Spring Chores 2023

• Add circle of wide wire mesh to Peony tomato cage for support, BEFORE they start growing!

• Repaint green trellis a more subdued shade of green! Put second brace on each side and one on the bottom where there are currently none.

• Move Lemon Balm to the front of the herb bed right by the fence. That will make a nice screen in case other things do not look as appealing through the fence. 

• Prepare the herb bed for Anise Hyssop, and Lovage. Add another tube for irrigation, maybe use two or three sprayers because they like to be moist, not wet. Leave some space to interplant hardneck garlic in the fall. 
  
  
  

• Attach the bird netting to the asparagus/strawberry bed with flaps that can be velcroed to the side for easier access.

• Find pine straw for mulch for strawberries, maybe rake some from the pine trees next door.

• Use DRIED grass clippings for mulch for tomatoes. Use the catching attachment on the lawn mower and apply in thin layers. Allow extra to dry in the sun.

• Add additional fence posts in the middle of the fence. 

• Plant borage along the back (where lemon balm was- add black fencing for support) and side of the bed to provide support.

• Divide catmint in the spring. Dig up the parent plant and make a vertical cut to shear through the root ball. Make sure each division has a nice clump of roots and at least three or four stems on it. Once you have divided the plant, replant divisions about a foot apart at the top of the new front slop planting bed.

• Forsythia Propagation- Continue the forsythia hedge across the front by Zenner Road.  Take spring cuttings from new plant growth as soon as forsythia comes into leaf.

• Peony- An annual application of compost mixed with a very small amount of fertilizer around the base of the plant is all that is needed. When you do feed with compost and fertilizer, do it just after the plants have finished blooming.

• Use Large Chip Bark to Mulch the front slope after planting.
• Move the thicker slate stone from the garden to the front slope.

Comfrey- Divide in spring 2024 

Dividing Mature Comfrey Plants

Plants are mature at 2 years or older and continue to expand slowly every year. So once a plant is large and well established you can divide it into more plants. It is a hardy plant and almost all transplants survive. Add the transplants along the top of the slope; there should be plenty of sun once that crummy tree is removed.

Divide by pushing your shovel vertically all the way through the plant in the middle of the crown (this photo). Take half of the crown with the roots. Divide the roots into 6-8 inch pieces and plant elsewhere.

Or drive a shovel horizontally through the leaf clump about 3-4 inches below the soil surface. This removes the crown. Divide it into 6 inch pieces preferably ones with growing buds.

Broccoli

• Make a structure for the broccoli cloth. Structure can be simple rectangle, the supports for the broccoli plants themselves will hold up the center. Attach the netting with velcro to easily lift for weeding. Leave a few extra inches hanging off to cover the gap at the bottom.
• Put aluminum can  or bottomless milk jug over the seedlings for protection from wind until they are established. Use tomato cages to support the mature plants. Put additional stake (or two) though the tomato cages for extra support. Or if Broccoli is curved from the start, use two 4' stakes and flexible garden tape to stake the plant.

• Make more space for broccoli, expanding top and bottom of beds. Leave just enough space to get the wheelbarrow in. Four plants gave a good amount of broccoli, but eight plants would be better. Plants could be planted a little closer together and subsequent planting could be put in the same bed. Use fish emulsion to fertilize broccoli.

Zucchini

Zucchini did terrible this year, trying a new variety may help, also try the weird staking tree strategy and see if it works.

Flowers

Hydrangeas- For optimal growth, bloom production, and quality, fertilize three times:

• In early spring when plants are just leafing out
• In early May to boost their flower production for summer
• In late June/early July to help your plants finish the summer strong

In early spring, put up new fence for garbage cans. You must do this before you can get digging otherwise you will trample the new flowers.

Get Kier to help and move the large rock to the front slope. Put the rock in the steepest spot where it will be difficult to grow anything.

Make the bed by the garbage cans the purple bed.

• Pullout the Catmint and move it to the slope. Remove the remaining Hostas and move to the side of the house. 
• Remove most of the soil and put down a layer of poultry grit for drainage.  Replace soil without adding compost. Lavender like poor soil.
• Move Lavender from herb bed and add new Munstead lavender seedlings. Label well to study which does better. New seedlings will take a year to bloom. 
• Between lavender add Sedum plants (Sedum seboldii October Daphne’s ) Low sedum will grow in front and between lavender, esp. in the first year as it fills in.

Nigella Damascena don't like to be transplanted, so try planting seedlings, but otherwise, succession sow seeds every three weeks. Be sure to plant one last time in late September for an early spring crop. Harvest half of the seeds and leave the rest to hopefully self-seed.

Materials and Equipment

• garden twine- you are almost out
• 10- 6' garden stakes for staking Thistle and for stabilizing the black trellis in the asparagus bed
• More tomato cages for Broccoli
• Get a dump truck delivery of soil for the low spots at the end of the driveway and to fill in the slope part that you dug out last spring
• Wooden garden stakes for the wildflower bed to keep the town from mowing there.
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