Growing a Home Vegetable Garden

by Shawn Banks

 Prague viburnum

Viburnum × pragense 'Decker' – Prague viburnum

                   

The weather is warm; spring buds are starting to show.  You behold a dark, writhing bundle hanging from a tree branch in your front yard. 

It’s swarming season for honeybees.  With the queen in the center, surrounded by thousands of her daughters, the swarm is engaged in a self-absorbed discussion of where to make their new home.  When they do finally move off (and they will) it may be for a far distant tree or it could be for that convenient space they found in the wall of your house.

What do you do?  Call a beekeeper (see jocobee.org ), the county extension office, or the fire department.  Until help arrives, do not approach the swarm.  Go inside where you can watch the swarm in safety.  If the swarm moves off before help arrives, make a note of which direction they went so the swarm can be tracked.  If you are outside and a swarm is in flight, (here’s the hard part) stay calm and slowly move away.  Confused bees may accidentally bump into you, but shouldn’t sting if you don’t swat at them or flail around.  Fast motions frighten them.

Honeybees are important pollinators of US crops.  Your timely phone call will aid in the safe capture of these imperiled insects.


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Our last frost usually comes around mid-April, tax time.  Although there is a possibility for frost after that, previous records indicate that there is about a 2% chance of frost after April 15.

Stay out of the garden when the soil is wet!  Working or walking on wet clay soil compacts the soil, decreasing oxygen.  Neither gardeners nor their plants can survive without oxygen.  In addition, working around wet plants (including turfgrass) is a good way to spread fungal diseases.  How can you tell if the soil is too wet?  Take a handful of soil from 4-5" below the surface and squeeze it in your fist.  If it crumbles, the soil is workable.  If it holds its shape, it needs to dry out for a few more days.

LAWN CARE

• Grass clippings are a great source of nitrogen.  Practice grasscycling , a recycling practice where you leave the grass clippings on the lawn to return nutrients to the soil.  This could reduce the amount of nitrogen needed in fertilizer for the year by 25%.  Clippings may also be composted (they're a great nitrogen source), or sprinkled onto flowerbeds as long as they're not allowed to mat together.
• Warm season lawn seed may be planted toward the end of the month.  Call us for a copy of 'Carolina Lawns' which tells you exactly when and how much seed to plant.

TREES, SHRUBS & ORNAMENTALS

• Renew mulch around trees, shrubs, and in garden beds. Make sure mulch does not touch the bark of trees or shrubs and extends to the drip line of young trees.
• If rambunctious perennials have reproduced too freely, remove and pot the excess plants. Pass them along to friends and family. New gardeners will be thrilled to receive free plants. http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC1150.htm
• Don't overfeed azaleas and camellias. These shallow-rooted plants are not heavy feeders, and can be damaged by over-fertilizing.  Submit a soil sample to be tested (it's free) to determine if fertilizer is needed.  Use a slow-release, balanced fertilizer immediately after blooming. Apply it around the drip line of the shrub, according to label directions.
• Special fertilizers for 'acid-loving plants' are not necessary; our soils are sufficiently acid naturally.
• Watch for black spot and powdery mildew on roses - common problems in our humid climate. Although these diseases make the foliage look bad, the plants generally do well anyway. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/notes/Ornamental/odin002/odin002.htm
• Watch for lace bugs, the most common pest on azaleas.  Look for whitish, stippled leaves with shiny dark flecks on the undersides of the leaves. If found, treat with horticultural oil (an insecticide).  Be sure the spray reaches all parts of the leaves and stems, including the undersides of leaves.  http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/shrubs/ort039e/ort039e.htm
• Annual flowers such as zinnas, moonflowers, cleome, gloriosa daisies and sunflowers can be seeded in mid April.
• Let spring bulbs die down naturally. Remove flower heads after the petals fade, and allow the foliage to die down naturally. Do not fold, twist or braid foliage. Once the foliage falls over, it can be removed. Leafy companion plants can hide yellowing bulb foliage. Tender bulbs such as ranunculus and anemone can be dug and stored when their foliage begins to yellow.
• At the end of the month, plant summer bulbs like caladiums, lilies, gladioli, dahlias, and elephant ears.
• Prepare new flower beds by loosening and amending the soil. All plants perform better when their roots can spread in loose, organic soil. Till the soil and incorporate organic matter, lime and fertilizer - according to soil test results (free kits available at this office)
• Plant perennials now so they can become established before hot weather sets in.

VEGETABLES & FRUITS

• Check tender shoots of vegetables and emerging perennials for aphids. If found, shoot off with water. 
• Watch out for and control fireblight  on apple, blackberries and pear trees (including ornamental varieties). Affected branches look like they've been burned with a blowtorch. Control this bacterial disease by pruning diseased limbs back to 1 foot beyond the diseased area. Be careful not to let infected foliage touch healthy foliage (yes, it's that contagious), and disinfect tools between cuts to avoid spreading the disease.  Discard rather than compost the infected limbs. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/notes/oldnotes/fd3.htm
• Plant turnips before April 15. Plant pole beans, carrots, and winter squash after April 15.
• Cucumbers, corn, pumpkins, snap beans, watermelon, and cantaloupe may be safely planted at the end of the month.
• Thin cool weather crops that were seeded last month.
• Pick off blossoms of strawberries planted this season. Let plants mature a year before they bear fruit.
• Keep tomatoes well-watered to avoid blossom end rot.

HOUSEPLANTS

• Divide overgrown house plants.
• Gradually introduce houseplants to the out-of-doors for their summer "vacation." Give them partial shade at first; experiment to see which of them can handle sun. Even sun-lovers will need a few days in the shade, to get used to the intensity of sunlight, before going out onto a sunny patio.
  

HELPING PEOPLE PUT KNOWLEDGE TO WORK.