Saturday, March 24, 2007
It’s time to spring into action, clean up
Libba Wolfe
Libba Wolfe's column appears twice monthly in Extra.
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This is the time of year when my to-do list is pages long. Every stroll around the yard reminds me of something I need to take care of. After a visit with Paul James, the Boones Mill gardener whose advice I can take to the bank, I prioritized my list.
He says the No. 1 job in March is cleaning up the yard and beds. No matter how meticulously you rake and cut in the fall, the winter winds have blown drifts of dead leaves into corners and trapped them in the base of shrubs. It’s time to clear them out.
When you’ve hauled off the leaves and twigs, take a close look at the perennials. Cut back the brown stems and leaves to the ground. All the winter-damaged leaves should be removed from the hellebores and those lovely blooms should last a few more weeks. Epimediums should be cut back to the ground. New growth is right around the corner. I took my scissors to the dead iris foliage I missed last fall.
I have to be careful where I step. The borders are dotted with emerging green. Last fall I had a frantic spree putting in hundreds of bulbs and perennials. I’m sure I had some vague plan — wonder what that was? It will be exciting to watch the plants — if not the plan — reveal themselves.
It’s not too early to plant shrubs and any potted perennials that have been sitting around all winter. Might as well take care of them before I start shopping for more. The nurseries are starting to get regular shipments and pull things from the greenhouse. I have some birthday gift certificates that are burning holes in my pockets.
A few years ago I fell in love with flowering sweet peas on a trip to Mendocino, Calif. My vision of the stone wall draped in lush vines and fragrant blossoms has failed every year. They love cool weather and I was waiting too late to put in the seeds. They would germinate and then fry in late May. Last week I poked 10 packets of seeds into the ground. We’ll see if I have a spectacular show or call it quits.
Any seeds — red mustard, chives, some parsleys and cilantros, and poppies — that say “sow in early spring” can go in now. I don’t have a convenient place to start seeds indoors. I’ve tried many times before and all I produce is pale leggy seedlings and a big mess. I either wait until the weather is right or head to the farmers market.
One plant I’m having great success with is a tiny, white-bloomed cress. Combined with the early dandelions and violets, I’ve already spent hours weeding. Working up a sweat with weeds in March is not as depressing as it is in August. My advice after a late start last year is to stay on top of that situation.
Last summer the horticultural experts at Virginia Tech told me the best way to start the season is an early spring feeding. They recommended buying a big bag of the cheapest 10-10-10 fertilizer and scattering in the shrub and perennial borders. Now’s the time.
When I get the fertilizer I have to remember to buy some red Duck Tape. I’m going to wrap the handles of all my hand tools so they’ll be easier to spot when I leave them in a tangle of plants. Last week I found my best clippers in a pile of leaves. I thought they were gone forever but they wintered in the yard just fine.
Every day will be crammed with yard chores and nursery trips. Hard work, for sure. But watching the garden unfurl and green up is my favorite time of the year. After a dirty day, with back and knees aching, it’s a sweet pleasure to sit outside the kitchen door in the gloaming and feel the day end.
I think of a Mark Twain quote my brother Clay sent me years ago. “It’s spring fever. ... You don’t know what it is that you want but your heart fairly aches you want it so.”
Libba Wolfe’s column appears every other Saturday in Extra.
