to grow plants in pots seems improbable. Why not just plant pieces and bits of plants directly into the garden? Plants grown in pots require specific attention that enables focused growing of new plants. Lost in the garden, those same plants would fall prey to a range of stresses and predators. Choose a soil for the container that is loose and open to avoid compaction in future as you begin to water in pots. Perlite is the most common soil aeration medium and obtainable at local garden centres.
I have seen homemade soil mixes that use pebbles, bark mulch or composted wood chips for aeration. One gardener I met used small marbles to increase drainage and aeration in the pot. It was a little odd but it worked somewhat.
The easiest way to obtain pieces of plants is by joining gardening clubs and networking with members. But any friend who has a garden may be willing to share a piece of this or that in return for something from your garden.
Is it time to mulch?
It's always time to mulch. The only problem with late-season mulching is the damage inflicted on new emerging spring growth. If you're just mulching now, don't be too fussy about getting the mulch up close and personal with new growth. Just pile and spread the mulch in the more open spaces between plants. Which mulch to use? In two words: something organic. Bark, wood chips, compost, shredded leaves, pine needles, old cut-up flower stalks and even grass clippings that do not contain herbicides or pesticides will work just fine. And please, do not use any plastic, ground cloth, landscape fabric or any other form of soil bondage. Just pure, rich mulch applied eight to 10 centimetres thick over the entire planting bed surface. Water it when down and your plants will thank you all summer long.
More chafers than lawn:
I hate to say it, but for years I have been recommending people reduce their amount of lawn. If you load the dinner plate, they will come. Chafer grubs are gorging themselves on lawns across the Lower Mainland. The information on how to control them is cluttered with myths and misinformation. One lawn lover told me chafer would never reach his garden in the Fraser Valley because "chafers only fly towards the setting sun."
There's also the fallback cry from lawn lovers saying we should allow pesticide spraying for chafer grubs. Allowing any exemptions in cosmetic pesticide laws would be an act of environmental sedition. An act better suited to the naiveté of the last century.
I have already written several columns on chafer grubs outlining how to mitigate their impact. The long and short of it is: expand garden beds, grow veggies, try some groundcovers, build walkways and patios, or plant artificial turf to permanently avoid chafer problems.
Todd Major is a journeyman horticulturist, garden designer and builder, teacher and organic advocate. [email protected]
