By the time you are reading this, I hope we are done “sheltering in place” and can go shopping! What is more delightful than roaming the garden centers and seeing our favorites and all sorts of lovely new plants that will look fabulous around our homes?
But take my advice and wait a little longer to start planting. In our area the last freeze of the season can be as late as the end of May. A freeze is defined as the temperature falling below 32 degrees and lasting long enough to form ice crystals inside the cells of plants.
Since this usually happens at night, I will just wait until Memorial weekend to do my planting- not wanting to be on guard through the cold, lonely nights in my gardens. You can go ahead and plant, but watch the weather forecast and cover your precious new installations with floating row covers, old bedsheets or handfuls of dry leaves if a freeze is expected. But then, every morning you will have to go out and remove the coverings. Doesn’t waiting sound like a better idea?
Good use of your time in the garden this month is to look for weeds and get rid of them! Even last month I noticed Creeping Charlie had snuck into a couple of my gardens and my fight with thistles continues. I am hoping that early spraying with a weed-killer or digging them out will cause their demise.
Last spring, I was too busy travelling and so the weeds got a head start and then they drove me crazy throughout the growing season. “Sheltering in place” should help all of our gardens look their best this summer! Pull weeds! Fill the yard waste bags and drag them to the curb!
Enjoy a daily stroll around your property. Take your garden journal and your clippers. Record what pleases you, what needs attention and what you need from the nursery. Cut a bouquet to bring inside and one to share with a neighbor. If we’re not done sheltering in place, ring the doorbell, leave the bouquet on the doorstep and give a cheery wave when the door is opened and you’re back on the sidewalk.
