Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 12, 1993 TAG: 9303050388
SECTION: LAWN & GARDEN PAGE: LG-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN ARBOGAST
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
HERE'S YOUR MONTH-BY-MONTH GARDENING CALENDAR
Many horticulture calendars have been written in past years. This is just an outline, put together for the section of the country that includes Roanoke.Readers outside Roanoke can use this as a guide, too, but must be sure to figure in your own average last frost date in the spring (for Roanoke, April 30) as well as average first frost date in the fall (for Roanoke, Oct. 15).
January
Begin planning the vegetable garden. Look through catalogs for disease, pest and drought resistant varieties.
During mild, dry winter weather, water evergreens, especially those in the ground for only one or two years and those in containers.
Avoid heavy traffic on the dormant lawn.
If there has been a lot of alternate freezing and thawing, check young landscape plants that may have been pushed out of the soil.
February
Prune fruit and shade trees, most summer blooming shrubs, and shrubs grown for their foliage.
Do dormant pruning on bush fruits and grape vines.
Mix in winter cover crops by tiller or by hand for all garden spots or flower beds at least six weeks before spring planting and before cover crops start flowering.
March
Take soil tests from the lawn and garden if not done in the fall; this is a good idea at least once every three years and for soil where plant problems have occurred.
Do not work wet soil. Transplant dogwoods, magnolias, tulip poplar trees, nut trees, and other hard-to-move trees while dormant but when the soil has started to warm up.
Seed or overseed a bluegrass or fescue lawn or bare spots late this month or early the next; late August is a better time.
Do not fertilize a bluegrass or fescue lawn until late spring; nutrients applied now will produce a lot of clippings without benefiting the roots.
Apply dormant oil sprays if necessary when the temperature will not go below freezing and before new growth begins; do not spray oil-sensitive plants; read the complete label.
If you have warm, sunny windows or a hobby greenhouse, start plants for the vegetable garden about eight weeks before the time to set them out; peppers, which are an exception, should be started about 12 weeks before outdoor-planting time.
Remove the winter mulch placed on top of strawberry plants when new growth begins. Save the mulch and place it back over the plants on frosty nights.
Begin planting the spring vegetable garden, but wait until the soil is dry enough to work. Start with garden peas, which may also be called English peas; these should go in six or seven weeks before the average last-frost date. Other very hardy vegetables that should be planted about four to six weeks before frost include broccoli, lettuce, onions, Irish potatoes and spinach.
Late in the month, perennials that are emerging may be fertilized.
Prune ever-blooming roses according to their variety just as new growth begins.
Apply pre-emergent crabgrass control at about the time of peak forsythia blooming; most products can not be used in areas where the lawn will be overseeded or reseeded. Read all label directions.
April
Manage the lawn to avoid weeds and disease by these methods: Use a sharp mower; try to cut so that no more than one-third of the grass plant is removed at a time. For bluegrasses and fescues, do not fertilize now and keep a high (2 1/2 to 3-inch) cutting height setting on your mower.
Sow seeds of hardy annual flowers.
Prune spring flowering shrubs right after they have bloomed.
Plant hardy vegetables two to four weeks before the average date of the last frost.
Plant strawberries, fruit trees and bush fruits early in the month or as soon as they are available.
Dethatch bluegrass and fescue lawns if needed early enough to allow 30 days of moderate weather following the work.
Resume monthly fertilization of indoor plants when they begin active growth again.
Begin checking the vegetable garden and landscape, especially on new growth, for insects so that problems can be handled before they get out of hand.
Do not cut off the foliage of spring flowering bulbs while still green.
Begin using a general purpose home fruit spray on fruit plants according to the label.
Prune roses that have most of their blooms in the spring after their heavy blooming period.
Control tent caterpillar tents when the nest is still small.
May
Plant garden vegetables that are not cold-hardy right after the frost-free date. This group includes snap beans, squash, sweet corn and tomatoes (plants).
Plant those garden vegetables that require hot weather one week or more after the frost-free date. This group includes lima beans, eggplant, peppers, sweet potatoes, cucumbers and melons.
Plant warm weather annual flowers at the same time as "hot weather" vegetables.
To get the most from your garden space, follow succession planting in which the "summer garden" follows the "spring garden."
Avoid areas of tall grass or weeds because of ticks.
Pinch out the top inch of young flower plants as they grow.
Thin vegetables and flowers that were seeded to the recommended spacing.
Use all pesticides with caution; this includes weed killers and disease-control products, as well as insecticides. Follow all label directions, even on organic or natural products.
A bluegrass or fescue lawn can be fertilized lightly in late May or June if the turf color needs improving.
Thin crowded apple and peach crops when the fruit is quite young to promote better fruit quality and allow good spray coverage.
June
Check regularly for insects in the garden and landscape; hand pick small infestations if possible to avoid crisis spraying; some insects, such as aphids and cucumber beetles on cucumbers, do spread disease.
Mulch the vegetable garden (between plants and rows) to reduce weed pressure and conserve water later on.
You can still prune shade trees; it is especially important to remove dead branches.
Apply preventative controls for the squash vine borer when the squash vine begins to run and repeat at regular intervals; this must be done before damage occurs.
Side dress (scatter fertilizer beside the row) corn and leafy vegetables with one half cup of 10-10-10 or one cup of 5-10-10 per 25 feet of row about six weeks after growth starts.
Damage from azalea lacebugs is beginning to show up now as a bleached color in spots on the new growth; check underside of leaves for this pest and apply appropriate controls.
Trim pines around the middle of the month before the new growth fully matures.
Check junipers, leyland cypresses, and cedars as well as any other plant that had bagworms last summer; this chewing pest must be controlled when the worms are still small.
Remove faded flower heads from your annuals to keep them blooming all summer.
July
Renovate spring bearing (not ever-bearing type) strawberry plants.
Harvest all vegetables at the peak of the maturity.
Dry flowers when the blooms are young.
Blossom-end rot of tomatoes can be a noticeable problem now; this is not a disease, it is caused in part by moisture fluctuations.
Plant late summer and fall vegetables now and early next month depending on the maturity days for each vegetable; count back from the average date of the first fall frost in your area.
Web worms in locust and mimosa trees may show up now; this leaf-destroying problem should be controlled as soon as the caterpillars appear and begin to feed. Just as with tent caterpillars in the spring, control may be either physical removal, organic or chemical.
August
Take soil tests from the lawn to be ready for overseeding soon and fall fertilization (bluegrasses and fescues).
Harvest onions when the tops turn brown and fall over.
Pick early pears, except the variety Seckel, and allow them to ripen off the tree.
Prepare the soil and seed bare lawn areas or overseed to add new grass varieties late this month or during the first half of the next; water those areas frequently.
September
Do not fertilize shrubs and trees at this time of year.
September through November is the best time to improve bluegrass or fescue lawns by applying two or three applications of a fairly quick release nitrogen fertilizer.
Plant or divide and replant spring flowering perennials such as iris, day lily and peony.
Evergreens can be moved (transplanted) after the middle of this month when the nights are cooler.
Evergreens, especially young ones, need adequate moisture during the fall.
October
Begin daily long-night (darkness period) and short-day (very bright sunshine) cycle for poinsettias to be blooming for the holidays.
Plant spring flowering bulbs.
Mow the lawn at your regular cutting height as long as the grass grows in the fall.
Sow winter rye as a garden or flower bed cover crop as late as the end of this month if other cover crops were not started earlier.
November
Shade trees and ornamental shrubs that are dormant may be fertilized now while the soil is still mild.
Take soil tests from the vegetable garden spot so that any needed adjustments in pH can be started months before the next garden planting; fertilizers should not be applied until just prior to planting.
Indoor plants will be growing very little in the late fall and winter: Omit fertilizers until active growth resumes and water less frequently; give plants a quarter turn every time you water so that they don't bend toward the weaker fall and winter sunlight.
Fruit trees, except those that are very young or non-bearing, can be pruned after they are fully dormant but before severe weather.
December
Protect leafy evergreens with some sort of wind break; do not cover plants with plastic.
Keep bird seed in canisters but only in quantities that will be used quickly; some winter indoor insect problems can be traced to stored bird seed.
Apply a mound of mulch over the lower cane section of roses to protect the graft union during the winter.
Cover strawberries with a winter protective mulch like straw late this month.
John Arbogast is the agricultural extension agent for Roanoke.