Seed Starting

Today, here in green country, it feels like spring. I think today's high is going to be in the lower 70s. A little odd for February, but I am not complaining. I opened my windows to get a little fresh air and saw the patch of dirt that will soon be my garden and it got me thinking about seed starting.

Seed starting is a great way to get a jump on planting. knowing what and when to plant can be a little tricky. Typically I tell my customers at The Garden Trug that it is safe to start your spring planting about April 15th. In the last few years we have had particular warm winters. As a result I was able to start doing some planting a little earlier. One of my go to websites for all my gardening questions is Organic gardening, and once again they have laid out a handy dandy chart for getting your seedlings off to an award winning start.

Another tip I highly recommend is using Bio-Tone®  made by Espoma, which you can pick up at your locally owned garden shop. Bio-tone®  is fortified with Mycorrhizae. The Mycorrhizae is a fungus that attaches itself to the root system of your plants and promotes a healthier growing habit for your plants and vegetables. The catch to Bio-Tone®  is you MUST apply it at the time of planting. It is not a fertilizer. It must touch the roots. I will never again plant without it.

Companion Planting

About this time every year, I start seeing those newbies to the garden world coming into the shop. They slink in and sheepishly giggle when you ask them if they need any help. These are garden newbies. Thanks to the blooming popularity of pinterest I am seeing more and more of these sprouts heading into the shop. Most of them have decided to start a vegetable garden but they are quite unsure of how to go about it. Its no wonder when we throw out words like companion planting, soil amendments and fertilizer that you can see that look of overload fear in their eyes. I always recommend they start simple. Have fun, and lean as they go. Here is a great article on companion planting from Organic Gardening

Companion Planting
Make efficient use of your space and attract beneficial insects.

Organic gardeners know that a diverse mix of plants makes for a healthy and beautiful garden. Many also believe that certain plant combinations have extraordinary (some even believe mysterious) powers for helping each other grow.  

Read the rest at OrganicGardening.com

the Prairie Cottage: Mini Greenhouses

If your feeling the winter blah like me, here is an idea to get your hands in the dirt.


the Prairie Cottage: Mini Greenhouses

The best fountain secret in the world . . .

At Home with Garden Grace Blog offers a nifty tip for cleaning your fountains. Keeping algae from blooming in your fountain is important for the health of fountain pump. If you prefer the look of an algae cover fountain you should periodically clean the pump.  Read the tips from At Home with Garden Grace. 

Powerful Little Pansy

When the temperatures begin to drop I  say my goodbyes to the tired and often crispy summer plants. I make way for my fall garden. One fall essential to flower containers and landscapes is the powerful little Pansy. Pansies are great flowers because they love the cool temperatures of fall and winter in Tulsa. With our past winters being so mild, many Tulsans found that their Pansy's lasted well into spring.  Pansy's are very easy to plant and care for.

Pansies like to be crowded in, for a tight professional look, I like to space them about an 4 to 6 inches apart, roughly about the width of your fist. If your flower bed is prepared and has loose good soil, I recommend using a dibble for digging your hole. A good dibble can speed up the plant process considerably.  If your flower bed soil is less than perfect, you might use a hand trowel. In a worst case scenario you can even go for a quick and painless garden auger. Your Pansy only needs to be planted about 4 to 5 inches into the ground. Dig the hole but before planting your flower, throw in a good slow release fertilizer, like Colorstar. Fertilizers will increases bloom production, insures plant health, and maximizes plant growth. With your Colorstar in the hole put your plant in and cover. Be sure also, to gently loosen those plants once you pop them out of their containers. Once you have planted your flower be sure to water your freshly planted Pansies. To finish with a professional look apply about 4 inch layer of a good mulch, like Grade A Ceder. Mulch helps shield your plants roots from the winter chill and also aids in retaining moisture.   

To figure out how many plants you need first determine your planting area's square foot. Do this by simply multiply the length of the area by the width of the area. If your planting area is 3' by 5'  your square foot would be 15'.

This chart, created by gardenality.com makes determining how many plants you need a little more simple.

Pansy Container Garden

Pansies are great filler for fall container gardens. Keep Pansy's trimmed tight or let them trail down both are great color additions. I typically will plant Pansies with Kale and Celosia. This year I added Millet to many of my designs to add an extreme color contrast.

Food for Thought:

Maybe I am a tad out of touch, but I recently learned that Pansies can also be used as a food. I must stress the importance of organic gardening if you choose to pursue this. Pansies apparently are high in both Vitamen A and C. Admittedly I have yet to eat a Pansy but I welcome any comments from anyone who has.  Pansy Recipes-

Overseeding

Fall is the best time of year to overseed your lawn. If you have wondered why the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, it is no doubt due to overseeding. Overseeding is the spreading of seed on an already established lawn, without having to dig it up and start from scratch.

How do you know if you need to overseed. Its pretty simple to establish if your lawn needs overseeding. Does your lawn have summer scorched patches, parts that are thing or bare. First you may need to address some outside factors. Is the soil in good shape (loose, well drained).

Overseeding is an essential lawn care task. Even if you fertilize properly,  grass doesn't grow forever. After five or six years, grass plants will slow down their reproduction rates and result in thin grass coverage. The problem then is thin grass invites weeds. Overseeding compensates for that natural decline of turf's reproduction rate. There are two major benefits to overseeding every five or six  years. Overseeding will insure your lawn stays thick and dense and ineffect choke out most if not all weeds. Also new varieties of seed today are less susceptible to pests and diseases.

Most lawns in Tulsa, are overseeded with fescue seed. I recommend Five Star Fescue which can be found locally at the Garden Trug. Five Star is a brand of fescue that I have found works best in Oklahoma. Using Five Star you will need about 6-8 pounds of seed per 1000 square foot.

Let the fun begin.

1. Start by first mowing your grass. Set your lawn mower to cut at a height of about 2 inches.
   
2. Next you will need to collect your grass clippings. Your new grass seed will need to be able to make direct contact with the soil. Grass clippings can create a thatching effect and will prevent the seed from making contact with the soil.
   
3. (Perhaps the most taxing part of this adventure) You need to aerate the area you are going to be overseeding. Do this by using a hard rack and score the surface of your lawn. remembering that the seed must touch soil in order to germinate the more you score the better chance your seed has at success.
    
4.  Apply the grass seed using a spreader. A Spreader helps distribute the seeds evenly in an area. If your doing a small area you can do it by hand, however for larger areas a drop spreader is recommended as it is far more efficient.
   
5.  Lastly, water in your freshly spread seed. Once grass seed is spread and moistened from that first watering, it should never be allowed to dry out. Grass seed must always be kept moist until you get full germination. In Oklahoma that means watering new seed at least twice a day for at about two weeks. If you miss a day or two and the seed dries you may lose up to 30 percent germination.  

Overseeding can add tremendous curb appeal to your overall landscape. While it can be a chore you should only have to do it about once every five or six years. Additonally Overseeded lawns may need fertilizer six weeks after planting. You can apply 1 lb. of milorganite for every 1,000 square feet of lawn.