We would like to invite everyone to our next meeting
which is on Thursday, May 1 at the Northville Public Library when Sue Pezzola
presents a program on the British point of view of gardening. Sue is the Community Educator for
Horticulture with the Cornell Cooperative Extension for Albany County and is in
charge of their Master Gardener program.
She will discuss the historical perspective of English gardens as well
as a practical one – providing tips and tricks for developing and maintaining
English-style gardens. We will have
refreshments afterwards and lots of opportunities for everyone to meet and
mingle.
Although the sun is shining and most of the snow has gone
from my yard and the
If you didn’t do a pH test in the Fall, now is a good
time to get one done. But remember that if your pH is low and you need lime it
can take a few months for the lime to adjust the pH. Get a jump start on weeds by taking your hoe
and remove any emerging weeds. Do this
every couple of weeks until you can get a summer mulch down and you will have
far fewer weed problems. Check your lawn
for any damaged areas and repair. You
can do over-seeding now and a spring feeding in late May will set your lawn
nicely for the year. Do make sure that
your lawn mower blades are sharp and continue to sharpen those blades frequently
during the season so the grass gets cut rather than torn.
Besides not looking as good, ragged torn
edges are an invitation to various bacteria to come and eat breakfast, lunch
and dinner in your lawn. If you didn’t
feed in Fall a general 10-10-10 fertilizer on all your flower beds will be
beneficial now as the fertilizer will work itself down to the roots and be
available to the plants as they are actively growing in early summer. Alternating thawing and freezing can heave
your perennials right out of the soil.
If you see any plants that have heaved just push them back into the
earth and tamp lightly with your foot.
Wait until you see some new growth emerging from your
perennials before dividing them. Look
around and see what needs thinning or what you want to move. But don’t be in a
hurry to discard plants you think have died.
Many plants such as Joe Pye weed, Rose of Sharon and hibiscus take a
little longer than others to wake up. Cut
your ornamental grasses to the ground.
You can cut up the dried grass and use it as mulch in your vegetable bed
in June. Wait for new growth to appear
on tender shrubs such as lavender and buddleias before pruning. Prune the buddleias to about eight inches and
prune the lavender to the shape you want.
Forsythia and lilacs should be pruned immediately after flowering;
remove one fourth of the old growth each year to keep the bushes more compact
and flowering well. Remember to put in
your plant supports for the peonies and delphiniums. The new growth will hide the supports and
protect the plants during our spring thunderstorms.
Come check out our plant sale during the village wide garage
sale on May 3. We are located on Main
Street across from Stewarts. We thank
Ginger Driscoll for allowing us use of her property for the sale. Gale McGowan has been working hard to make
sure we have plenty of plants for you to check out so come and talk to us, we
love to chat.
On May 17th the Master Gardener’s will having
their plant sale at Udderly Delicious on
Route 30. If the weather is warm enough
several of the Master Gardeners will be bringing plants from their own gardens.
As always you can contact us at POBox 675, Northville NY 12134.
