Gaston Alive Magazine

Again this summer has been filled with days of extreme heat and little or no rain. Our work, money, and time have not been rewarded with a grand vegetable harvest and mounded plants filled with blossoms. It seems impossible to do everything that needs to be done–that’s because it is impossible. It’s bad when the usually relaxing garden work becomes stressful. I’ve constructed the following acronym to help with this stress:

This acronym is a help to everyone–but especially important if you happen to be coping with illness or disability. First, get up early–no time is better for you and the plants than working in the garden early in the morning. The heat is lower and the plants thrive when watered early in the morning. Watering in the heat of the day burns plants and doing so in the evening invites a host of fungus and unfavorable insects.

Next, ask for help, either in the form of working on a friend’s garden, then both of you return to your garden, or by paying a small amount to a neighborhood teenager with a little interest in gardening. Adults, if you didn’t know, gardening is now cool. Young people are getting involved with planet-saving and organic gardening.

Next, reach for water. It’s simple but you wouldn’t believe the number of people who try to satisfy their thirst with a beer or a diet soft drink full of caffeine. Both of these of these dehydrate you and this could cause a heat-induced illness. Everyone needs a total of eight classes of water and more is needed if you find yourself sweating excessively. If you hate plain water, try a flavored water or, my favorite–iced peppermint tea.

Next, don’t expect perfection. Like parenting children, we must pick our battles in the garden to be successful. Try doing some tasks well, instead of doing a fair/poor job on everything. For example, a small raised bed or several (or even one) container gardens.

Next, eat light. The fresh vegetables and fruit are in season–so take advantage of them. Enjoy a breakfast of cottage cheese and peaches. Stir fry eggplant, squash, onions, and peppers and add fajita seasonings and roll in a tortilla with a bit of soft cheese for lunch or dinner.

Finally, never give up. Use the previous ideas to create a small space that expresses your garden spirit and knowledge. Seeing a well-ordered space or container will inspire you to put a little garden time in every day. Enjoy the benefits of gardening without drudgery and exhaustion. Try to stay cool, hey, you already are cool-you’re a gardener!

If you have any gardening questions, call the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Services at 704.922.0301 to speak with a Master Gardener.
Article by: Cindy Hovis

By Cindy Hovis

March is that wonderful time of year for gardeners in that it’s both a time for planning and planting.  March is also the time of year that every day is marked by the appearance of perennials–my sedums are popping up like popcorn and my daffodils are sending up their narrow leaves and colorful flowers.  My roses are budding and leafing out so the pruning time is now or never.  Digging in the ground is a sensual experience for the gardener if you have prepared the soil with compost and mulch–the good dark dirt actually smells sweet and rich.

In my personal garden, I’m adding some more English or David Austin.

You may get some of these at some better garden centers and they will probably be available as potted plants.  If you are careful you can order some bare root roses but this is a risky business–you might receive some top heavy plants with inadequate roots or the roses might come to you dried out from shipping situations.  Always soak your bare root roses in a bucket of water the day before planting.  Dig an ample hole about 2 feet deep by 2 feet wide.  Fill the bottom 6 inches with well-rotted cow or horse manure.

(I use “black cow”) Save ½ of the soil that came from digging the hole and mix it 50/50 with good soil of peat moss.  Refill the hole by planting the rose in the center on a 2 to 3 inch mound to allow for the soil settling.  Water well, especially if you have used peat moss.

In addition to my own garden, I’m helping with two projects in public gardens.  The first was mentoring two students with their senior project concerning the installation of many bulbs at the Art Center in Kings Mountain.  Fortunately we were given these bulbs by a local hardware, when the traditional time for planting bulbs had passed.  We secured an unheated space at the Art Center and gave the bulbs the necessary “cold treatment”.  I helped the students draw a landscape plan on ¼ inch graphing paper, using the naturalized method, instead of the more contrived method of rows and circles.  The naturalized method is easy to do.  Just dig a large hole, following the directions on the package as to the needed depth and plant the bulbs slightly closer that recommended by the package.  I was surprised that one student had never used a shovel before and didn’t know to plant the bulb roots down and green growth up.  I helped them read the package instructions as to the planting depth for the daffodils, tulips, crocuses, alliums, and hyacinths.  Since one of the students plans to be an elementary school teacher, I also showed her how to force hyacinths in clear plastic drinking cups, using gravel and water.  This way the children in this future teacher’s classroom will be able to see both the root growth and the purple flowers.

The other project I’ll be working on is to help a girl scout develop a butterfly garden at Kings Mountain’s new walking trails.  I’ll go over the planning and processes in a later column.

Helping with a public garden is a very exciting and uplifting and if we can inspire children and teenagers to help with the planning and maintenance, we can give the next generation the anticipation and joy of gardening.  Speaking of public gardens, the Learning Garden at the Citizen’s Resource Center near Dallas, North Carolina is open to both individuals and groups.

Call the Master Garden Hotline for more information (704-922-2112 or 704- 922-0301 .  This garden illustrates all the positive factors of a public garden and is designed and maintained by Master Gardeners.  It’s  located a the back of the building and is a great place to bring a date, a family, or your garden club.

If you have any questions, call the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Services at 704-922-0301 to speak to a Master Gardener.

By Cindy Hovis

Catalogs are crowding our mail boxes at this time of year, promising bright flowers, majestic trees, and the “perfect” plant that performs exactly as your location needs it to do.  The best “how to” involving catalogs is truly a “how not to”–believing the claims of catalogs can foil the best gardeners.  Please consult the web sites of the North Carolina Extension service, pick up materials from the local extension service, or call the master gardener phone line for help in selecting the plants that will grow well in our area.  One of the best examples of this situation comes from one of my experienced garden friends who spent five years attempting to grow grapes and suffered the loss of money, effort, and time.  Let the buyer beware should be the maxim in purchasing plants from catalogs.

This year has set records for old temperatures and snow in our area.  This is a perfect time to do some armchair gardening by planning your early spring garden.  Graphing paper is the good base to draw up your plans and using colored pencils can make your plans come to life.  Choose the graphing paper with squares of ¼ inch representing one foot of garden space.  Plan well ahead on paper since it is easier to move the plantings on paper than having to dig up erroneous plantings with a shovel. Plan where you intend to plant seeds sowed directly in the soil like carrots, garden peas, radishes, beets, and lettuce.  Mid-March will come quickly enough and you’ll need to get these in the ground if there’s no snow.  Broccoli, cabbage, and kale should be out early to mid-March also.  Don’t forget the beloved root crops of onions planted by sets, and seed potatoes cut into pieces for sowing with 3 to 4 “eyes” per piece.

Roses require some early spring care also.  Prune between Valentine’s day and the end of February.  Look out for the dreaded 3D’s of rose canes–the dead, diseased, and damaged canes.  Remove these with sharp pruners or lopers, making a 45-degree cut with the tools angled to have the cut facing away from the center of the plant.  Also, make sure the pruning is no more than one-third of the entire cane.  Over-pruning will weaken the plant.  Remove any canes that rub against each other–the weight of flowers and the wind will quickly cause damage. Bare root rose bushes can be planted as soon as they become available in the garden centers.  I’ll explain more in the March column.

I hope you begin to feel the “stirrings” of the exciting time of spring in our area.  Remember to plan, plan, plan and then plant to ease the burden of replanting and to make the most of your garden space and your plantings.

If you have any gardening questions, call the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Services at 704-922-0301 to speak to a Master Gardener.

cindy@gastonalive.com