Spring Chores 2025

Yearly Tasks

    Set up irrigation

    Amend soil

    Top dress with compost

    Mulch

    Fertilize perennials

   Add supports

• Set up drip irrigation. Roll out and connect hose. Attach water filter and timer. Replace broken emitters or split hoses.

• Amend soil two weeks before planting- mid-April. Replenish Veggie beds with Coast of Maine Tomato and Veggies Soil

• Top dress beds with compost. 
• Bagged compost from Schenectady County Conservation District. 
• Price 3 for $8 
• A 20 dry quarts package of potting soil is approximately 3/4 of a cubic foot.

• Mulch beds: Try pine shavings this year. Comes in bales in plastic from Tractor Supply. Or pine straw for strawberries and dried grass clipping for tomatoes. 

• Remove and store plant covers and wraps.

• Add plants supports before they start growing: Peony, Bells of Ireland, etc…

• Fertilize perennials: Hydrangea, Peony, Asparagus, etc…

Early Spring Chores

• Divide or transplant perennials: Aster, Balloon Flower, Bee balm, Black-eyed Susan, Catmint, Coreopsis, Dianthus, Echinacea, Hosta, Hyssop, Lamb's Ear, Phlox, Speedwell, Yarrow

• Rake up old wood chip mulch and put down 2-4 sheet layers of newspaper before replacing new mulch.

• Turn Compost. Sift and harvest completed compost and apply as top dressing for plants.

Veggie Garden

• Fertilizer Option 1: Choose a general All Purpose Fertilizer like Down to Earth
• Amend at planting- three beds are 96 square feet, 6 lbs fertilizer covers 110 sq. feet
• Use 2 types of Fish Emulsion: Tomato and Veg for the first few weeks, and Rose and Flowering for the rest of the season.
• Fertilizer Option 2: Heavy feeders like tomato and broccoli should receive 4.8 ounces per 100 sq. ft. Blood meal Recommendation: 0.5 ounces of 12-0-0 per 32 square feet
• Broccoli- side-dress 3 weeks after transplanting (side-dress broccoli a second time after central head is harvested to encourage small heads on side shoots).
• Tomato- side-dress when fruits first form.

• Harvest Asparagus more frequently (every day when they get going, once spears are 6-8", width of spread hand) and continue for six weeks, June 1 -14. Note when this falls this year for future reference.

• Dig cover crops in at least a month (early to mid April) before sowing or planting.

• Use fish emulsion for tomatoes and peppers. For determinate tomatoes, once in mid-June. For indeterminate tomatoes and peppers, apply monthly in the growing season: mid-June, mid-July and mid-August.

Fertilize Perennials

• 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.
• Hydrangea Macrophylla- 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

Bells of Ireland

 Bells of Ireland

Moluccella laevis

Perfect green bells for a bouquet. 

These apple-green bells add interesting texture and contrast to borders and make an excellent cut flower. Inside each bell-shaped calyx, you will find a small, white flower with a mild fragrance. This plant grows wild in Syria and Turkey, but the vibrant green has come to be associated with Ireland and good luck. Sow in a well-prepped bed and keep soil evenly moist to germinate (be patient!).

Direct sow in early Spring. Or, sow indoors 6-8 weeks before last frost then transplant into a well-prepped garden bed. Two weeks cold stratification. Bells of Ireland prefer cooler temperatures and can be planted in full sun or partial shade. If sowing indoors, chill seed for a few days before seeding. 

Germination Idea 1     Germination Idea 2   

1. Store seeds in freezer for several weeks. Soak seeds in water for about 24 hours. Place seeds in a damp paper towel. Put the paper towel in a plastic bag and set it on a heat mat. In just a few days, the seeds will begin to sprout.

2. Carefully transfer the sprouted seeds into seed trays, tucking the "tail" (root) into the soil.

3. Seedlings can grow the trays for a few weeks until they have 2-3 sets of leaves.

*Next year, if I do not have good luck, buy 150 seeds and direct sow most of them. The more I read, this seems like the best way to get these flowers. They will also self seed, so once you get this part of the bed started, you will not need to start seed inside.

Days to Germination             15-20 days

Days to Maturity                    95 days
Planting Depth                        0"
Spacing in Row                      10-12"
Spacing Between Rows          12"
Height at Maturity                24"
Width at Maturity                 6-12"
Sun Preference                      Full to partial Sun

Scallions

 Evergreen Scallion 

Allium fistulosum

A scallion patch is easy to grow and useful nearly all year round.

A patch of this scallion is a long-time garden friend. In mid-winter, scallions are happy to get a jump start indoors; they can be transplanted anytime the ground can be worked; they multiply by division naturally if left unharvested; and they overwinter with no special care, emerging powerfully after the ground thaws, their deep green spears a reassuring sign of spring. Not actually a young bunching onion but a member of a separate, non-bulbing species, Evergreen Scallion is versatile, easy-to-grow, and delicious. Chopped and sprinkled on nearly any prepared dish, they make all flavors pop. In short: starting a scallion bed (or container garden) is a journey worth taking.

Start your first round of scallions indoors up to 12 weeks before last frost date (January 28). After danger of a heavy frost (2 to 3 weeks before the last frost date, April 24 for harvest July 4.) plant the seedlings in the garden when they are about the thickness of a pencil. Make succession sowings every 3-4 weeks for scallions all season. Second planting May 15, harvest July 24. A good fall crop can be started for harvest before first autumn frost. Fall planting August 7, harvest October 15. If overwintered, they will emerge in early spring. Scallions are tolerant of less-than-ideal conditions. side dress with fertilizer about six weeks after planting.

Plan

Start enough for one row indoors 18 plants. Then direct sow additional row and more in broccoli bed as a pest deterrent on May 15.  Pull up fort row and do a fall planting August 7.

*Leave a few scallions and see if they will overwinter. Some say they will com back every year, so I may not have to start seeds every year.

** Or try making sets

Variety: Evergreen Scallion- same spacing as carrots

Days to Germination         3-10 days
Days to Maturity               75 days
Planting Depth                  1/4"- 1/2"
Spacing in Row                2"

Uses: Scallions freeze well. Scallion pancakes, Scallion oil. Add to baked potatoes (or potato skins!).

Garden 2025

Equipment

• Epic Gardening- 6 cell seed starting trays- 72 per 1020 tray- buy 12 more from Gade Farm 

• Felco pruners- don't leave these outside!- purchased 12/24 from Heirloom Roses

• Netting support for Bells of Ireland

• Soaker hoses for carrots and scallions- 20 feet,          ends, flow valves?

Plants to Purchase

Green Twister coneflower- I just couldn't get these to grow from roots or seeds. Maybe it's best to buy a few plants.

Hydrangea- Blue Jangles- This is the showpiece of the bed. I hope I can keep it alive and flowering, and also add the correct amount of acid to keep them bright blue. It might need more water and less sun that this spot has. Buy a few plants each year, or ask for Mother's Day gifts.

Spirea Blue Kazoo-Bluestone Perennials- Dwarf variety with cool blue foliage, rich red fall color and white flower clusters. A neat mounded plant, easy to grow. Put at the very top of the border behind the Blue mist as it is a little taller. Purchased three in fall 2024. See if they survive.

Blue Mist Spirea- Bluestone Perennials- Misty clusters of rich purple blue flowers envelop the glossy, dark green foliage. Once established, this drought tolerant plant is virtually maintenance free. Caryopteris Beyond Midnight™ has a dense mounding habit. Long blooming. 2- 21/2 high. Buy two more for spring 2025 planting.

Maybe try some new varieties of Veronica: 

• Veronica longifolia First Glory
• Veronica spicata 'Royal Candles'
• Veronica Blue Skywalker
• Magic Show 'Wizard of Ahhs' Veronica Hybrid

Morden Blush Rose

Even though I don't really care for them, every perennial border should have roses. Garden Answer showed these and mentioned that they have a nice red-orange rose hip in the fall and winter. Expensive $50 bare roots, so get one as a specimen plant in the center of the border.

Purchased 12/24 from Heirloom roses, High Country Roses

Sedum Autumn Joy- buy locally

Echinacea Cherry Fluff- 1 1/2 feet wide and 1 foot tall- new perennial bed

Rose of Sharon Pink Shiffon- height 8-12' width 4-6'-  new perennial bed

Veggie Garden