Spring has
sprung. With all this nice weather everyone is whipping their
gardens into shape. With a little work, pretty soon you will be
done and then you can sit back and relax. We’ll help you get your
garden in shape with some of our stories this week.
This week we
featured...
The Oregon
Garden
We visited
The Oregon
Garden (1-877-674-2733) to see all the spring blooming plants
that they have. Our timing could not have been better! This
Saturday is the annual Blooms and Brew Brewfest. April Purdy told
us about the 30 local brewers that will be offering sample of the
beers, and for a $10 admission you get a commemorative glass and 2
tickets for samples. Live music will fill the garden with guests
like Paul Delay and Lloyd Jones. You can also get a great dinner
that could include a Red Hook Porter float! But don’t forget the
garden. The warmer weather has really brought out the blooms.
Come up, jump on the garden tram and spend a day enjoying the
garden!
Mole Solutions
One of the most
common pests in the NW garden is the mole. They can really tear
up your flower bed and lawn. There are lots of products out there
to deter them. Don Sprague of Don Sprague Sales (1-800-423-0158)
told us about a couple of them. The products that don’t seem to
work… the vibrators, the home remedies, and the gases and bombs.
Plus you need to read the directions carefully. You may be doing
more harm to your garden than the moles. The problem with getting
rid of moles is, if you don’t remove them, they will just leave
and will return later. The best way of getting rid of moles is to
trap them. Don showed us how to use the Cinch Trap. This product
will trap them and remove them forever.
Dividing and
Planting Dahlias
If you have ever
seen the spectacular show of the dahlia festival in Canby, you
know how beautiful the dahlias can be. Now is the time to divide
your dahlia tubers and get your new ones in the ground, so you can
enjoy that same colorful show this late summer and fall. We
visited with Nick Gitts of
Swan Island
Dahlias (1-800-410-6540) to learn how the experts do it. If
you can’t make it out to the garden to plant this week, or forgot
to order your tubers, you have until the middle of May to do both.
Planting
Tomatoes
Now is the time
to plant your tomatoes and there are a few things you can do to
ensure a bountiful fall crop. One thing you can do is to plant
your tomato deep! Tomatoes will grow roots along their main stem
as long as you leave a portion of the leaves above ground. Also,
by adding a small amount of garden lime to the soil you can avoid
"blossom end rot," a condition that causes a brown spot at the end
of your tomato. It is still a little early so you may want to
protect your new plants with a cover, like a cloche, or use a
product like a Wall-o-Water. Don’t forget to set your tomato
cages up as well.
Overseeding
Your Lawn
If you lawn is
looking a little thin, now is a good time to overseed. You can do
this by getting a good mulch or topsoil, a seed made for your
conditions and a rake. Start by spreading your mulch over your
lawn to the depth of about 1 inch. Scatter your seed broadly,
don’t put it on too thick. Then rake it into the mulch and then
water. Don’t let it dry out; the seed needs to stay moist until
it germinates. Wait until it gets a couple of inches long before
you mow.
Spring Layered
Pots
Every fall we
hear about layering your bulbs in your garden planters and pots
for spring color. This technique is not just for fall. Take a
late summer blooming bulb or tuber (we used a lily) and plant it
in a pot, then plant an annual color spot on top of it. You can
enjoy the color spot now and later this summer you can enjoy the
color from the bulb!
"Kindergardening"
– Potato Sacks
Our "Kindergardening"
segment this week will get your kids excited about gardening by
creating a sack full of spuds! We visited with Amy Bigej at
Al’s
Garden Center (530-981-1245)
and she showed us how to grow potatoes in a garbage
sack. She used a black plastic bag, potting soil and a couple of
your favorite garden potatoes. She started by punching hole in
the bottom of the sack for drainage. Then we fill the sack 1/3
full of soil. Plant your potatoes in the soil (eyes up), then
cover with more soil until the sack is roughly half full. Keep it
watered and keep it in the sun. As the plants grow, add more
soil. At the end of the season split the bag open and harvest
your spuds!