General
(October 2012)
Arkansas Gardener October 2012 Zone Report
Garden clean up is important. Our poor plants need as much tender loving care as
they can get after making it through the past two years outside. Rake up spent debris,
cut back perennials as they begin to die back. Cannas continue to be plagued by the
leaf roller, and it lives in spent debris in the garden, so don’t give it a resting
place. Cut and destroy. Add a fresh layer of mulch in all gardens. Take inventory
of what worked, and what didn’t. The only plants you should be fertilizing now are
winter annuals and vegetable gardens. Everything else is preparing for winter, and
should not be encouraged to keep growing. Houseplants should all be safely back indoors,
along with any non-winter hardy plants you want to save. Cut back on the watering
indoors and give them bright light to acclimate to the inside conditions. Check for
insects. Plant spring blooming bulbs from now through the first of the year. Expand
your plant palette and instead of just daffodils and tulips, try some unusual bulbs.
The alliums, or flowering onions are gaining in popularity along with scilla, grape
hyacinths and snowdrops.
Arkansas Gardener October 2012 Zone Report
In spite of the growing season, we actually had a pretty good vegetable garden, and
that trend can continue. By now, for the most part things should be in the ground.
You can still find cabbage, broccoli, and other cool season transplants, so plant
them. Last year our winter was so mild, that gardeners who planted fall vegetables
gardened all winter long. Greens and kale can take it fairly cold and can serve as
a cover crop and an edible. If you haven’t planted a fall garden, don’t leave the
garden spot bare all winter, or you will end up with a great crop of weeds. Either
plant a green manure crop or cover crop, or put down a thick layer of mulch –shredded
leaves, compost, etc. This can keep the weeds at bay and you can work this organic
matter in when you till the garden next spring. Leaves started falling this year
in June and have continued. We preferred falling leaves to those that died and stayed
attached to the trees. If they fell early, we at least knew the tree was healthy
enough to produce the abscission layer and conserve its resources by not having to
supply water to the foliage. Plants that have leaves that are brown and attached
to them, probably have dead limbs. Some oak species hold old leaves until early spring
and then drop them, so if you want to be 100% certain a tree is dead, wait until new
growth next year. But with all the dead plant matter, coupled with garden clean up
and leaf shed, this is a composter’s nirvana now--so many raw materials to work with.
Remember, you need a combination of green and brown matter to make it work. Vegetable
scraps, coffee grounds and fruit peelings work well, but avoid adding any meat or
dairy products to the compost pile. If you can shred the materials before you add
them, it will speed up the composting process. If plants died because of drought,
add those to the pile, but if they were heavily diseased, or loaded with weeds, don’t
put them in. Although a compost pile does heat up and can kill many disease organisms,
insects and weed seeds, a home compost pile doesn’t have great uniform heat throughout
the pile and we don’t kill all the bad stuff. How many of you have used compost and
had tomatoes and unusual gourds or squash emerging? This is from seeds that made
it through, and while they aren’t bad seeds, the pigweeds and nutsedge are.
(November 2011)
Fall Gardening Tasks
Rake leaves as they begin to fall. Start your own compost pile or use shredded leaves
as mulch in the garden. If you haven’t planted winter annuals, do so soon. Pansies,
violas, flowering kale and cabbage can all still be planted. Make sure you buy blooming
plants now, or you won’t get great flowers until spring. Plant spring blooming bulbs
from now through the first of the year. After a killing frost, clean up your flower
beds and vegetable gardens. Canna foliage needs to be cut back and disposed of to
help cut back on the leaf roller insect which overwinters in the spent leaves. Houseplants
that are inside need less water now, and may shed some leaves as they readjust to
indoor conditions. November is the ideal month to plant a tree. The ground still
has some residual heat, we have ample moisture and the plant is going dormant so it
can spend its time putting on roots. If you need to transplant hardy shrubs or trees
from one part of your yard to another, the transplant season has begun.
Fall Gardening
The soil is the foundation of a garden. The healthier the soil, the healthier and
more resilient your plants will be. Too many of us in Arkansas are blessed with more
rocks than soil, but even those who do have decent soil often lack organic matter.
Building up a strong soil and amending with organic matter in the form of compost,
gives plants a better start in life and makes them easier to maintain. When amending
soil, it is best to blend in your amendments with the existing soil. Creating a homogenous
mix will encourage rooting better than layering in different soil types. Fall is
also an excellent time to test your soil to find out what the pH is and determine
nutrient levels, so that you are prepared for the next growing season. The pH of
the soil determines the level of acidity of the soil. It is measured in a range of
0 – 14. 7 is considered neutral, while below 7 is acid and above 7 is alkaline.
Most plants like a slightly acidic soil, between 6-6.5. Blueberries and azaleas like
it even more acidic, getting in the range of 5 – 5.5. Many soils in Arkansas are
acidic, and we occasionally need to add lime to raise the pH. A soil test will determine
whether you need to lime or not. It will also tell you how much lime to use. Lime
that can be mixed into the soil will give quicker results, than lime that is laid
on the soil surface. To test your soil, take slices of soil from the surface down
around six inches. Get soil from 6-10 different spots in your yard or garden for
each sample you are taking. Mix it together and take one pint of soil for each sample
into your local county extension office. Many gardeners test their lawns, vegetable
gardens and flower gardens separately, since they treat them differently. Within
two to three weeks you will get a computer printout mailed to you with the results,
and recommendations on what to do.
(September 2009)
This is the first year that I grew asparagus with two year old crowns. I did not
harvest any this year as directed. What or how do I take care of them this winter?
When I harvest next year how much and how often; I have 10 plants? How do I take
care of my garden spot for the winter as I have never had a designated garden spot
before?
Asparagus is a great perennial vegetable. You can begin a small harvest next spring,
but don’t overdo it. Harvest until the size of the spears is smaller than a pencil
in diameter. If you continue to harvest really small spears, you can wear the plant
out, which will impact your harvest for years to come. By the following year, you
should be in full production. As to winter care, simply let the ferny fronds grow
until a killing frost and then cut them back. Some folks leave the fronds out for
the bulk of the winter to cut down on weed issues, but you should remove the spent
tops by mid January at the latest, to get the spot ready for spring harvest. For
the general garden, fall sanitation—removing spent debris and either mulching or planting
a fall cover crop can help keep weeds at bay and start your season cleaner. Some
choices for fall cover crops include clovers, vetches, rye, and field peas.
(October 2007)
I have plants (in pots) that will need to come inside for the winter. I don't want
to bring in a lot of bugs in the house. What do you suggest that I spray them with
before bring them inside?
Clean the outside of the containers and lightly spray the foliage with insecticidal
soap. You can also water the plants and then drench the soil lightly with insecticidal
soap as well. You want to make sure there is ample soil moisture before using insecticides
to prevent burning the foliage.
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