The Natural Gardener, Gardening in March

          March has come like a white wolf in sheep’s clothing, with snow in the middle of a week of rainy weather on the 5^th and 6th.  Can’t garden until it melts, but unlike the storm in January, it is gone on the 7^th.  February didn’t have its usual two-week break of warm, sunny weather; there was some sun between the rains, but not a lot of warmth.  Daffodils barely started to open, when they are usually in full bloom by mid-month. 

          We are told, in this area, that we should cut back the roses when the forsythia blooms, but as often happens, roses have broken buds and are leafing out well before the forsythia even breaks a bud.  This gardener crowned most of her roses before the end of February, though there remain two customers who haven’t been served yet.  Not to fret; growth is slow and little will be lost in waiting another week or two. 

We cut roses back to the crown, the hard knot of wood at the base, rather than the usual foot tall, because black spot grows all over the stems, and will just re-infect the leaves if any stem is left on the crown.  Nearly every rose in town has black spot due to our mild winters, though Rosa rugosa is pretty resistant.  This is not the only time one can crown a rose.  A rose crowned during the spring growing season will come back to nearly full height and bloom within a couple of months.  Crowned in summer, it will grow back and bloom even faster in the heat. 

March has the equinox, the day and night of equal length, on the 20^th.  One can plant cannabis clones or seed outside after this date, and they will not bloom prematurely as long as one does not deprive them of the increasing day length before 6 weeks after planting.   The way to do that is with a “light depo” or light deprivation house, in which one pulls a cover over the plants to give them only 12 hours of light, which starts them blooming heavily and makes their buds more solid.  These are being advertised on the radio and elsewhere.  

This year, it may pay to wait a little longer to plant, for sunny weather to warm the soil up, as your clones or seedlings will be eaten by bugs if they are planted in soil too cold to get them growing.   The same goes later for regular summer food crops; if bugs eat your plants, replant.

But now is a good time to plant peas, potatoes, onions, lettuce, spinach and other greens, preferably from seed or bulb.  Pansies and petunia plants are in the stores and will be happy in the chilly ground.  Cyclamen and hellebores are blooming and will be available at the Growers Market this month.

Blueberries at Sandy's Nursery.  Southern "Legacy" are on the right, with leaves.

It is time to plant blueberries, which are available now at Sandy’s Nursery in #2 pots.  They have included one variety of Southern, Legacy, with their usual Northern varieties.  Southern blueberries take our hot Southern Oregon summers a bit better than Northern varieties; they keep most of their leaves through the winter and will drop them after they bloom and new leaves grow.  Their branches are thinner and their leaves smaller, and they often turn colors through the winter.

Keep in mind that blueberries want to be planted in very loose, rich soil.  If yours is not loose enough to dig with your gloved hands, put the plant on top of the ground and surround it with compost to the top of the roots and at least 3 feet wide.  Unlike most other potted shrubs, blueberries will sink into the soil as the compost around it is worked in by worms, rather than being left high and dry.  

Their spongy root system does not grow deeper than about 6 inches for about 5 years, when they put down a deep taproot for water.  To grow big blueberries before that, run a mister near your plants through the heat of the summer to keep them happy, and always keep their roots covered with coarse bark, straw, or hard leaves that will stick around, like oak leaves or pine needles.   They want full sun and their feet well covered and cool.

         

Rycke Brown, Natural Gardener          541-955-9040        rycke@gardener.com

The Natural Gardener: February Gardening

          February in Grants Pass is when the garden and the gardener really start to wake up.  January has its snowdrops, but we don’t really care; it is too cold and dreary to draw us outside.  In February, sunny days get warm enough to make cold weather gear too warm by afternoon, and coax crocuses and daffodils to bloom.

Daffodils in oak leaf mulch for weed control.

February is the time to kill annual springweeds like bitter cress, heron’s bill, groundsel, foxtail and cheat before they bloom and spread; it has been since October, when they started to grow and some started to bloom.  Cut any annual weed under the crown and it will be gone; you can clear a lot of them quickly with gardening scissors or a knife. 

Winter is also time to cut and dig rampant perennials like violets that are in stasis until this month, when they will start to bloom in earnest, set seed and make the matter more urgent.  Cut blackberries back and dig out their crowns.  Dig excess raspberries, transplant them, and prune out dead canes.  You still have time to transplant trees, shrubs and perennials while roots grow before spring top growth begins.  Winter is the best time to do heavy tree pruning with a saw, but lopper work is better done in midsummer.  "Crown" your roses when their buds start to grow, cutting them to the hard crown at the base to stop black spot until fall.

It is also time to start new gardening beds with compost, edging the beds with 6-12” boulders, choosing rocks with flat bottoms from the pile at Copeland.  Leaves can be used in the fall, several inches to a foot thick.  But new beds can be started at any time of year with compost.  One can build compost beds in the heat of summer for summer vegetables and fall perennials, or in the depths of winter for winter and spring planting.  Two inches is good for ornamentals, but six inches will give them a better start and grow great vegetables. 

Compost needs to be covered with coarse mulch like walk-on fir or nugget bark to protect it, roots and seedlings from rain, wind, and drying sun.  Avoid using fine bark, which kills soil with its natural preservatives. 

Blueberries and azaleas don’t even like to be planted into plain soil; they do better set on top of the ground and surrounded by compost covering their roots; their fine, spongy roots will sink into the soil as the compost is worked in by worms.  The more general rule is that #1 pots and larger need to be planted in soil, or they will be left high and dry as the compost is worked in and rots, while 4” and smaller pots will sink into soil with the compost.

          Paths need to be controlled too.  Two inches of wood chips, walk-on fir or ¾ inch nugget bark, will stop most weeds for a season, but need to be refreshed yearly.  4 x 8 sand, ¼-1/8 inch sifted river sand available at Copeland, laid one inch deep, covers mud and makes it easy to hula-hoe and rake young weeds as the sand brings them up.  (It also is good for starting a lawn and covering its mud.)  It is also easy to clean 4 x 8 sand by blowing and raking the tree trash into the beds for mulch.  Some trees, like mimosa, demand it, as they drop sticky flowers half the summer, leaves in the fall, and seed pods all winter, none of which are easy to clean off bark or chips.

         

Rycke Brown, Natural Gardener          541-955-9040        rycke@gardener.com

Grow Big Blueberries in Grants Pass

Southern and Northern blueberries at Bimart.  Note the old leaves on the Southern.

Our local stores and nurseries stock two kinds of blueberries.  Northern blueberries have large leaves, thick, stiff stems, and are deciduous; their leaves turn bright red in the fall and then fall off.  Southern Rabbiteye blueberries have thinner, more arching growth, and smaller leaves that turn various colors in winter but are semi-evergreen, holding most of their leaves through the winter in this area.  

South and North together in my garden.  The old leaves on the Southern bush didn't get cold enough to turn color.  Both plants were transplanted a few years ago; the Southern is several years older.

They don’t like to be planted into plain soil, unless it is exceedingly light and rich, like potting soil. Indeed, they grow remarkably well in potting soil in wide, large pots.  Otherwise, rather than planting them in plain dirt, it is better to set the plant on top of the ground and surround it with enough compost to surround and cover the roots, if your plant is in a #1 (6”) or smaller pot.  Young blueberries grow a sponge of roots only 4-6 inches deep in their pots, putting down a deep taproot only after 4-5 years.  Six inches of compost makes rich, light soil after worms work it in..

Unlike most other shrubs and perennials, blueberries at this size will sink into the soil as the compost is worked in by worms; most other 6” potted plants will sit on top of the soil as the compost is worked in and are left high and dry.  If your plant is in a larger pot, dig a shallow dish hole, break up the soil below and around the hole, and then surround it with a level area of compost to just cover its roots.  Having level compost is vital; a rounded mound will shed water and be dry. Blueberries love their water.

Cover that compost with coarse mulch like ¾” nugget bark, walk-on fir bark, or pine needles or straw, to keep it from drying out and keep the roots cool and moist.  An evergreen ground cover like creeping jenny or clover can keep them cool as the mulch disappears.  Two inches of soft leaves in the fall are probably the best mulch to maintain organic matter in the soil, but I like to scatter our copious coffee and tea grounds into the mulch or ground cover after the leaves are eaten.  It is vital to not let the compost be exposed to sun; they like their roots cool.  Bark protects soil when the leaves have been eaten by worms.

A standing mister. These put out a finer mist than emitters bought to attach to irrigation line.

          Southern Oregon has hot, dry summers, not the best conditions for growing blueberries, which like their heads in the sun and their roots cool and moist, but don’t like a lot of heat or dryness at any time.  Most garden plants prefer a little less heat and a lot more humidity than we have in Grants Pass. 

            Fast growth and big berries on young plants can be achieved by keeping misters running nearby through the heat of the summer days.  Leaving them on at night spreads moisture a lot farther.  Misters help many plants grow over a wide area of the garden.  Misting with well water can mineralize the soil, reducing acidity; humic acid or worm castings can counter that.  

An incident shows how vital misting is here.  A customer forgot to turn on one mister for a week near an isolated plant that had just started producing big, tasty berries.  The remaining berries all stopped growing and immediately ripened, producing little berries that were not juicy or flavorful.

                               

Revised August 2023, online at GardenGrantsPass.blogspot.com.  Like Garden Grants Pass on Facebook.

Gardening is easy if you do it naturally.  Litter is tagging, marking the territory of the disorderly.

Rycke Brown, Natural Gardener          541-955-9040        rycke@gardener.com

Grow Big Blueberries in Southern Oregon

We are coming into the season for buying young blueberry plants in the market or by mail, though the prime planting season in our area is late fall.  Still, you can plant them into the ground in the spring and expect them to grow well if you provide the right conditions.   

You can also plant a #1potted plant or mail-order bare root into a larger pot and let them grow twice as large over the summer before planting in the fall.  BiMart has #1 potted blueberries in the spring, some of which are Southern Rabbiteye, which are semi-evergreen, turn colors in the winter, and take our hot summers better than Northern varieties, but they don’t tell you which are which.  OneGreenWorld.com is a nursery near Molalla that sells both Southern and Northern varieties, where you can find out which ones are Southern varieties online.  Buying local is always better if they are available, as you’ll get larger plants at a lower price.

          They don’t like to be planted into plain soil, unless it is exceedingly light and rich, like potting soil.  Rather than planting them in the ground, it is better to set the plant on top of the ground and surround it with enough compost to surround and cover the roots.  Young blueberries grow a sponge of roots only 4-6 inches deep in their pots, putting down a deep taproot only after 4-5 years.  Four to six inches is a great depth for spreading compost to make rich, light soil after it is worked in by worms.  Unlike other shrubs and perennials, blueberries roots will sink into the soil as the compost is worked in by worms; other potted plants will sit on top of the soil as the compost is worked in, and be left high and dry.

          Cover that compost with coarse mulch like ¾” nugget bark, walk-on fir, or pine needles, to keep it from drying out and keep the roots cool and moist.  2 inches of leaves in the fall are probably the best mulch to maintain organic matter in the soil, but I like to scatter our copious coffee and tea grounds into the bark after the leaves are eaten.  It is vital to not let the soil be exposed to sun.  Bark protects it when the leaves have been pulled into the soil.

Southern Oregon has hot, dry summers, not the best conditions for growing blueberries, which like their heads in the sun and their roots cool and moist, but don’t like a lot of heat or dryness.  Indeed, most garden plants prefer a little less heat and a lot more humidity than we have here. 

          The key to getting fast growth and big berries is keeping a mister running nearby through the heat of the summer, particularly from blooming to after harvest.  24/7 is best, as it simulates coastal fog.  It does not cause fungal infections, and helps plants grow over a wide area of the garden.

Last year, an incident showed how vital this is.  A customer turned off one mister for a week near an isolated plant that had been producing big, tasty berries.  The remaining berries all stopped growing and immediately ripened, producing little berries that were not juicy and flavorful.      

                               

February 2015 issue, online at GardenGrantsPass.blogspot.com and at the Mail Center, 305 NE 6^th

Gardening is easy if you do it naturally.  Litter is tagging, marking the territory of the disorderly.

Rycke Brown, Natural Gardener          541-955-9040        rycke@gardener.com